| caption = The Egyptian goddess Neith bearing her war symbols—the crossed arrows and shield or sheath—on her head, along with the [[ankh]] and the [[was-sceptre]]. She sometimes wears the [[Deshret|Red Crown]] of [[Lower Egypt]].
| caption = The Egyptian goddess Neith, the primary lordess, bearing her war goddess symbols, the crossed arrows and shield or sheath on her head, the ankh, and the [[was-sceptre|''was''-sceptre]]. She sometimes wears the [[Deshret|Red Crown]] of [[Lower Egypt]].
| parents = None (self-created in some traditions)
| symbol = [[bow and arrow|bow]], [[shield]] or [[wikt:sheath|sheath]], [[arrow]]s, [[ankh]], [[loom]], [[mummy]] [[cloth]], [[click beetle]]<ref>{{cite book |title=The Symbolism and Significance of the Butterfly in Ancient Egypt |url=https://scholar.sun.ac.za/bitstream/10019.1/79920/1/haynes_symbolism_2013.pdf}}</ref>
| symbol = [[bow and arrow|bow]], [[shield]] or [[wikt:sheath|sheath]], [[arrow]]s, [[ankh]], [[loom]], [[mummy]] [[cloth]], [[click beetle]]<ref>{{cite book |title=The Symbolism and Significance of the Butterfly in Ancient Egypt |url=https://scholar.sun.ac.za/bitstream/10019.1/79920/1/haynes_symbolism_2013.pdf}}</ref>
| consort = [[Khnum]],{{sfn|Najovits|2003|p=102}} [[Set (deity)|Set]]{{efn|According to some variations of the Horus and Set myth, Neith seduced Set while Horus healed after Set removed his eyes. Later she would give him the Semitic goddesses [[Anat]] and [[Astarte]] as consorts.}}
| consort = [[Khnum]],{{sfn|Najovits|2003|p=102}}
| offspring = [[Sobek]],{{sfn|Fleming|Lothian|1997|p=62}} [[Ra]],{{sfn|Lesko|1999|pp=60-63}} [[Apep]],{{efn|Due to his serpentine shape, Apep was said to have originated from Ra's umbilical cord. See [[Apep]].}} [[Tutu (Egyptian god)|Tutu]],{{sfn|Wilkinson|2003|p=183}} [[Serket]]
| offspring = [[Sobek]],{{sfn|Fleming|Lothian|1997|p=62}} [[Ra]],{{sfn|Lesko|1999|pp=60–63}} [[Apep]],{{efn|Due to his serpentine form, Apep was sometimes said to originate from Ra's umbilical cord.}} [[Tutu (Egyptian god)|Tutu]],{{sfn|Wilkinson|2003|p=183}} [[Serket]]
}}
}}
[[File:Neith with Red Crown.svg|thumb|Neith with a [[red crown]].]]
'''Neith''' {{IPAc-en|'|n|iː|.|ɪ|θ}} ({{langx|grc-x-koine|Νηΐθ}}, a borrowing of the [[Demotic (Egyptian)|Demotic]] form {{langx|egy|nt}}, also spelled '''Nit''', '''Net''', or '''Neit''') was an [[ancient Egyptian deity]], possibly of [[Ancient Libya|Libyan]] origin.{{sfn|Lesko|1999}}{{page needed|date=December 2024}} She was connected with warfare, as indicated by her emblem of two crossed bows,{{sfn|Lesko|1999}}{{page needed|date=December 2024}} and with motherhood, as shown by texts that call her the mother of particular deities, such as the sun god [[Ra]] and the crocodile god [[Sobek]].{{sfn|Lesko|1999}}{{page needed|date=December 2024}}<ref name=":14">{{Cite book |last=Pinch |first=Geraldine |title=Handbook of Egyptian mythology |date=2002 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-57607-242-4 |series=Handbooks of world mythology |location=Santa Barbara, Calif}}</ref> As a mother goddess, she was sometimes said to be the [[Ancient Egyptian creation myths|creator of the world]].<ref name=":14"/> She also had a presence in [[Ancient Egyptian funerary practices|funerary religion]], and this aspect of her character grew over time: she became one of the four goddesses who protected the coffin and [[Canopic jar|internal organs]] of the deceased.<ref>Wilkinson, Richard H. (2003). ''The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt''. Thames & Hudson. pp. 156–157</ref>
Neith is one of the earliest Egyptian deities to appear in the archaeological record; the earliest signs of her worship date to the [[Naqada II]] period ({{circa}} 3600–3350 BC).<ref>Hollis, Susan Tower (2020). ''Five Egyptian Goddesses: Their Possible Beginnings, Actions, and Relationships in the Third Millennium BCE''. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 8–9</ref><ref>Hendrickx, Stan (1996). "Two Protodynastic Objects in Brussels and the Origin of the Bilobate Cult-Sign of Neith". ''The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology (82). p. 39</ref> Her main cult center was the city of [[Sais]] in Lower Egypt, near the western edge of the [[Nile Delta]], and some Egyptologists have suggested that she originated among the [[Ancient Libya|Libyan peoples]] who lived nearby.{{sfn|Lesko|1999|p=47}}<ref>Hollis, Susan Tower (2020). ''Five Egyptian Goddesses: Their Possible Beginnings, Actions, and Relationships in the Third Millennium BCE''. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 20</ref> She was the most important goddess in the [[Early Dynastic Period (Egypt)|Early Dynastic Period]] ({{circa}} 3100–2686 BC) and had a significant shrine at the capital, [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]]. In subsequent eras she lost her preeminence to other goddesses, such as [[Hathor]], but she remained important, particularly during the [[Twenty-sixth Dynasty]] (664–525 BC), when Sais was Egypt's capital. She was worshipped in many temples during the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Greek]] and [[Roman Egypt|Roman]] periods of Egyptian history, most significantly [[Esna]] in [[Upper Egypt]], and the Greeks identified her with their goddess [[Athena]].<ref>Wilkinson, Richard H. (2003). ''The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt''. Thames & Hudson. pp. 158–159</ref>
[[File:Neith with Red Crown.svg|thumb|Neith wearing the [[Deshret|Red Crown]] of Lower Egypt.]]
