Per Ankh

Nit (Gr: Neith) Local goddess of Zau (Gr: Sais), known as early as the Predynastic and Early Dynastic Period when her influence probably was at its height. Earliest traces are her hieroglyph (crossed arrows on a shield) on a pole in front of the reed shrines and on pottery from Dynasty I in Abydos. Nit is sometimes a goddess of war, sometimes the patroness of weawing, a mortuary goddess and in later times an androgynous Creator goddess. Her function as a deity of war is probably the earliest one, mainly shown by her attributes the bow, shield and arrows. She blessed the hunter´s weapons and in early times weapons were laid as protection around coffins. Even before the unification of the two countries she was the most important deity of Lower Egypt and therefore the red crown made of reeds, also called Nit, became the symbol of Lower Egypt. She is called 'the Terrifying One' and as a mortuary deity she protects the king; together with Aset, Serket and Nebt-Het she watches over the canopic jars. In this company she also watched over Wesir´s bier. Through her capacity of patron deity of weawing, the mummy wrappings and linen bandages gave power to the deceased as they were a gift from her, but the hieroglyph often called a weaver's shuttle has not yet been satisfactorily verified. In this context the myth tells of her intervention when Aset and Nebt-Het are forced to work by Set. Through the negotiations of Djehuty (Thoth) Nit agreed to let her own weavers take their places so they could be freed from the imprisonment of Set. In another myth, the 'Contendings of Heru and Set' she is called upon by the other gods to judge in the conflict because of her great wisdom. During the Third Intermediate she was a national deity and considered the spouse of Khnum at Esna, which she remained into the Ptolemaic times, several depictions of her is found here as well as of her sacred lates-fish, and at Abydos she was connected to the rites of renewal of the king´s power. In the Late period her cult center was at Zau (Gr: Sais), in Lower Egypt. She was then seen as the mother of Sobek and of Re, and therefore given the epithet 'Mother of Gods'. It is thought her name has associations with water - Nit - Nun - Nunet, and in later times she was regarded as a primeval deity with both male and female properties. At this time she was called 'Father of the Fathers' and 'Mother of the Mothers'. During the 26th Dynasty she was the local goddess of Zau. This position was incorporated into the Greek and Roman pantheon and associated with their Athena and Diana.

Main center of worship: Sais/Zau 5th Nome, Lower Egypt Other sites: Probably one in 4th Nome, name unknown, Lower Egypt Naukratis, 7th Nome, Lower Egypt Iunyt/Latopolis, 2nd Nome, Upper Egypt Festivals: (exact dates not historically verified) 7th September - 21st Paopi - Neith Goes forth to Atum 13th September - 27th Paopi - Festival of lighting the fires of Neith 8th December - 23rd Tybi - Feast of Neith 26th December - 11th Mechir - Feast of Neith 19th January - 5th Pamenot - The brilliant festival of Lights as Neith Goes Forth from Sais 10th May - 26th Payni - Going Forth of Neith along the river For a virtual page: Go Here

From the beginning a local goddess in El Kab (Nekheb), later one of the two goddesses of Upper and Lower Egypt. She and the goddess Ouadjet represented the symbolical two halves of Egypt. Their forms showed Nekhbet as a vulture and Ouadjet as a snake. Together they embodied the two crowns of the country and were part of the royal insignia. They also represented the mythical mothers of the king and were shown offering their nurturing breasts to him. In the New Kingdom Nekhbet was worshipped as a goddess of childbirth, often shown as a woman wearing a vulture skin.

