There were numerous gods and goddesses within the ancient Egyptian religious system. Nekhbet was one important goddess among them. Earlier, Egypt was divided into two parts that were Upper Egypt in the south and Lower Egypt in the north of the country.
What was Nekhbet goddess of?
Nekhbet was considered as the patron goddess of Upper Egypt in the south in pre-dynastic period. She was also known as the vulture goddess of Upper Egypt. There were some alternative names to address Nekhbet that were Nekhebit, Nekhebet, Nechbet etc.
What is the origin of name Nekhbet?
The name Nekhbet came from the name of Nekheb that was the main city of Upper Egypt where she was worshipped as a local deity. That is the reason that the meaning of his name is ‘she of Nekheb’. The city of Nekheb was identified with the modern day’s El Kab.
According to ancient Egyptian pyramid texts, she was considered as “Mother of Mothers, who has existed from the beginning”, “Daughter of the Sun” etc. It was also believed that she had enormous breasts that’s why she was also known as “Great White Cow of Nekheb”.
Goddess of Childbirth and Protection
Sometimes she was also shown as the patron of nature and childbirth.In the initial stage, she was mainly associated with the protection of royal mothers and children but in the later period, gradually she came to be available for the mass of Egypt.
Nekhbet Vulture Goddess
The head of the vulture in her combine depiction of human and bird represents the concept of purity. In her iconographic depiction, she has depicted also with the white crown or the ‘Atef’ crown that indicates the significance of Upper Egypt. Her priestesses were believed to be known as ‘Muu’ who also wore robes made of human feathers.
Two Ladies Nekhbet and Wadjet
During the phase of unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, she was put together in a pair with another famous goddess that was Wadjet, the cobra goddess and the patron goddess of Lower Egypt. From that time, this pair came to be known as the ‘Two Ladies’.
According to ancient Egyptian pyramid texts, the ‘Two Ladies’ concept basically was an important symbolism that represents the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. In the depiction of ‘Two Ladies’, the wings of these two goddesses represent their protective nature towards the pharaohs of Egypt. It was believed that these goddesses came into presence during the crowning of pharaohs.
Nekhbet, along with Wadjet often were depicted as the ‘Uraeus’ that is two cobras around the sun disc and placed in the crown of the pharaohs. This revealed the unified power of Egypt.
Association with Horus
Sometimes, she was also depicted as protector of pharaohs during wars. According to Egyptian mythology, Nekhbet and Wadjet both played an important role as security while Horus, another significant Egyptian god was fighting with his enemies in a form of winged and burning disc.
Other Significance & Symbolism
According to ancient Egyptian texts, she was strongly connected with the creation myths in several versions. In mythology, she was strongly associated with funeral imagery.
Another myth shows her association with the cult of Osiris where she was believed to be present at the birth of Osiris. Association of Nekhbet with ‘Eyes of Ra’ also can be found in ancient Egyptian mythology, which symbolizes her association with both sun and moon.
Apart from her main symbols such as her ‘Atef’ crown and feathers of protection, she owns other significant symbols. One is the round “Shen Ring’ which symbolizes the divine power. Lotus was another important symbol which symbolizes the sun, rebirth, regeneration, creation and also represents Upper Egypt.
Cult Centre of Nekhbet
The main cult centre of Nekhbet was located at Buto. Later, during the period of New Kingdom, the place of Nekhbet was replaced by the powerful mother goddess Mut, the consort of sun god Amun.
