Nephthys – Egyptian Funerary Goddess Who Also Protected The Pharaohs While They Were Alive

A. Sutherland  - AncientPages.com - Egyptian goddess Nephthys - primarily associated with the myths of Heliopolis - was a funerary goddess and played a lesser role to her sister Isis. Otherwise, nothing is known about her before her appearance in these myths.

Nephthys goddess on the sarcophagus of Ramses III. Credit: Tangopaso - Public Domain

Her Egyptian name is "nebet-hut," which means "mistress of the mansion " However, any specific clue link to her true origin was never given. She was the daughter of Geb that symbolizes the beginning of everything in Egyptian mythology. Geb represented the beginning, fertility, and the earth. On the other hand, Nut was the mother goddess of all gods. Isis and Osiris were twin brothers of Nephthys, who eventually married another of his brothers, Seth.

It is confirmed that Nephtys' reign as an important goddess lasted all the way through the last Egyptian dynasty. It is also important to remember that she was one of the most ancient deities in Egyptian mythology.

In the Osiris myth, Nephtys (Nephthys) was one of the four deities involved in the Osiris myth, where she symbolically represented a partner to the god Seth. At the same time, the goddess Isis was the wife of Osiris. Based on one story, Nephthys had a sexual relation with Osiris, resulting in the birth of Anubis.

However, when Osiris is murdered, Nephthys - morning his death - helps her sister search for him, which is attested in the Pyramid Texts, where the goddess is "the one who floats in a night barge, while her sister Isis, in a day barge").

At first, she participated in the search for his body. Once the body of the murdered Osiris was recovered, both goddesses carried out a rite that allowed Osiris to be brought back to life.

It is believed that the tradition of embalming or mummifying the dead arose as a way to avoid the deterioration of the body of the deceased. Both sisters participated in the embalming of Osiris's body and helped him transit to the afterlife. Nephthys protected his mummy, standing at the head of his bed.

Nephthys was the companion of the god Ra during his night voyage through the underground realms.

As a funerary goddess, Nephthys was one of the most important deities protecting the dead. She was also one of the four divine guardians of the canopic jars and other items in royal and private burials. Due to her role, Isis, Selket, and Nephthys are closely associated with falcons, and their depictions were often shown on coffins in the form of winged women as protectors of the dead.

The two sisters were opposite to each other, like the mysterious death and night. Still, they acted together, and Nephthys was Isis' complement, symbolizing inferiority, infertile lands, and passivity.

Statue of Nephthys goddess at the Louvre Museum. Credit: Public Domain

In her relationship with the god Seth, Nephthys never had a child, and according to the Pyramid Texts, she was known as "the woman who has no vagina." Both Seth and Nephthys symbolized the world's chaos and destruction, while her sister in relationship with Osiris represented order and harmony.

She was depicted as a woman with a hieroglyph of her name on her head, often with two horns. Between them, a disc was placed that referred to this goddess as part of the solar cult. In the engravings of the time, it was located at the head of the deceased.

She had a connection with the Lower World but was also often entitled "The Goddess of Creation who lives in everything." Despite Nephthys' important role in ancient Egyptians' funerary beliefs, however, Nephthys had no temples or any representative cult center of her own.

According to myths and legends, Nephthys was a beautiful deity who protected the deceased and the pharaohs while they were alive and later when they died.

Written by – A. Sutherland  - AncientPages.com Senior Staff Writer

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