Main center of worship: Nekheb/Eileithyiaspolis/El Kab Other sites: Per-Wadjet/Buto, 5th Nome, Lower Egypt The Two Crowns - Nekhbet & Wadjet

Nebt-Het (Gr: Nephtys) meaning "Mistress of the House", which is a title rather than a name, and the same word as her hieroglyphic sign shown above her head. Also called "Friend of the Dead". Daughter to Geb and Nut of the Heliopolitan Ennead, sister to Aset (Gr: Isis), Wesir, (Gr: Osiris) and sister-spouse to Set. In later times said to be the mother of Inpew (Anubis). She is seldom mentioned other than with her sister, whose faithful companion she always is, helping her mourn and prepare the deceased Wesir and accompanying him into the Netherworld. She also protects and takes care of the young Heru child, son of Aset. She is sometimes associated with the linen bandages that are used for the mummy. Although frequently mentioned in the Pyramid Texts and the Book of Going Forth By Day (the Book of the Dead), she doesn´t seem to have had a worship of her own and no temples of cult centres of hers have survived.

Main center of worship: Iunu/Heliopolis/Cairo, 13 th Nome, Lower Egypt Recent fieldwork has discovered at least four other cult centers for Nebt-Het, pointing at a probable importance during the 19th and 20th dynasties and into the Ptolemaic times: Hiw/Diospolis Parva, 7th Nome, Upper Egypt. Sepermeru near Oxyrrhynchus, 19th Nome, Upper Egypt. Kom Mir, to Nebt-Het/Anuket. Djew-qa/Antaeopolis, 10 Nome, Upper Egypt. (there might be more). Festivals: (exact dates not historically verified) 18th of July, the 5th Epagomenal Day is the Birthday of Nebet-Het (Nephtys) 30th August - 13th Paopi - Day of Satisfying the Hearts of the Ennead 3rd October - 17th Hethara - Lamentations of Aset (Isis)and Nebet-Het (Nephthys) for Wasir (Osiris). 29th October - 13th Koiak - Day of Going Forth of Het-Hert and the Ennead 15th November - 30th Koiak - The Ennead feast in the House of Ra, Heru and Wasir

Nun/Pesdjet

Nun was the god who personified the primeval waters, the chaos which existed before there was shape and form, the dark liquid mass out of which there appeared the creator-god. Nun is regarded as having no surface, stretching into infinity. Not subject to cosmic order (Maat), Nun’s watery chaos is even so considered beneficial. Amenhotep III constructed a pool at Thebes in which the god delighted. Nun is without peer in the Egyptian cosmos, as he is regarded as the “father of the gods”. His consort is Naunet. Once the creation of the universe had taken place, Nun continued to exist beyond its boundaries, within the waters of the earth and those of the river Nile. He was written with the hieroglyphic sign for water and represented by the purifying lakes which belonged to every temple. He also played a part in the rituals for laying out the foundation of a new temple structure. In iconography, Nun is depicted with his arms thrust out at the sun at the twelfth hour, a bearded man waist-high in water, supporting the sacred solar barque Manjet

Nun had no temples or priesthood, and was never worshipped as a personified deity. Instead he was regarded as present in the sacred lakes that were to be found at all temples.

Nut, belonging to the Heliopolitan Ennead was the mistress of all heavenly bodies and was thought to be reaching across the sky from horizon to horizon, touching them with her hands and feet. She was seen as the mother of Re, who swallowed him up every evening and gave birth to him again every morning. She was thus connected to resurrection and the tomb. The coffin, decorated with stars, was seen as the heavens, i.e. Nut herself in whose body the deceased rested until he awoke to new life.

Main Temple: Nut was one of the cosmic deities and as such was never worshipped in a personified form. No temples or specific cult places are known. Festivals: (exact dates not historically verified) 6th August - 19th Thuti - Festival of Nut and Ra 27th August - 10th Paopi - Birthday of Nut 30th August - 13th Paopi - Day of Satisfying the Hearts of the Ennead 4th January - 20 Mechir - Day of Nut and Raet proceeding southward 1st February - 18th Pamenot - Feast of Nut 2nd february - 19th Pamenot - Birhtday of Nut 26th February - 13th Parmutit - Day of Nut 5th May - 21st Payni - Day of the Living children of Nut

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