Aspects - Names

Aset is often called 'Great of Heka'- Weret-Hekau. This probably has its origin in the myth in which Aset tricked the aging sungod Ra into telling her his secret name, thereby gaining the same power as him. He who knew the name of someone or something also knew the true meaning of the thing or the person and thus gained power over it. This feat meant she also gained the secrets of Creation and therefore had access to great powers and in fact, became a creator deity. The importance of knowing names is often the case with African religions even into our day.

Probably from this connection, she is also sometimes labelled 'Eye of Re', an epiteth she shares with several other female deities, like HetHert, Sekhmet and Bast, and she appears, like theye do, as the uraeus on the brow of Re. An inscription at Philae tells that Re lets Aset rule in the sky and on earth. Basis for this is, according to Bergman (1968), the above myth of Re and Aset. But at Philae her connection with Re is also seen in that she travels with him in his sun-boat, she protects him, like Apep does, from his enemies and in one hymn she is even called Great Royal Spouse united with Re.

This epiteth stems from Aset as the sister-spouse of Wesir. In her role as his mourner when he is murdered by Set, she is joined by her sister NebtHet and in this context the two of them appears together also in a funerary context during the Middle Kingdom. They are frequently depicted either as two kites on opposite ends of the bier of the deceased, or in human form, standing protectively behind the throne of Wesir in the Netherworld. It is also said that Aset wailed and wept for Wesir so much that the water in the Nile rose, and since that time the inundation repeated itself every year.

The basis for this title comes from the myth where Aset by her magic restores life to Wesir and begets his son Heru. Through this she becomes the first single mother in existence. The myth goes on to tell about how Aset brings up Heru in secret in the marshes of Chemmis and protects him until he is old enough to claim his rightful heritage - the Throne of Egypt - from his uncle Set. This led to the kings of Egypt, when they ascended the throne, called themselves the Living Heru already from an early time in history. Thus, already at an early time Aset became the symbolical mother and protector of the Divine Kingship.

This is written on various temple walls (Philae among them) and included in aretalogies from the Late Period. They probably have their origin in earlier hymns attributed to other deities, perhaps foremost HetHert. They were employed to further stress the preeminence of Aset as a universal goddess having power over Creation itself, mother of the god (Heru), and the true Divine Queen of Egypt.

The Hymns at Philae
In the Late Period, there are a great number of epiteths given to Aset in the hymns at Philae, her center of worship at this time. Some of these epiteths and characterisations had already been used in other hymns for other deities, espeically HetHert. At Philae attributes and functions from HetHert and from other deities were transferred to Aset, purposefully placing her as the main deity here:
Lady of Philae
Lady of Abaton
Creator of all Life
God´s Mother
First Royal Spouse of Onnophris

The hymns on the temple walls at Philae clearly extol Aset as the supreme deity, not only in her temple at the island of Philae, but all over Egypt, from south to north as well as on the earth and the netherworld. She is repeatedly referred to as the 'Lady of Philae and Bigeh', 'Lady of the Southern Lands', 'Lady of Upper and Lower Egypt'. As Philae is an important frontier of Egypt towards Nubia, the king´s victory over his enemies depend on Aset who is supplicated to in order to assure him of her powerful support.

This is a title Aset upholds especially at Philae. Abaton is the mound on Bigeh where Wesir, her spouse, is said to be buried. She is here named as the sovereign goddess of the 'Sacred Mound'. This is where she goes every week to conduct rites in his honor, thus manifesting her role as devoted wife and mourner.

It is at Philae that she is most significantly posed as the 'Creator of all life', who brought the universe into existence 'through what her heart conceived and her hands created', which is an adaption from ancient terminology used at Memphis for Ptah. But as Creator of all life, she rules not only the sphere of the living but also the Netherworld. She is shown in her aspect as the uraeus of Re, travelling with him in his night-barque. There in the Netherworld she meets her husband-brother Wesir, king of the land of the dead.

