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Neith | |||||||
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Name in hieroglyphs |
or
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Major cult center | Sais, Esna | ||||||
Symbol | bow, shield, arrows, ankh, loom, mummy cloth, click beetle [1] | ||||||
Parents | None, self-created | ||||||
Consort | Khnum,[2] Set[a] | ||||||
Offspring | Sobek,[3] Ra,[4] Apep,[b] Tutu,[5] Serket |
Neith /ˈniː.ɪθ/ (Koinē Greek: Νηΐθ, a borrowing of the Demotic form Ancient Egyptian: nt, likely originally to have been nrt "the terrifying one"; also spelled Nit, Net, or Neit)[6] was an early Libyan deity [7][8][9] worshipped by Libyans and ancient Egyptians.[10][11][12] She was adopted from Libya (or was a divinity of the local Libyan population in Sais in Egypt, where her oracle was located).[12] Her worship is attested as early as Predynastic Egypt, around 6000 BC.[c][13][14][15] She was said to be the creator and governor of the universe and the inventor of birth.[6] She was the goddess of the cosmos, fate, wisdom, water, rivers, mothers, childbirth, hunting, weaving, and, originally, war.[16]
The inscription on Neith’s temple in Sais in the Nile Delta (now modern Sa el-Hagar) read:
I am all that has been, that is, and that will be. No mortal has yet been able to lift the veil that covers me.[12][17]
Neith was the tutelary deity of Sais (Coptic: ⲥⲁⲓ Sai from Egyptian Zau) in the western Nile Delta of Lower Egypt, where her cult was centered. It is attested as early as the First Dynasty.[18] Neith was also one of the three tutelary deities of the southern city of Latopolis (Koinē Greek: Λατόπολις) or Esna (Snē) (Sahidic Coptic: ⲥⲛⲏ from earlier Egyptian: t3-snt, also iwnyt)[19][20]. Latopolis was located on the western bank of the River Nile some 55 kilometres (34 mi) south of Luxor (Thebes). She was associated with Athena, and was said to have migrated from Libya to build her temple at Sais in the Nile Delta.[21]
The temple of Sais, in the western delta, the chief centre of Libyan influence in Egypt, bore the name of 'House of the king of Lower Egypt'. The chief goddess of this temple was Neith ('the terrible with her bows and arrows') and she was 'living in the west'. The Libyans of north-west Egypt, especially in Sais, tattooed the emblem of Neith upon their arms. It seems that Sais was the residence of a Libyan king of the delta at a certain time. The origin of the uraeus, the royal serpent of the Pharaohs, is said to be traced to an early Libyan king of the delta, as shown from the reliefs discovered in Sahure's pyramid-temple at Abusir bearing the drawing of four Libyan chiefs wearing on their brows this royal emblem. It is worth noting that the Tehenu was the principal Libyan tribe who used to infiltrate into Egypt before the Libyan invasions, which will be dealt with later.
Il faut citer en premier lieu la déesse égypto-libyque Nît, très ancienne mais particulièrement adorée durant l'époque saïte, au moment où la Basse-Egypte est soumise à une forte influence libyenne et où règne une dynastie de même origine. Nît[We must first mention the Egyptian-Libyan goddess Nit, very ancient but particularly worshiped during the Saite era, when Lower Egypt was subject to a strong Libyan influence and where a dynasty of the same origin reigned. Nit]
Neith may have originally been a fertility deity corresponding to the goddess Tanit who was later worshipped in North Africa at Carthage
Sais had an old sanctuary, the temple of the goddess Neith, and in prehistoric times seems to have been the center of a Lower Egyptian kingdom
was worshipped early in the Pre-Dynastic Period (c. 6000 - 3150 BCE)
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