Nebt-hwt

'Mistress of the Temple.'

The intermediary for those who have passed on, providing protection and nourishment. The force inherent in the process of restoration with sacred fluids after mummification. She provides air with her wings for the soul to ascend to divine regions and guards the astral body on earth. She receives both the newly deceased and the initiate in the Duat.

Nephthys appears in the Heliopolitan account of Creation as the youngest daughter of Geb and Nut. The goddess is sister to Osiris, Isis and Set, whose spouse she is said to be. The later Theban priests identified Nut with Isis, the Lady of Denderah, and declared that the latter gave birth to her sister Nephthys in Hwt-Seshesh. She is one of the Great Ennead and ofttimes is mentioned as such in their company.

Nephthys is considered, foremost, to be a funerary deity who assists her sister Isis in mourning and protecting the dead. A large component of the Osirian mythology, she assists Isis in the protection and support of Osiris, as well as in his re-membering. This task is assimilated into the funerary mythology of kingship in particular, and the rest of the populace in general.

The goddess was well established by the time of the Pyramid Texts around 2400 BCE, appearing in at least fifty-nine spells.

The name Nephthys, nbt-Hwt, is interpreted as Lady of the Mansion. This appellation may refer either to the funerary temple, funerary chapel, or palace. Quite possibly, she may be the Lady of the Duat - the mansion of the dead. It is also likely, as Budge points out, that Hwt could refer the part of the sky that is the abode of Horus as Sun God. (Budge, II 254)

In any event, within the Solar mythology, Nephthys is undoubtedly associated with the depths of night, assisting and welcoming the deceased in reaching the Duat, and with the Night Barque itself:

pr.k hA.k hAw.k Hna nbt-Hwt snkkw Hna smktt

Ascend and descend, descend with Nephthys to darkness with the Night Barque.

PT 216-150 The king as a star fades at dawn with the other stars...

Dd-mdw: jw(.n.j) n xr.T nbt-Hwt; jw(n.j) n xr smktt

I have come to you Nephthys, I have come to you Night Barque

Sn nswt pn jn dwAt

this king is encircled (swallowed), reaching the Duat.

Epithets

Nebkhat - Lady of the body (of the Gods)

Wr nbt pt - Great Mistress of Heaven, as seen in the tomb of Ramesses X.

Hnwt jmnt, Lady of the West, a reference to Nephthys funerary role. From the 20th Dynasty tomb of Khaemwaset, Thebes.

Hnwt nTrw nbw - Mistress of All The Gods - as seen on the sarcophagus of Khonsu, Dynasty Nineteen.

Snt nTr aA - Sister of the Great God, from the Twenty-first Dynasty coffin of Paduamen, which continues on to say that she weeps for her father.

Hnwt jmnt, Lady of the West, a reference to Nephthys funerary role. From the 20th Dynasty tomb of Khaemwaset, Thebes.

These last few are purported to be epithets of the Goddess, but I have not found any mention of them in the texts that I have abailable: Dweller within Senu, Great goddess, Lady of Life, Eye of Re, Mistress of the Two Lands, The Creative Goddess who Liveth within On. (Budge, II 255)

Appearance

Nephthys appears anthropomorphically in most instances. Upon her head is the emblem that identifies her, nbt-Hwt, the glyph for lady plus the glyph for mansion, funerary chapel, or palace.

On occasion, Nephthys is portrayed with outstretched wings, as on the anthropoid coffin of Paduamen.

Wings symbolize a connection with the sky, specifically with the protective divine beings that inhabit the areas beyond the land, and with the solar myth. The rishi coffins depict the protective wings of the divine around the body of the deceased.

At times, the goddess is represented as a kite guarding the body of Osiris. The kite is a small, carrion- eating bird, that was normally found to inhabit the necropolis and whose vocalization is a loud, screeching cry.

PT523:

jw Ast jw nbt-Hwt, wat.sn m jmnt wat.sn m jAbt, wat.sn m Hat, wat.sn m Drt

Isis comes and Nephthys comes, one of them from the west and one of them from the east. One of them as a 'screecher' and one of them as a kite.

The pair have also been depicted as spitting cobras, as seen in KV19, the tomb of Prince Mentuherkhepshef.

