Spanning over large dominions as distant as the roman empire and the grecoroman realm, egyptian mythology was a. Seshat, under various spellings, was the ancient egyptian goddess of wisdom, knowledge, and. Star of seshat a thought making crooked all that is. Over the past 15 years i have developed a devotion to the dead and relationships with egyptian deities who guide, protect. Seshat is often described as the scribe goddess as she was the record keeper for the pharoah and the dead. Dec 03, 2017 seshat was also sometimes depicted helping nephthys revive the deceased in the afterlife in prepration for their judgment by osiris in the hall of truth. Seshat was the essence of cosmic intuition, creating the geometry of the heavens alongside thoth. Seshat was the goddess of libraries, knowledge, and geomancy, among other things. Anyone who read it would become the most powerful sorcerer in the world, but would be cursed by their knowledge. Handbook of egyptian mythology provides a brief discussion about the nature of myths. The symbol is representative of the egyptian goddess, seshat. In egyptian mythology, seshat was originally the deification of the concept of wisdom, and so became a goddess of writing, astronomy, astrology, architecture, and mathematics. Seshat 1 the female thoth, egyptian keeper of historical.
As reality is based on duality, one could consider seshat the feminine aspect of thoth. The mistress of the house of books, she who is the scribe, the mistress. I started to write a reply to his comment, but then it ran away with me, so i thought i would answer in a separate post. Unlike the major gods of egypt, seshat never had her own temples. But, no temple has been found till now, which can be assigned only to the goddess. This actually means gold horus, so seshat was sometimes associated with isis. Seshat egyptian goddess of writing consort to the god thoth sometimes sister, sometimes wife who brought writing and hieroglyphs to the egyptian people, the goddess seshat was tasked with presiding over all that was written. When thoth became the god of wisdom, seshat was seen as his daughter, or sometimes, as his wife.
She was portrayed as a female wearing a headband with horns and a star with her name written on it. List of egyptian gods aah aah was an ancient moon god of egypt. From a professional point of view, i followed a scientific career. In egyptian mythology, seshat also spelled safkhet, sesat, seshet, sesheta, and seshata was the goddess of wisdom, knowledge, and writing. She is the goddess of wisdom and writing and thoth is the decoder of this information to humanity. She was shown recording the booty gained by kings in battle, perhaps as a reminder that a share was due to the gods. Aker aker was an ancient egyptian earth god and the deification of the horizon. Seshat sesha, sesheta or safekhaubi was a goddess of reading, writing. Anhur anhur was a foreign god of war and hunting originall. Seshat is the egyptian record keeper of the gods and a goddess to whom history, writing and books are all sacred.
I have always been passionate about reading, mythology and ancient civilizations. Seshat sesha, sesheta or safekhaubi was a goddess of reading, writing, arithmetic and architecture who was seen as either the female aspect of thoth, his daughter or his wife. Discover fascinating information and facts about seshat the egyptian god of. The complete gods and goddesses of ancient egypt by. She was also the patroness of mathmatics, architecture and recordkeeping. Gods, pharaohs and book of the dead from at least 4000 bce to the death of cleopatra vii in 30 ce, egyptian mythology was the foundation of ancient egyptian culture. Hence the choice of my pseudo seshat, an egyptian deity symbolizing writing, knowledge and wisdom see the article who is seshat. She was the consort of the god djhuty thoth, and both.
The name thoth is familiar to most, but how many know of the goddess seshat. She was depicted as a woman with a sevenpointed emblem above her head. She was the scribe of the pharaoh, recording all of. List of egyptian gods and goddesses egyptian mythology. Shes also the worlds oldest accountant and the worlds oldest architect. Seshat is the ancient egyptian deity for wisdom, knowledge and writing whose following date back as early as the second dynasty.
She was an exotic dancer with spiritrealm connections. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading egyptian mythology. Seshat the lady of numbers posted by lesley jackson the ancient egyptians, wise people, had goddesses aplenty but the fame of a few, such as isis and hathor, has overshadowed and absorbed many others. The complete gods and goddesses of ancient egypt book. It was said that he was the author of the spells in the book of the dead and book of breathings which was also attributed to isis and he was given the grand title, the author of every work on every branch of knowledge, both human and divine. In the book of thoth one epithet of seshat is mistress of the sustenance of the foremost of the chamber of darkness the chamber of darkness is often referred to and probably alludes to the need to withdraw from mundane life and focus on the inner life as well as suggesting aspects of the afterlife. Gods, pharaohs and book of the dead of egyptian mythology. Seshat, ancient egyptian goddess of writing and measurement. Nov 18, 2016 seshat was also sometimes depicted helping nephthys revive the deceased in the afterlife in prepration for their judgment by osiris in the hall of truth.