In connection with this, she is given the title 'God´s Mother', posing her as a mother goddess, something which earlier goddesses (like Nut, Nit and HetHert) had been, and were still at this time, called. But she also appears in various hymns as 'Lady of Heaven', 'Mistress of the gods', 'Ruler of gods and goddesses' which again shows her both as a universal creator of deities and as mother of the king as well as of all things in the universe. Also her royal position is shown here with several examples like 'First Royal Spouse of Onnophris' and 'Divine mother of Heru', placing her as the symbolical mother of the living king, a tradition which several of the Ptolemeians continued and by which queens from this period identified themselves with Aset. Although a mother-goddess and originator of all life, she still was called 'the eldest in the womb of Nut'. Such contradictions are to be found frequently in the old texts and at Philae it has to be taken as a sign of the author´s intention to put emphasis on those roles and functions which clearly places Aset as the supreme deity of life and creation, not only in her new center of worship but all over Egypt.

A few of her functions can be distilled out of this: healer, protector, bringer of the inundation, giver of life.

Healer and protector:

In the myth Seven Scorpions her son the young Heru is bitten by a snake sent by Set. Aided by the scorpions and by Djehuty, Aset manages to cure her child by causing the poison to yield. This actiongives rise to both Aset and Heru being regarded as protectors against poisonous bites. Aset became by time greatly worshipped for her healing and protective powers. Medicinal treatment in ancient Egypt was accompanied by incantation and prayers; in the case of Aset, it was considered enough with just the prayer. Love spells and amulets (the Tyet knot) connected to Aset were frequently used both for the living and placed with mummies for protection.

She is of course protector of her child Heru and through this she became a mother deity to turn to for commoners in need. She was also the "Protector of Imsety", one of the four sons of Heru (Horus), who protects the liver of the deceased.

Bringer of Inundation:

As bringer of the Inundation, she is personified as the star Sopdet (Sirius, Gr: Sothis), which heralded the lifegiving inundation. When this star became visible over the horizon towards the end of July, it is a sign that the new year is about to begin and that the inundation of the Nile is approaching, meaning life and prosperity is returning to Kemet. The connection of Aset as the giver of life was associated with the lifegiving waters of the Nile. As Sopdet in the sky Aset is the companion of Wesir (Osiris), who is symbolized by the star Sah (Orion).

She is also called, in various texts: Female Heru, Crown of Re-Heru, Lady of the New Year, Maker of the Sunrise, Lady of Heaven, the Light-Giver of Heaven, Queen of the Earth".

This image shows an almost schematic picture of how Aset merged with Isis.
To the far left she is shown with her original hieroglyph, the throne above her head.
In the middle she wears the horned solar disc combined with the throne,
now she is being merged with Het-hert (Hathor).
Finally she is pictured as the Great Mother in the shape of a cow-headed female
crowned with the horned solar disc and two plumes.

Image: postcard bought at Ägyptishes Museum, Berlin.
All rights reserved.

Symbols

The Throne & the Isis Knot

The Throne	The Knot

The Throne is the symbol which goes the farthest back in time and by which her name was written already in the Old Kingdom. It indicates the important role she held in regards to the transmission of kingship. It is believed to depict a throne, or seat upon which the ancient kings would take their seat, thus the significance of Aset as the Royal Mother, the 'seat from which the King rose'.

The Knot of Aset, the tet, or tyet, is another one of her symbols. The tyet was known already in the Pyramid age, but the original meaning became lost through time. From the New Kingdom period and onwards it became a special symbol of Aset. It resembles the ankh, but its "arms" are bent down. It also resembles the knot in the girdle that gods sometimes can be seen wearing. Made of a semi-precious red stone, it is also called the Blood of Aset. It has been found decorating tombs, together with the djed-pillar that is connected to Wesir (Osiris), thus the two powerful forces, Aset and Wesir, are joined together, signifying the unity of the opposing world forces and thereby pointing at the unconquerable nature of life.

The popularity of Aset grew by time and spread around the Mediterranean countries and even far beyond. She endured longer than any other Egyptian goddess into the Greek and Roman days when she became interpreted according to their cultural values and religious viewpoints. From there on she took the step more or less directly into the image of the Virgin Mary.