'''Neith''' {{IPAc-en|'|n|iː|.|ɪ|θ}} ({{langx|grc-x-koine|Νηΐθ}}), also spelled '''Nit''', '''Net''', or '''Neit''', was an [[ancient Egyptian goddess]], possibly of [[Ancient Libya|Libyan]] origin.{{sfn|Lesko|1999|p=47}} She was associated with warfare, symbolized by her emblem of crossed bows,{{sfn|Lesko|1999}} and with motherhood, as texts refer to her as the mother of deities such as the sun god [[Ra]] and the crocodile god [[Sobek]].{{sfn|Lesko|1999}}<ref name="pinch2002">{{cite book |last=Pinch |first=Geraldine |title=Handbook of Egyptian mythology |date=2002 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara |isbn=978-1-57607-242-4}}</ref>
As a mother goddess, she was sometimes described as the creator of the world in [[Egyptian creation myths]] and referred to as the "Great Mother".<ref name="pinch2002"/> She also played a role in [[Ancient Egyptian funerary practices|funerary religion]]. Over time she became one of the four goddesses who protected the coffin and the [[Canopic jar|internal organs]] of the deceased.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2003|pp=156–157}}
Neith is among the earliest Egyptian deities attested in the archaeological record. Evidence of her worship dates to the [[Naqada II]] period ({{circa}} 3600–3350 BC).{{sfn|Hollis|2020|pp=8–9}}{{sfn|Hendrickx|1996|p=39}} Her main cult center was the city of [[Sais, Egypt|Sais]] in the western [[Nile Delta]].{{sfn|Lesko|1999|p=47}}{{sfn|Hollis|2020|p=20}}
She was particularly important during the [[Early Dynastic Period (Egypt)|Early Dynastic Period]] ({{circa}} 3100–2686 BC) and had a major sanctuary at [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]]. Later, other goddesses such as [[Hathor]] rose in prominence, though Neith remained important, especially during the [[Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt|Twenty-sixth Dynasty]] (664–525 BC), when Sais became Egypt's capital. During the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Greek]] and [[Roman Egypt|Roman]] periods she continued to be worshipped in temples including [[Esna]], and Greek writers identified her with the goddess [[Athena]].{{sfn|Wilkinson|2003|pp=158–159}}
==Symbolism==
==Symbolism==
[[File:Bronze statuette of Neith. She wears the Red Crown of Lower Egypt. The hieroglyphic inscriptions, partially erased, mention the name of Padihor. From Egypt. Late Period. The British Museum, London.jpg|thumb|Bronze statuette of Neith, wearing the Red Crown of Lower Egypt; the partially erased hieroglyphic inscriptions mention the name of Padihor - The British Museum, London]]
In her usual representations, she is portrayed as a fierce deity, a woman wearing the Red Crown, with a bow, occasionally holding or using two arrows. Her symbolism depicted most often is of a goddess of war and of hunting. According to Wilkinson, her hieroglyphic symbol consists of two bows crossed over a shield.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2003|p=158}} The hieroglyphs of her name usually are followed by a determinative containing the archery elements. According to Fleming & Lothian, the symbol of her name is a shield symbol explained with either double bows (facing one another), intersected by two arrows (usually lashed to the bows), or, by other imagery associated with her worship. As she is connected with weaving, the symbol is sometimes suggested to be a [[shuttle (weaving)|shuttle]].<ref name="brooklyn">{{cite web |title=Neith |url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/heritage_floor/neith |website=brooklynmuseum.org |access-date=6 July 2024}}</ref>{{sfn|Watterson|1984|p=174}} However, according to scholar [[Arthur Evans]], the bow of Neith in her symbol represented two bows in a sheath, and it was "convincingly" explained over the shuttle hypothesis, by Egyptologist [[Margaret Murray]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Evans |first1=Arthur |title=The Palace of Minos: A Comparative Account of the Successive Stages of the Early Cretan Civilization as Illustrated by the Discoveries at Knossos: Volume 2 Part 1 |date=1928 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=9781108061025 |page=49 |url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/The_Palace_of_Minos/iZooAAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |access-date=20 April 2025}}</ref> Further, in a research project assessing fidelity of unpainted hieroglyphic symbols with their polychrome hieroglyphic counterparts, scholar David Nunn found another object's virtually identically positioned [[right triangles]] "certainly difficult to see [...] as conical cakes[,]" though still positively identified the foreground object with the two bows as "a package[,]" concluding: "No conclusion can be reached as to [its] exact nature."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Nunn |first1=David |title=A Palaeography of Polychrome Hieroglyphs |url=https://www.phrp.be/Palaeography.php |website=The Polychrome Hieroglyph Research Project |publisher=Université Libre de Bruxelles - Faculté de Philosophie et Sciences sociales |access-date=20 April 2025}}</ref> Her symbol also identified the city of Sais.{{sfn|Fleming|Lothian|1997|p=62}} This symbol was displayed on top of her head in Egyptian art. In her form as a [[war goddess|goddess of war]], she was said to make the weapons of warriors and to guard their bodies when they died.