Seshat simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Seshat, in ancient egyptian religion, the goddess of writing and measurement and the ruler of books. Seshat, under various spellings, was the ancient egyptian goddess of wisdom, knowledge, and writing. Egyptian mythology is the collection of myths from ancient egypt, which describe the actions of the egyptian gods as a means of understanding the world around them.
According to egyptian mythology, the bennu bird was born from the flames of a burning persea tree. Egyptian mythology speaks of the book of thoth in which the god inscribed all of the secrets of the universe. She was the scribe of the pharaoh, recording all of his achievements and triumphs including recording both the. She is known as the mistress of the house of books, she who is foremost in the library, and mistress of books because she guarded the library of the gods. Captivating egyptian myths of egyptian gods, goddesses, and legendary creatures. The daughter of thoth, shes the holy head librarian of egyptian mythology.
As early as the dynasty ii, seshat was shown with the pharaoh stretching a cord to measure the dimensions of a new temple. Goddess seshat who was a divine timekeeper recorded calendric events by observing the cycle of the stars. Though she shared these duties with her husband, thoth, seshat was primarily a royal goddess. As a concept, kuk was viewed as having male and female qualities. His female form was known as kauket also spelled as keket, which.
In art, she was shown as a woman with a stylised papyrus plant above her head. If thoth can teach it, seshat, the ancient egyptian goddess of knowledge, can do it. Explore the gods and goddesses of egyptian mythology, from the familiar to the lesserknown, through 20 easytofollow myths. Abdur rahman asked recently about the meaning of my avatar symbol. Featuring illustrated myths of incredible egyptian gods and goddesses, these stories describe the magic each deity performed along the nile. She was the scribe of the pharaoh, recording all of his achievements and triumphs including recording both the booty and the captives taken in battle. In egyptian mythology, seshat was originally the deification of the concept of. Oct 18, 2017 the egyptian goddess seshat is one of the lesserknown egyptian deities, and yet she was an enduring one. Take a look at the gods, goddesses, and artifacts of the longextinct ancient egyptian empire with captivating illustrations and photos.
Guest author nandani felicia bharrat writes seshat and the clitoris. Kek also spelled as kek or keku is basically the ancient egyptian deity of darkness. Teaser intro lots more to come on seshat, heliopolis, karnak, houses of life and ancient egyptian records. He, too, was a measurer and recorder of time, as was seshat. Captivating egyptian myths of egyptian gods, goddesses, and legendary creatures kindle edition by clayton, matt. Her name means female scribe and the art of the scribe was her area. I understand the principle of drawing parallels between religious traditions to understand archetypal concepts, but maat in my mind is peculiarly egyptian. Seshat also given as sefkhetabwy and seshet is the egyptian goddess of the written word. Anat anat was a goddess of fertility, sexual love, hunting and war of canaanite. Seshat in egyptian mythology, seshat also spelled safkhet, sesat, seshet seshat the egyptian goddess of knowledge. The 10 best egyptian mythology books norse mythology for. This symbolised writing since the egyptians wrote on a material. Seshat was the ancient egyptian idea of knowledge, shown as a goddess. Seshat, whose name meant female scribe, was an ancient egyptian goddess who was a patroness of writing, accounting, record keeping, libraries, and anything having to do with books in other words, anything that pertained to the scribal arts as they were practiced in ancient egypt.
She was the consort of the god djhuty thoth, and both were divine scribes sesb. It would seem that as time went on thoth eclipsed seshat, although she still appeared as his consort. In the coffin texts, a collection of funerary spells written beginning in the first intermediate period c. She keeps all the books for the gods, looks after tax returns and is also a dab hand at architecture, astronomy and archives. Lovecraft also used the word thoth as the basis for his god, yogsothoth, a god of knowledge. Seshat seshat also given as sefkhetabwy and seshet is the egyptian goddess of the written word. Mistress of the house of books is another title for seshat, being the deity whose priests oversaw the library in which scrolls of the most important.
