The Noble Pagan Forums - The Goddess Neith (pr. Neet)

This article I recently submitted to the Belief in the Unknown meetup February 2010 newsletter (not yet published, but I suspect it will be by the end of the month). I also added two pictures that will be in the article, but given I have no idea where the editor will place them, I just put them at the end of this post.

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I'm certain most people have heard of the general panoply of ancient Egyptian deities in some form or another --- Isis, Osiris, Anubis, Horus, Seth---but there is one goddess we don't hear much about, even though She was revered continuously from pre-dynastic times (before 2900 BC) until the end of the pharoanic age. Her name was Neith.

Hail Nit, the flood who made eternity!
Hail Nit, who rose in Nun while the Earth was still in darkness!
Hail Nit, the Serpent of Life who rose Her head out of Nun as Khnum lifted up Heaven!
Hail Nit, the Ancestor, who reared up at the beginning.
The mother of primordial time who gave birth to all creatures!

Neith (also Nit, Neit) is one of the most ancient deities known from Egypt. Her name stems from a word meaning ' primeval water' or 'that which is'. The first depictions of the goddess during pre-dynastic times was as an emblem of two arrows crossed over a shield. Neith is also one of the earliest goddesses to be depicted in human form. In one form, she is frequently shown carrying the was sceptre (a symbol of power and dominion) in one hand and an ankh (life) in the other. In another form, a more warlike aspect, she bears a bow and arrow or a harpoon. Originally depicted as wearing two bows on her head, this headdress later became the Red Crown of the North (the symbol of Lower Egypt).

Later in history, Neith is also portrayed as a kneeling cow with a sun disc between its horns in the delta city of Sais, and a bovine form of her image is also used at her temple in Esna. The goddess also appears in serpentine form as the protectoress of the king or of Ra, as seen in the Book of the Dead.

In the broadest definition, Neith was a goddess of power, protection, and hunting. She was also considered to be the inventor of weaving. Though her role at all times was understood to be mysterious and abstract, there were four roles she filled most often throughout history:


Neith as Warrior Goddess
As a war goddess, Neith bore titles like "Mistress of the Bow" or "Ruler of Arrows". She was another of the ferocious goddesses associated with the Eye of Ra, and would strike down his enemies. In the story known as "The Contendings of Horus and Seth" , Neith is a wise councillor to whom Ra himself appeals for help, though her aggressive nature is seen in her threat that she will grow angry and make the sky fall to earth if her advice is not followed. The ancient Greeks identified Neith with the goddess Athena, probably due to this warlike aspect.

Neith as Creator Goddess
As Creatrix, Neith was viewed as a divinity posessing both genders, having come into being by her own parthenogenic power. She was frequently known as the "oldest of all goddesses". Neith was seen as the personification of the urge to create within the ancient waters of Nun from which all life arose. As such she was called 'great cow' or the 'great flood'. She was also considered to have created mankind, and in the 'Contendings of Horus and Seth' she is specifically called Neith 'the eldest, mother of the gods, who illuminated the first face'.

Neith as Mother Goddess
Neith is naturally seen as an archetypal mother figure. In the New Kingdom she was regarded as the mother of humans as well as gods, and a text dating from the 6th century BC states that it was she who invented birth. In Old Kingdom times Neith was regarded as the mother of the crocodile god Sobek and thus 'the nurse of crocodiles'.

Neith as Funerary Goddess
In the Pyramid Texts she is said to watch over the deceased Osiris along with Isis, Nephthys, and Serket, and eventually fhe four goddesses were assigned one side of the coffin with the responsiblity of watching over the four canopic jars known as the sons of Horus. In this role Neith was usually placed at the east side of the coffin as the protectress of Duamutef, guardian of the stomach of the deceased. She also holds a role in rites as the female "Opener of the Way" a title commonly attributed to the jackal god Wepwawet. Also, her role as the inventor of weaving naturally associated her with the funerary process as provider of mummy bandages and shrouds.


Sources: "Pillar of Ra: Ancient Egyptian Festivals for Today" by Kerry E. Wisner
"Heka: The Practices of Ancient Egyptian Ritual and Magick" by David Rankine
"The Complete Gods & Goddesses of Ancient Egypt" by Richard H. Wilkinson
"The Sacred Tradition in Ancient Egypt" by Rosemary Clark
Website: kemet.org

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