[[File:791 800x800.jpg|thumb|King [[Tutankhamun]]'s bow case as it relates to the foreground object.]]
[[File:Bronze statuette of Neith. She wears the Red Crown of Lower Egypt. The hieroglyphic inscriptions, partially erased, mention the name of Padihor. From Egypt. Late Period. The British Museum, London.jpg|thumb|Bronze statuette of Neith wearing the Red Crown of Lower Egypt (British Museum).]]
[[File:Illustration from Pantheon Egyptien by Leon Jean Joseph Dubois, digitally enhanced by rawpixel-com 16.jpg|thumb|Neith illustration by Dubois in Champollion's ''Egyptian Pantheon'']]
Neith is typically depicted as a woman wearing the Red Crown of Lower Egypt and holding a bow and arrows. She is therefore often interpreted as a goddess of war and hunting. Her hieroglyphic symbol consists of two bows crossed over a shield.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2003|p=158}}
As a deity, Neith is normally shown carrying the [[Was (sceptre)|was]] scepter (symbol of rule and power) and the [[ankh]] (symbol of life). She is associated with [[Mehet-Weret]], as a cow who gives birth to the sun daily, whose name means "Great Flood."<ref name="touregy">{{cite web |title=Nit (Neith), Goddess of Weaving, War, Hunting and the Red Crown, Creator Deity, Mother of Ra |url=https://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/nit.htm |website=touregypt.net |access-date=6 July 2024}}</ref>{{sfn|Wilkinson|2003|pp=157, 174}} In these forms, she is associated with the creation of both the primeval time and the daily "re-creation". As protectress of Ra or the king, she is represented as a [[uraeus]].{{sfn|Wilkinson|2003|p=158}} In time, this led to her being considered as the [[personification]] of the primordial waters of [[Creation myth#Egyptian|creation]].<ref name="worldhis">{{cite web |title=Neith |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Neith/ |website=worldhistory.org |access-date=6 July 2024}}</ref>
In Egyptian art the symbol of crossed bows and arrows often appears above her head and also served as the emblem of the city of Sais.{{sfn|Fleming|Lothian|1997|p=62}}
Neith is one of the most ancient deities associated with ancient Egyptian culture. [[Flinders Petrie]]{{sfn|Petrie|Mace|1901|p=16}} noted the earliest depictions of her standards were known in predynastic periods, as can be seen from a representation of a barque bearing her crossed arrow standards in the Predynastic Period, as is displayed in the [[Ashmolean Museum]], Oxford.
As a deity, Neith is frequently shown carrying the [[was-sceptre]] (a symbol of power) and the [[ankh]] (a symbol of life). She was sometimes associated with [[Mehet-Weret]], a cosmic cow goddess who gave birth to the sun daily.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2003|pp=157,174}}
Her first anthropomorphic representations occur in the early dynastic period, on a diorite vase of King Ny-Netjer of the Second Dynasty. The vase was found in the [[Pyramid of Djoser|Step Pyramid of Djoser]] (Third Dynasty) at Saqqara. That her worship predominated the early dynastic periods is demonstrated by a preponderance of theophoric names (personal names that incorporate the name of a deity) within which Neith appears as an element. Predominance of Neith's name in nearly forty percent of early dynastic names, and particularly in the names of four royal women of the First Dynasty, clearly emphasizes the importance of this goddess in relation to the early society of Egypt, with special emphasis on association with the Royal House.{{sfn|Lesko|1999|pp=48-49}}
Because of these associations, Neith was also connected with the primordial waters of creation and with the renewal of the cosmos.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}
In the very early periods of Egyptian history, the main iconographic representations of this goddess appear to have been limited to her hunting and war characteristics, although there is no Egyptian mythological reference to support the concept that this was her primary function as a deity.{{sfn|Watterson|1984|p=176}}
==Attributes==
It has been theorized that Neith's primary cult point in the Old Kingdom was established in Saïs (modern Sa el-Hagar) by [[Hor-Aha]] of the First Dynasty, in an effort to placate the residents of Lower Egypt by the ruler of the unified country.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Hart |first=George |title=The Routledge dictionary of Egyptian gods and goddesses |date=2005 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-34495-1 |edition=2nd |location=London}}</ref> Textual and iconographic evidence indicates that she was a national goddess for Old Kingdom Egypt, with her own sanctuary in Memphis, indicating the high regard held for her. There, she was known as "North of her Wall", as counterpoise to [[Ptah]]'s "South of his Wall" epithet.<ref name=":2" /> While Neith is generally regarded as a deity of Lower Egypt, her worship was not consistently located in that delta region. Her cult reached its height in Saïs and apparently in Memphis in the Old Kingdom.{{sfn|Lesko|1999}}{{page needed|date=December 2024}}<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |title=Egyptian Gods & Goddesses |date=2014 |publisher=Britannica Educational Publishing in association with Rosen Educational Services |isbn=978-1-62275-155-6 |editor-last=Deaver |editor-first=Johnathan |series=Gods and Goddesses of mythology |location=New York}}</ref> and remained important, although to a lesser extent, through the Middle and New Kingdom. Her cult regained cultural prominence again during the [[Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt|Twenty-sixth Dynasty]] when worship at Saïs flourished again,<ref name=":4" /> as well as at Esna in Upper Egypt.
