Iaret

Iaret (also Jaret, Aret, Uaret ) was an ancient Egyptian snake goddess who has been documented since the Old Kingdom . Iaret acted as both the dead and the goddess of rebirth . In Egyptian mythology , she was initially considered to be the king's snake ( pharaoh ), which protects him and renews his life in the duat .

background

Old empire

Iaret was originally born as the daughter of Seth and embodied as Hathor the mother of Horus , who as a heavenly deity is reborn every day by Horus in his appearance as a falcon and emerges from his Horus eye . The Egyptians also saw Iaret as Sopdet , who was responsible for the flood of the Nile . From mythological texts it emerges that Iaret like Sopdet is annually taken away and brought back in equation as Sirius . In the cult of the dead , Iaret received the deceased king in their evening barque and protected him during his reign in the Duat.

By the 4th dynasty emerging cult of the sun god Re divine changed Iarets assignment: She's the one coming out of Re and is located at the apex of Re . In addition, Iaret was now considered the Eye of Re . When Osiris was worshiped almost at the same time , Iaret appeared as Isis and, in her capacity as the patron goddess of Horus, destroyed the comrades of Seth in Chemmis .

Middle realm

In the Middle Kingdom , the essence of the Iaret was mainly located as a shining Hathor in the realm of the dead . She nourished the deceased after his arrival in the Duat until Iaret was finally completely eaten by him and became the body of the deceased . She therefore established her throne on the deceased and turned back into a cobra by sunrise on the horizon.

The birth process showed Iaret's original nature, since the deceased emerged from her in the form of child Horus . In contrast to Wadjet , which was placed on the head of the deceased, Iaret was on his forehead and let the air rise into his nose when he was reborn .

New kingdom

With the beginning of the New Kingdom , the renaissance of Iaret took place as the protective deity of the king and queen. In addition, she received the title First of Four Goddesses and in this context appeared powerfully like Tjenenet and Weret Hekau and Tefnut .

In the royal cult, her throne was on the queen's forehead . Iaret was the goddess who is cheered as a queen , while Apophis , the counterpart of the Iaraet, is spit on .

Greco-Roman time

In the Greco-Roman times , the worship of the Iaret experienced a new high point. The Egyptians saw in her the primary goddess Niut-hemset . It was subsequently transferred as an epithet to many deities: Isis, Sopdet, Wadjet, Hathor, Mut , Nechbet and Sachmet .

As further equations in the royal cult followed: The king burns incense for you , the king is your heir , the deceased should descend as Iaret , you protect with her glowing breath , the Sem priest burns incense for you , your eyes are the crowns of the two countries , you ensures health and menhit is the red crown in the shape of Iaret .

iconography

The representations of the Iaret changed several times in the course of ancient Egyptian history:

Old Kingdom: upright cobra with human head and hathor crown.
New Kingdom: Standing in human form with drooping arms and a cobra on his forehead as well as a fire-breathing cobra.
Greco-Roman Period: Lion-headed serpent with a solar disk on its head.

literature

Christian Leitz u. a .: Lexicon of the Egyptian gods and names of gods . Peeters, Leuven 2002, ISBN 90-429-1146-8 , pp. 140-141.