As with other deities, Nephthys can syncretize with other netjers in order to assume their characteristics. Here she has syncretized with Seshat to restore the limbs of the deceased as she assisted in restoring those of Osiris-

PT 264-616 a-b

nbt-Hwt atw DbA.k nbt m rn.s pw n sSAt nbt iqdw

Nephtys restores your limbs (members) in this her name of Seshat, Lady of Builders

Worship

Nephthys had no formal temple of her own but was represented in sanctuaries of Isis and Anukis (goddess of the southern border of Egypt), on coffins, sarcophagi and shrines, and in tombs. After the 26th Dyansty, amulets of the goddess are found on almost every mummy. (Wilkinson, 160)

Her worship, as such, revolved around her aspect as a funerary deity. Her main function was as assistant to her sister Isis. I only found two instances in the Pyramid Texts where Nephthys is mentioned without Isis. The second of these refers to one of her main roles as rejoicing over the deceased.

PT 628-1786 Nephthys restores the king to life

Dd-mdw Hw.kw nswt ann.k nswt jnk nbt-Hwt j.n(.j) n nDr jm.k di.n.k jb.k n Dt.k

recitation: surge you up, King. Turn you back, King. I am Nephthys and I have come in order to take possession of you and give to you your heart in your body.

PT629-1787 Nephthys rejoices over the king

All other mentions of Nephtys are in relationship with Isis as mourner, protector, suckler of the dead, restorer to life, welcomer of the deceased in the afterlife, Midwife, and aid in trnasformation.

As Mourner:

CT 215

jw Ast Hr jmw aA, nbt-Hwt Hr rmjt

Isis is moaning greatly, Nephthys is weeping.

As Protector:

Chapter 151 BoD

Dd jn wsjr Anj mAa-Xrw nbt-Hwt pXr.n.j HA-tpw sn.j wsjr jj.j sn.j m-sA.k HA-tpw.k

Words said by Nephthys to the Osiris Ani, true of voice. I have encircled around my brother Osiris. I have come to be as your protection behind you.

From the Old Kingdom onward, Nephthys appears on canopic equipment and shrines as the tutelary deity of Hapy, one of the Four Sons of Horus, protecting the shrine and presiding over the lungs in the north. On the coffins of Tutankamun, a magical spell invoking Nephthys and Hapy says:

'Words spoken by Nephthys; I embrace with my arms that which is in me. I protect Hapi Osiris King Nebkheperure, true of voice before the Great God.' (Brier, 196)

In the same vein, the Theban Recension, Chapter 172, states "Your lungs are Nephthys..." (Faulkner, 129)

As Suckler of the Deceased:

PT 553-1354 a ressurection text

nswt n(j) Twt js AH snqw nbt-Hwt m mnD.s jAbty

King, as you are a spirit, Nephthys suckles you with her left breast.

As restorer:

PT 5 -

Dd-mdw jn nwt ttj rdj.n n.k snt.k nbt-Hwt n-Dr.s jm-k dj.s n.k jb.k n Dt.k

Recitation by Nut: O King, I have given to you your sister Nephthys, that she may lay hold of you and give to you your heart for your body.

PT 219-174 a-b

nbt-Hwt, sn pw wsjr nn dj.n.T sDb.f anx.f anx.f anx nswt pn

Nephthys, it is your brother this Osiris, you have caused to restore his life, he lives, this king lives...

As Midwife:

In a Middle Kingdom myth Nephthys, along with Isis, Meskhenet and Heqet go to the aid of one Ruddedet to assist in the birth of the three royal children who will become kings in the following dynasty. The goddesses disguise themselves as dancing girls while Khnum pretends to be their servant.

'Isis placed herself before her, Nephthys behind her, Heket hastened the birth...the child slid into her arms...' (Hawass, 87)

The mortuary temple of King Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri, depicts the royal birth scene with Nephthys, among other goddesses, attending Queen Ahmose at her delivery. (Lesko, 106)

Her association with childbirth is attested to in the Cairo Calendar, Here, where the fifth additional day is the birth of Nephthys, the words to be said on this day are: 'O Nephthys, daughter of Nut, sister of Seth, she whose father sees a healthy daughter....I am the divine power in the womb of my mother Nut. The name of this day is The Child Who is in His Nest.' (Brier, 253)

The Goddesses importance in the transformation and re-birth of both Osiris and Re is explicit in the famous painting in Nefertari's tomb where both Nephthys and Isis protect the unified Re and Osiris at the moment of midnight.

The Book of Night, a text written in the Ramisside Period for royalty, recounts the sun's nighttime journey within the body of Nut, goddess of the heavens as she swallows the sun in the evening and gives birth to it again each morning. The two sisters, Isis and Nephthys, as midwives, par excellence, hold the newborn sun.