[[File:Aegis of Neith-H1550-IMG 0172.jpg|thumb|[[Aegis]] of Neith, [[Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt]]]]
Neith's symbol and part of her [[hieroglyph]] also bore a resemblance to a [[loom]],{{sfn|Simon|2002|p=275}} and so in later syncretisation of Egyptian myths by the Greek ruling class of that time she was conflated with [[Athena]], a Greek deity of war and weaving.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2003|p=157}}
Neith possessed many roles in Egyptian religion. In early texts she was described as an “Opener of the Ways”, an epithet also used for the god [[Wepwawet]]. This title may refer to both her role in warfare and her function as a guide of souls in the afterlife.
Sometimes Neith was pictured as a woman [[Breastfeeding|nursing]] a baby crocodile, and she then was addressed with the title, "Nurse of Crocodiles",<ref name=":14"/> reflecting a southern provincial mythology in Upper Egypt that she served as the mother of the crocodile god, Sobek. As the mother of Ra, in her [[Mehet-Weret]] form, she was sometimes described as the "Great Cow who gave birth to Ra". As a maternal figure (beyond being the birth-mother of the sun-god Ra), Neith is associated with Sobek as her son (as early as the Pyramid Texts), but in later religious conventions that paired deities, no male deity is consistently identified with her in a pair and so, she often is represented without one.<ref name=":33">{{Cite book |last=Pinch |first=Geraldine |title=Egyptian myth: a very short introduction |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-280346-7 |series=Very short introductions |location=Oxford}}</ref> Later triad associations made with her have little or no religious or mythological supporting references, appearing to have been made by political or regional associations only.
She was also associated with weaving and textile production, and through this connection she became linked with the linen wrappings of mummies.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2003|pp=157–158}}
Some modern writers assert that they may interpret that as her being '[[Androgyny|androgynous]]', since Neith is the creator capable of giving birth without a partner ([[Asexually reproducing|asexually]]) and without association of creation with sexual imagery, as seen in the myths of Atum and other creator deities; which in turn led to her being accredited as the creator of birth itself.<ref name="egmu1">{{cite web |title=Deities in Ancient Egypt - Neith |url=https://egyptianmuseum.org/deities-neith |website=egyptianmuseum.org/ |access-date=4 July 2024}}</ref> However, her name always appears as feminine. [[Erik Hornung]] interprets that in the Eleventh Hour of the [[Amduat]], Neith's name appears written with a phallus.<ref>''Das Amduat'', '''Teil I''': ''Text'': 188, No. 800.(Äg. Abh., Band 7, Wiesbaden) 1963</ref> In reference to Neith's function as creator with both male and female characteristics, Peter Kaplony has said in the ''Lexikon der Ägyptologie'': "Die Deutung von Neith als ''Njt'' "Verneinung" ist sekundär. Neith ist die weibliche Entsprechung zu ''Nw(w''), dem Gott der Urflut (Nun and Naunet)."{{sfn|Schlichting|1982|p=393}} She was considered to be eldest of the Ancient Egyptian deities. Neith is said to have been "born the first, in the time when as yet there had been no birth".{{sfn|St. Clair|1898|p=176}}
In funerary contexts Neith sometimes appears alongside [[Isis]], [[Nephthys]], and [[Serket]] as one of the goddesses protecting the dead. In later religious traditions she was associated with the protection of one of the [[Four sons of Horus]], specifically [[Duamutef]].{{sfn|Wilkinson|2003|pp=157–158}}
In the Pyramid Texts, Neith is paired with the goddess Selket as the two braces for the sky, which places these goddesses as the supports for the heavens (see PT 1040a-d, following J. Gwyn Griffths, ''The Conflict of Horus and Seth'', (London, 1961) p. 1). This ties in with the vignette in [[The Contendings of Horus and Seth]] when, as the most ancient among them, Neith is asked by the deities to decide who should rule. She was appealed to as an arbiter in the dispute between Horus and Seth. In her message of reply, Neith selects Horus, and says she will "cause the sky to crash to the earth" if he is not selected.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2003|p=157}}
The name "Neith" is hypothesized to mean "the terrifying one."<ref name="pinch2002"/>
The [[click beetle]] (likely specifically ''agrypnus notodonta'') is one of the beetles depicted in ancient Egyptian art. The shape of the beetle resembles the shape of some ancient Egyptian shields, and necklaces with beads shaped like the beetle have been found. Additionally, the beetles have been found depicted as part of a symbol of Neith.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haynes |first=Dawn |url=https://scholar.sun.ac.za/bitstream/10019.1/79920/1/haynes_symbolism_2013.pdf |title=The Symbolism and Significance of the Butterfly in Ancient Egypt}}</ref> This association appears as early as the Protodynastic period, and may be the origin of one of Neith's stylized cult signs.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hendrickx |first=Stan |date=1996 |title=Two Protodynastic Objects in Brussels and the Origin of the Bilobate Cult-Sign of Neith |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3822112 |journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology |volume=82 |pages=23–42 |doi=10.2307/3822112 |issn=0307-5133 |jstor=3822112|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The imagery of the beetle in association with Neith may have morphed over time into that of a shield.{{sfn|Lesko|1999}}{{page needed|date=December 2024}}
==Mythology==
==Attributes==
[[File:ENHANCED PHOTO OF NEITH.jpg|thumb|upright|Neith wearing the [[Deshret]] crown of Lower Egypt.]]