Seshat is the goddess of writing, astronomy, astrology, architecture, and mathematics. Youll also learn about how egyptian mythology was a key part of ancient egyptian culture, like pyramid building, the mummification process, and even the worshiping of cats. Goddess of astronomy aligned sacred monuments to the. Seshat was even said to descend into the underworld to record everything in the realm of the dead. Egyptian mythology is the collection of myths from ancient egypt, which describe the actions of the egyptian gods as a means of understanding the world. She was seen as a scribe and record keeper, and her name translates as she who scrivens, and is credited with inventing writing. Seshat in egyptian mythology, seshat was the ancient egyptian goddess of wisdom, knowledge, and writing. Its not a selfcontained book, by which i mean that the copious information contained therein will spur you on, hungry to know more in both the cerebral and experiential sense of gnowing. A limestone relief slab depicting seshat, the egyptian goddess of writing. She hailed from lower egypt yet her following embraces the whole nation. She was seen as a scribe and record keeper, and her name means she who scrivens i.
In the funeral rituals carved on to the pyramids of old kingdom pharaohs, seshat is mentioned a few times, to guide and protect them on their way to heaven. Jul 30, 2001 the house of life appears often in the book of thoth, and thus provides a milieu in which the goddess may be expected to be active. Aleister crowleys egyptian style thoth tarot deck and its written description in his 1944 book the book of thoth were named in reference to the theory that tarot cards were the egyptian book of thoth. Seshats themes are honor, learning, history, time and karma. It is unclear what this emblem represents but to many, the seshat carving is sporting what looks like a 5point cannabis sun leaf. Seshat plays an important part in a manuscript nicknamed the book of thoth, a dialogue between thoth and a seeker who may be a scribe, since the text deals with a scribes work, the gods thoth, seshat and imhotep and the afterlife. The egyptian goddess seshat is one of the lesserknown egyptian deities, and yet she was an enduring one. In this capacity, the goddess would have helped the new arrival recognize the spells of the egyptian book of the dead, enabling the soul to move on toward the hope of paradise. As goddess of writing, seshat was the keeper of royal annals and genealogies. His female form was known as kauket also spelled as keket, which is simply the female form of the word kuk.
Seshat is the worlds oldest librarian, and you know she can hear you chewing that gum while you do your homework. She was seen as a scribe and record keeper, she is known as the mistress of the house of book. Thoth was one of the earlier egyptian gods, thought to be scribe to the gods, who kept a great library of scrolls, over which one of his wives, seshat the goddess of writing was thought to be mistress. Gods, pharaohs and book of the dead of egyptian mythology weaver, stephan on. In egyptian mythology, seshat also spelled safkhet, sesat, seshet, sesheta, and seshata was the ancient egyptian goddess of wisdom, knowledge, and writing. Her name literally means female scribe and she is regularly depicted as a woman wearing a leopard skin draped over her robe with a headdress of a sevenpointed star arched by a crescent in the form of a bow. Seshat, whose name meant female scribe, was an ancient egyptian.
In egyptian mythology, thoth is the god of wisdom, time, writing, magic and the moon. The beliefs that these myths express are an important part of ancient egyptian religion. The bennu bird was very similar to the phoenix, the bird of immortality. He was associated by the egyptians with speech, literature, arts, learning. Seshat the egyptian goddess of writing egyptian mythology. Handbook to life in ancient egypt revised by rosalie david. The house of life appears often in the book of thoth, and thus provides a milieu in which the goddess may be expected to be active. The egyptians believed that she invented writing, while thoth taught writing to mankind. Seshat seshat is the ancient egyptian deity for wisdom, knowledge and writing whose following date back as early as the second dynasty. Ancient origins articles related to seshat in the sections of history, archaeology, human origins, unexplained, artifacts, ancient places and myths and legends. In art, she was depicted as a woman with a sevenpointed emblem above her head. See more ideas about egyptian goddess, egyptian and ancient egypt.
Kuk mythology simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Seshat was an ancient goddess of writing and measurement. The book of thoth is a legendary book containing powerful spells and knowledge, said to have been buried with the prince neferkaptah meaning perfect ka of ptah in egyptian in the city of the dead. The notion that seshat is the patron goddess of cannabis is not so farfetched. However she did not just copy information provided by others, she was an author in her own right. She became the goddess of writing, astronomyastrology, architecture, and mathematics. The ancient egyptian goddess seshat above in her role as the goddess who measures is depicted with a hemp leaf in her head dress. The spells of the egyptian book of the dead are the best examples of. Seshat the goddess was actually the sole true creator of the hieroglyph. Underworld is a fantastic book for anyone walking the path of the dead. Godchecker guide to seshat also known as sesat, the egyptian goddess of writing from egyptian mythology. The 10 best egyptian mythology books egyptian mythology for. She was known as mistress of the house of books, indicating that she also took.