Nebet-anch
| Nebet-ankh in hieroglyphics | ||||||
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| Old empire |
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| New kingdom |
Nebet-anch Nbt-ˁnḫ mistress of life |
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Nebet-anch is an ancient Egyptian goddess of birth, which is already documented in the Old Kingdom .
Presentation and appearance
In the New Kingdom she is iconographically seen either as a standing deity with arms hanging down or with arms outstretched. She holds the sign of life Ankh in her hand .
In addition, Nebet-anch was shown sitting on a two-headed cobra with a bulging body. In this form of appearance, she protects her face with her hand. Later on, Nebet-ankh wore either a sun disk or a star on her head and in her hand.
She also functioned in her appearance as Hathor , Isis , Mut , Nechbet , Wadjet , Bastet , Neith , Selket , Heket , Sachmet , Mesechenet-menchet , Nephthys , Renenutet , Maat , Qebehut , Sopdet and Auge des Re .
Mythological connections
In the Middle Kingdom she was one of the two wet nurses of the deceased and was entitled "The Secret"; it was also responsible for guiding the sunlight that the deceased became after his death.
In the New Kingdom she is the fourth goddess of the eleventh and fourth hour of the night in the Amduat . In the Saïten period ( 26th dynasty ) the fourth night hour was named after her. She was also guardian of the fifth gate of the fifth hour of the night as well as goddess of the ninth hour of the day and one of the 40 deities from the " Book of the Day ". In this epoch, Nebet-ankh belongs to "the deities whose faces are responsible for the headwind in the duat ". She also bore the further title "Lady of Prosperity" and "was glad when the enemies of her master were felled".
During the later period she was the " Horus eye of the cobra". In the Greco-Roman times , Nebet-ankh additionally protected the deity of the fifth gate in the duat, who is "on the tree of Horus ". The king ( Pharaoh ) was considered her son. Her name was explained in a play on words : "Her name is Nebet-ankh because she gives life".
See also
literature
- Rainer Hannig : Large Concise Dictionary Egyptian-German: (2800-950 BC) . von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-8053-1771-9 , p. 1242.
- Christian Leitz u. a .: Lexicon of the Egyptian gods and names of gods . (LGG) Vol. 4: Nbt-h (= Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta. Vol. 113). Peeters, Leuven 2002, ISBN 90-429-1149-2 , p. 28.