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2022}}
[[File:Aegis of Neith-H1550-IMG 0172.jpg|thumb|left|[[Aegis]] of Neith, [[Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt]] - [[Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon]]]]
{{Ancient Egyptian religion}}
An analysis of her attributes shows Neith was a goddess with many roles. From predynastic and early dynasty periods, she was referred to as an "Opener of the Ways" (same as Wepwawet),<ref name="touregy" /> which may have referred, not only to her leadership in hunting and war but also as a psychopomp in cosmic and underworld pathways, escorting souls. References to Neith as the "Opener of Paths" occurs in Dynasty Four through Dynasty Six, and Neith is seen in the titles of women serving as priestesses of the goddess. Such epithets include: "''Priestess of Neith who opens all the (path)ways''", "''Priestess of Neith who opens the good pathways''", "''Priestess of Neith who opens the way in all her places''". (el-Sayed, '''I''': 67-69). el-Sayed asserts his belief that Neith should be seen as a parallel to Wepwawet, the ancient jackal god of Upper Egypt, who was associated in that southern region with both royalty in victory and as a psychopomp for the dead.
The main imagery of Neith as ''Wepwawet'' was as the deity of the unseen and limitless sky, as opposed to representations of Nut and Hathor, who respectively represented the manifested night and day skies.<ref name="globegy">{{cite web |title=Neith |url=https://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/glossary.aspx?id=264 |website=globalegyptianmuseum.org |access-date=6 July 2024}}</ref> Neith's epithet as the "Opener of the Sun's paths in all her stations" refers to how the sun is reborn (due to seasonal changes) at various points in the sky, under Neith's control of all beyond the visible world, of which only a glimpse is revealed prior to dawn and after sunset. It is at these changing points that Neith reigns as a form of sky goddess, where the sun rises and sets daily, or at its 'first appearance' to the sky above and below. It is at these points, beyond the sky that is seen, that Neith's true power as the deity who creates life is manifested.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}
In some Egyptian myths Neith was described as the mother of [[Ra]] and [[Apep]]. Starting during the New Kingdom she was referred to as "the Mother and Father of all things."<ref name="pinch2002"/> In other traditions she was associated with the crocodile god [[Sobek]], especially in regions near the [[Nile]].{{sfn|Fleming|Lothian|1997|p=33}}
Georges St. Clair noted that Neith is represented at times as a cow goddess with a line of stars across her back{{sfn|St. Clair|1898|p=176}} (as opposed to representations of Nut with stars across the belly) [See el-Sayed, II, Doc. 644], and maintained this indicated that Neith represents the full ecliptic circle around the sky (above and below), and is seen iconographically in ancient texts as both the regular and the inverted determinative for the heavenly vault, indicating the cosmos below the horizon. St. Clair maintained it was this realm that Neith personified, for she is the complete sky that surrounds the upper (Nut) and lower (Nunet?) sky, and who exists beyond the horizon, and thereby, beyond the skies themselves. Neith, then, is that portion of the cosmos that is not seen, and in which the sun is reborn daily, below the horizon (which may reflect the statement assigned to Neith as "I come at dawn and at sunset daily").{{sfn|St. Clair|1898|p=177}}
As a creator goddess and patron of weaving, she was said to reweave the world daily on her loom.{{sfn|Mercatante|Bianchi|1995}}
Since Neith also was goddess of war, she thus had an additional association with death: in this function, she shot her arrows into the enemies of the dead, and thus she began to be viewed as a protector of the dead, often appearing as a uraeus snake to drive off intruders and those who would harm the deceased (in this form she is represented in the tomb of [[Tutankhamun]]). She also is shown as the protectress of one of the [[Four sons of Horus]], specifically [[Duamutef]], the god who protected the stomach. Through her role as a goddess of weaving, she was associated with the wrappings of mummies.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2003|pp=157-158}}
An inscription from the temple at [[Esna]] records a myth in which Neith created the first land from the primordial waters of [[Nun (mythology)|Nun]]. In this account she brings the world into existence through her thoughts.
Neith appears sporadically in the Pyramid texts, usually in association with the goddesses Isis, Nepthys, and Selket. These four initially appear as protectors of royal remains, or in other cases attendant to Osiris, Neith later would later appear in the funerary practices of commoners as well.{{sfn|Lesko|1999}}{{page needed|date=December 2024}} The Coffin Texts portray Neith as involved in the judgement of the dead, and in her role as a patron goddess for weavers she is associated with the wrappings of mummies.