Nephthys participation in the 'Worship of Re when he rises in the eastern horizon of the sky by Ani' supporting and praising the newborn sun rising from the djed pillar through the arms of life, depicts her importance in this transformation from death to re-birth. She can still be seen as midwife through the undertaking of transformation.

The Ramesside tomb of Nefersekheru at Thebes also illustrates the goddess' importance in the protection and praise of Osiris' transformation into the djed pillar.

Mythology

Nephthys is one of the netjers in the Heliopolitan Accounts of Creation, but her prominence originates in, and revolves around, the Osirian Mysteries. Chapter 18 of the Papyrus of Ani refers to Nephthys as one of the Great Council of Busiris, the House of Osiris:

jr DaDat aAt m Ddw wsjr pw Ast pw nbt-Hwt pw Hr nD Hrt jtj.f

As for the Great Council which is in Busiris it is Osiris, it is Isis, it is Nephthys, it is Horus, the Avenger of His Father.

Vignettes of the Papyrus of Ani and the Eighteenth Dynasty's Theban Recension of the Book of the Dead, show Nephthys standing in the shrine behind Osiris at the Weighing of the Heart.

In Chapter cliA she says, 'I go round about behind Osiris. I have come that I may protect thee, and my strength which protecteth shall be behind thee for ever and ever.' (Budge, II 255)

Further, protection of the deceased in the Judgement Hall is noted in the Theban Recension Chapter 181 - Chapter for going into the tribunal of Osiris and the gods who govern the Duat... "Your sisters Isis and Nephthys will come to you, they will enfold you with life, prosperity and health, and you will be glad through them..." (Faulkner, 133)

Still in connection with the Judgment Hall, in Chapter 17 of Ani, Nephthys and Isis are cited as being in charge of escorting the ones to be examined:

jr n stp-sA jrj.sj n pw btt pw st pw nbt-=Hwt

As for those who are in charge of( escort) those who are to be examined, they are the two sun-apes, Isis and Nephthys.

In the Ptolemaic Period Nephthys attends the Apis Bull, an incarnation of Osiris, and until the Greco-Roman Period, Nephthys was generally considered childless. (Redford, 276) Perhaps Spell 534-1273 in the Pyramid Texts helped to inaugurate this idea.

jw jwt nbt-Hwt m jwt.s jtjw Dwt

If Nephthys comes coming in her evil queenly coming

kw Ddt.n.s rn.s pw n jdnt nn kt.s(?)

would that it be said to her this her name of 'proxy (imitation) woman who has no vagina.'

Plutarch, the first century Greek writer, relates that "Nephthys tricked Osiris into sleeping with her and then gave birth to a monstrous son, Anubis. Nephthys abandoned the child to die, but Isis found and saved him." Plutarch perceived Nephthys as a barren desert. (Pinch, 171)

What seems more probable is that Anubis, taking the role of the son in providing the mummification, opening of the mouth and burial of Osiris,the dead king, he was elevated to the position of a true son, and thus required a family history. Pinch asserts that Nephthys was a goddess of weaving and 'was particularly associated with the linen bandages that wrapped a mummy. These bandages were sometimes called the 'tresses of Nephthys.' (Pinch, 171) Nephthys and Isis were said to actually have woven the linen bandages which wrapped the mummy of Osiris, Nephthys connection with the wrapping of a mummy further identify her with Anubis.

Misc. facts: The Greeks sometimes identified Nephthys with Apohrodite or Nike. From the fifth Dynasty onward, the Dryt mourners portray Isis and Nephthys. Graco-Roman version of the Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys were performed by women impersonating the Goddesses.

In the legends of the Osirian Myths, while Isis is away from the child Horus, he is stung by a scorpion and he appears to be dead. As Isis mourns her child, Nephthys comes with Serqet, the scorpion goddess, and advises Isis to cry out to heaven for help. Isis does, Re hears and sends Djehuty who, with words of power, heals Horus. (Budge I, 488) Possibly Metternich stele

Three Twentieth Dynasty priests of her cult and one from the Late Period are attested. (Denise M. Doxey, Redford, 276)

During the Saite Period, 664-525 BCE, Nephthys appears on an amulet of the triad of the Osirian family with Isis on either side of the Horus child. (Redford, 17) Within the Solar Religion, budge declares that Nephthys 'is one of the two plumes upon the head of her father, Re.' (Budge II 256)