A famous inscription associated with her temple at Sais was reported by the philosopher [[Proclus]]:
==Mythology==
“I am all that has been, is, and will be. No mortal has ever lifted my veil.”{{sfn|Taylor|1820|p=82}}
[[File:ENHANCED PHOTO OF NEITH.jpg|thumb|upright|Egyptian war goddess Neith wearing the [[Deshret]] crown of northern (lower) Egypt, which bears the [[cobra]] of [[Wadjet]]]]In some [[ancient Egyptian creation myths]], Neith was identified as the mother of [[Ra]] and [[Apep]].<ref name=":14"/> When she was identified as a water goddess, she was viewed as the mother of [[Sobek]], the [[crocodile]].{{sfn|Fleming|Lothian|1997|p=33}} It was because of this association with water, i.e. the [[Nile]], that during pairing of deities she sometimes was considered the wife of [[Khnum]] and sometimes was associated with the source of the River Nile. In that cult center, she also was associated with the [[Nile Perch]] as well as being the goddess of the triad.
As the goddess of creation and weaving, she was said to reweave the world on her loom daily.<ref name=":52">{{Cite book |last=Mercatante |first=Anthony S. |title=Who's who in Egyptian mythology |last2=Bianchi |first2=Robert Steven |date=1995 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-2967-1 |edition=2nd |location=Lanham, MD}}</ref> An interior wall of the [[Egyptian temple|temple]] at [[Esna]] records an account of creation in which Neith brings forth the [[Naunet|Nun]], the first land, from the primeval waters. All that she conceived in her heart comes into being, including all thirty deities. Having no husband she has been described as "Virgin Mother Goddess":
According to myth, the gods once consulted Neith during the dispute between [[Horus]] and [[Set (deity)|Set]] over the Egyptian throne. She advised that Horus should become king.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2003|p=157}}
{{blockquote|Unique Goddess, mysterious and great who came to be in the beginning and caused everything to come to be. The divine mother of Ra, who shines on the horizon...{{sfn|Lesko|1999|pp=60-63}}}}
[[Proclus]] (412–485 AD) wrote that the [[adyton]] of the temple of Neith in [[Sais]] (of which nothing now remains) carried the following inscription:
{{blockquote|I am the things that are, that will be, and that have been. No one has ever laid open the garment by which I am concealed. The fruit which I brought forth was the sun.{{sfn|Taylor|1820|p=82}}}}
It was said that at the request of Thoth''',''' Neith interceded in the kingly war between [[Horus]] and [[Set (deity)|Set]], over the Egyptian [[throne]], recommending that Horus rule.<ref name=":33"/>
A great festival, called the ''Feast of Lamps'', was held annually in honor of Neith and, according to the Greek historian [[Herodotus]], her devotees burned a multitude of lights in the open air all night during the celebration.<ref name=":52" />{{sfn|Lesko|1999}}{{page needed|date=December 2024}}
An annual celebration known as the ''Feast of Lamps'' was held in her honor. According to the historian [[Herodotus]], participants lit numerous lamps throughout the night during the festival.
==Syncretic relationships==
==Syncretism==
[[File:P1070098 Louvre statuette de Neith E3730 rwk.JPG|upright|thumb|right|Statuette of Neith - Louvre]]
The Greek historian [[Herodotus]] ({{Circa|484|425 BC}}) noted that the Egyptian citizens of [[Sais]] in Egypt worshipped Neith.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} In his [[Socratic dialogue|dialogue]] ''[[Timaeus (dialogue)|Timaeus]]'', the Greek philosopher [[Plato]] has [[Critias]] say that the Greek name of Neith is Athena.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Plato, Timaeus, section 21e |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0180:text=Tim.:section=21e |access-date=2024-09-04 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref>
The English Egyptologist [[E. A. Wallis Budge]] suggested that the Christian biblical account of the [[flight into Egypt]] as recorded in the [[apocryphal gospels]] was directly influenced by stories about [[Isis]] and Horus; Budge argued that the writers of these gospels ascribed to [[Mary mother of Jesus|Mary, the mother of Jesus]], many peculiarities which, at the time of the [[rise of Christianity]], were perceived as belonging to both Isis and Neith, for example, the [[parthenogenesis]] concept shared by both Neith and Mary.{{sfn|Budge|1904|p=220}}
Greek writers identified Neith with the goddess [[Athena]]. The philosopher [[Plato]] refers to this association in his dialogue ''[[Timaeus (dialogue)|Timaeus]]''.
Neith has been speculated by some scholars, such as [[J. Gwyn Griffiths]] and [[Jan Assmann]], to be the actual goddess depicted in the first and second century Greek historian [[Plutarch]]'s description of the [[Veil of Isis]] in his ''On Isis and Osiris.'' The veiled Isis is a motif which associates her with mystery and [[ceremonial magic]]. Plutarch described the statue of a seated and veiled goddess in the Egyptian city of [[Sais]].{{sfn|Griffiths|1970|p=131}}{{sfn|Assmann|1997|pp=118–119}} He identified the goddess as "Athena, whom [the Egyptians] consider to be Isis."{{sfn|Griffiths|1970|p=131}} However, Sais was the cult center of the goddess Neith, whom the Greeks [[interpretatio graeca|compared]] to their goddess [[Athena]], and could have been the goddess that Plutarch spoke of.{{sfn|Griffiths|1970|p=283}} More than 300 years after Plutarch, the [[Neoplatonist]] philosopher [[Proclus]] wrote of the same statue in Book I of his ''Commentaries on Plato's "Timaeus"''. In this version, a statement is added: "The fruit of my womb was the sun",{{sfn|Assmann|1997|pp=118–119}} which could further be associated with Neith, due to her being the mother of the Sun god [[Ra]].
Some scholars have suggested that Neith may also be connected with the “Veiled Isis” described by [[Plutarch]] in ''On Isis and Osiris''.{{sfn|Griffiths|1970|pp=131,283}}{{sfn|Assmann|1997|pp=118–119}}
==See also==
==See also==
* [[Neith (hypothetical moon)]] of [[Venus]]
* [[Neith (hypothetical moon)]]
* [[Merneith]]
People named after Neith:
* [[Neithhotep]]
* [[Neithhotep]], wife of the first king of a unified Ancient Egypt, [[Narmer]] or of [[Hor-Aha]], the mother of and co-ruler with [[Djer]], and who may have ruled in her own right during the first dynasty
* [[Merneith]], a woman who served as consort and regent of Ancient Egypt and who may have ruled in her own right during the first dynasty
* [[Neith (wife of Pepi II)]] and the mother of another king of Ancient Egypt, perhaps [[Nemtyemsaf II]]
* [[Meryneith]], official and priest of the New Kingdom
==Notes==
==Notes==
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Line 85:
==References==
==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
===Works cited===
* {{cite book |last=Assmann |first=Jan |authorlink=Jan Assmann |title=Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism |publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1997 |isbn=978-0-674-58738-0}}
* {{cite book |last1=Budge |first1=E. A. Wallis |author-link1=E. A. Wallis Budge |title=The Gods Of The Egyptians Or Studies In Egyptian Mythology Volume II |date=1904 |publisher=Methuen and Co. |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.22227/page/n309/mode/1up |access-date=12 November 2023}}
* {{cite book |last1=Fleming |first1=Fergus |last2=Lothian |first2=Alan |title=The Way to Eternity: Egyptian myth |date=1997 |publisher=Time-Life Books |location=Amsterdam |isbn=978-0-7054-3503-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/waytoeternityegy00flem/page/62/mode/1up |access-date=11 November 2023}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Griffiths |editor-first=J. Gwyn |editor-link=J. Gwyn Griffiths |title=Plutarch's De Iside et Osiride |year=1970|publisher=University of Wales Press }}
* {{Cite book |last=Kaper |first=Olaf E.|title=The Egyptian God Tutu: A Study of the Sphinx-god and Master of Demons with a Corpus of Monuments |date=2003 |publisher=Peeters Publishers |isbn=9789042912175 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kiQrO70c7nYC&pg=PA192| language=en}}
* {{cite book |last=Lesko |first=Barbara S. |title=The Great Goddesses of Egypt |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=1999 |isbn=0-8061-3202-7 |url-access = registration |url = https://archive.org/details/greatgoddessesof00lesk/page/60 |pages = [https://archive.org/details/greatgoddessesof00lesk/page/60 60–63] }}
* {{Cite book |last=Najovits |first=Simson R. |title=Egypt, Trunk of the Tree, Vol. I: A Modern Survey of and Ancient Land |date=2003 |publisher=Algora Publishing |isbn=9780875862347 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y72qrAmKcfEC&q=heka%20khnum%20triad&pg=PA102}}
* {{cite book |last1=Petrie |first1=W. M. Flinders |last2=Mace |first2=Arthur C. |title=Diospolis Parva: the cemeteries of Abadiyeh and Hu, 1898-9 |date=1901 |publisher=The Egypt Exploration Fund |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/diospolisparvac01macegoog/page/n32/mode/1up |access-date=11 November 2023}}
* {{cite book |last1=Schlichting |first1=Robert |editor1-last=Helck |editor1-first=Wolfgang |editor2-last=Westendorf |editor2-first=Wolfhart |title=Lexikon der Ägyptologie Band IV: Megiddo-Pyramiden |date=1982 |publisher=O. Harrassowitz |location=Wiesbaden |isbn=3-447-02262-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/lexikondergyptol00helc/page/n226/mode/1up |access-date=11 November 2023}}
* {{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Ian |last2=Nicholson |first2=Paul |title=The British Museum Dictionary of Ancient Egypt |date=1995 |publisher=The American University in Cairo Press |location=Cairo |isbn=977424762-0 |edition=2002 |url=https://archive.org/details/THEBRITISHMUSEUMDICTIONARYOFANCIENTEGYPTBYIANSHAWPAULNICHOLSON/page/n249/mode/1up |access-date=11 November 2023}}
* {{cite book |last1=Simon |first1=Catherine |editor1-last=Redford |editor1-first=Donald B. |title=The Ancient Gods Speak : a guide to Egyptian religion |date=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-515401-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientgodsspeak0000unse/page/275/mode/1up |access-date=11 November 2023}}
* {{Cite book |last=Richter|first=Barbara A. |title=The Theology of Hathor of Dendera: Aural and Visual Scribal Techniques in the Per-Wer Sanctuary |date=2016-04-15 |publisher=ISD LLC |isbn=9781937040529 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HAlPDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA74 |language=en}}
* {{cite book |last1=St. Clair |first1=George |title=Creation Records Discovered in Egypt (Studies in The Book of the Dead) |date=1898 |publisher=Harrison and Sons |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/creation-records-discovered-in-egypt/page/176/mode/1up |access-date=11 November 2023}}
* {{cite book |last1= Taylor |first1=Thomas |author-link1=Thomas Taylor (neoplatonist) |title= Proclus: The Commentaries of Proclus on the Timaeus of Plato, in Five Books |publisher=A.J. Valpy |year=1820 |page=82 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qh9dAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA82}}
* {{cite book |last1=Watterson |first1=Barbara |title=The Gods of Ancient Egypt |date=1984 |publisher=Facts on File Publications |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8160-1111-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/godsofancientegy00watt/page/176/mode/1up |access-date=11 November 2023}}
* {{cite book |last1=Wilkinson |first1=Richard H. |title=The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt |date=2003 |publisher=Thames and Hudson |location=London |isbn=978-0-500-28424-7 |edition=2017 paperback}}
==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=el-Sayed |first=Ramadan |title=La déesse Neith de Saïs |publisher=Cairo: Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale |year=1982}}
* {{cite news |last=Tower Hollis |first=Susan |title=5 Egyptian Goddesses in the Third Millenium B.C.: Neith, Hathor, Nut, Isis, Nephthys. |publisher=KMT: Journal of Ancient Egypt 5/4 |year=1995}}
* {{cite book |last=Mallet |first=Dominique |title=Le culte de Neit à Saïs. |url=https://archive.org/details/lecultedeneitsa00mallgoog |publisher=Paris : E. Leroux. |year=1888}}
* Altenmüller, Hartwig. "Zum Ursprung Von Isis Und Nephthys." Studien Zur Altägyptischen Kultur 27 (1999): 1-26. Accessed June 15, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/25152793.
* El Sayed, Ramadan. "Les Rôles Attribués à La Déesse Neith Dans Certains Des Textes Des Cercueils." Orientalia, NOVA SERIES, 43 (1974): 275-94. Accessed June 15, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/43074608.
* Hendrickx, Stan. "Two Protodynastic Objects in Brussels and the Origin of the Bilobate Cult-Sign of Neith." The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 82 (1996): 23-42. Accessed June 15, 2020. doi:10.2307/3822112.
NeithScript error: No such module "IPAc-en". (Template:Langx), also spelled Nit, Net, or Neit, was an ancient Egyptian goddess, possibly of Libyan origin.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". She was associated with warfare, symbolized by her emblem of crossed bows,Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". and with motherhood, as texts refer to her as the mother of deities such as the sun god Ra and the crocodile god Sobek.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".[1]
As a mother goddess, she was sometimes described as the creator of the world in Egyptian creation myths and referred to as the "Great Mother".[1] She also played a role in funerary religion. Over time she became one of the four goddesses who protected the coffin and the internal organs of the deceased.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Neith is among the earliest Egyptian deities attested in the archaeological record. Evidence of her worship dates to the Naqada II period (c.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 3600–3350 BC).Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Her main cult center was the city of Sais in the western Nile Delta.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
She was particularly important during the Early Dynastic Period (c.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 3100–2686 BC) and had a major sanctuary at Memphis. Later, other goddesses such as Hathor rose in prominence, though Neith remained important, especially during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty (664–525 BC), when Sais became Egypt's capital. During the Greek and Roman periods she continued to be worshipped in temples including Esna, and Greek writers identified her with the goddess Athena.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Neith is typically depicted as a woman wearing the Red Crown of Lower Egypt and holding a bow and arrows. She is therefore often interpreted as a goddess of war and hunting. Her hieroglyphic symbol consists of two bows crossed over a shield.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
In Egyptian art the symbol of crossed bows and arrows often appears above her head and also served as the emblem of the city of Sais.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
As a deity, Neith is frequently shown carrying the was-sceptre (a symbol of power) and the ankh (a symbol of life). She was sometimes associated with Mehet-Weret, a cosmic cow goddess who gave birth to the sun daily.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Because of these associations, Neith was also connected with the primordial waters of creation and with the renewal of the cosmos.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
Neith possessed many roles in Egyptian religion. In early texts she was described as an “Opener of the Ways”, an epithet also used for the god Wepwawet. This title may refer to both her role in warfare and her function as a guide of souls in the afterlife.
She was also associated with weaving and textile production, and through this connection she became linked with the linen wrappings of mummies.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
In funerary contexts Neith sometimes appears alongside Isis, Nephthys, and Serket as one of the goddesses protecting the dead. In later religious traditions she was associated with the protection of one of the Four sons of Horus, specifically Duamutef.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
The name "Neith" is hypothesized to mean "the terrifying one."[1]
In some Egyptian myths Neith was described as the mother of Ra and Apep. Starting during the New Kingdom she was referred to as "the Mother and Father of all things."[1] In other traditions she was associated with the crocodile god Sobek, especially in regions near the Nile.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
As a creator goddess and patron of weaving, she was said to reweave the world daily on her loom.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
An inscription from the temple at Esna records a myth in which Neith created the first land from the primordial waters of Nun. In this account she brings the world into existence through her thoughts.
A famous inscription associated with her temple at Sais was reported by the philosopher Proclus:
“I am all that has been, is, and will be. No mortal has ever lifted my veil.”Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
According to myth, the gods once consulted Neith during the dispute between Horus and Set over the Egyptian throne. She advised that Horus should become king.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
An annual celebration known as the Feast of Lamps was held in her honor. According to the historian Herodotus, participants lit numerous lamps throughout the night during the festival.
Syncretism
Greek writers identified Neith with the goddess Athena. The philosopher Plato refers to this association in his dialogue Timaeus.
Some scholars have suggested that Neith may also be connected with the “Veiled Isis” described by Plutarch in On Isis and Osiris.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
