Goddess Nephthys | Symbol of birth and death
The goddess Nephthys is a symbol of birth and death for the ancient Egyptians. She is a significant member of the Heliopolis Ennead and Isis goddess’ sister and the god Osiris as well as the evil Set, they are sons of the god of the earth “Geb”. In addition, the goddess Nephthys is believed to be the mother of Anubis, the mummification king in ancient Egypt, and she bore him from her brother Osiris. There is another legend that says she is also the mother of Ra.
This goddess is known for how important her role was in the myth of Isis and Osiris. She also protected the dead like her sister, the goddess Isis. She was one of the goddesses who preserved the entrails of the dead in jars during the mummification process. Some of the Royal mummies exist in the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization which you can visit during Cairo Day Tours.
The name or the title for Nephthys is the lady of the gods. It is said that Nephthys was worshipped in ancient times with another god, such as Antaeus in the Late Period. One of her titles was also the lady of the house and she was most famous as the sister of Isis who mourned her husband after his murder.
Among the images that Nephthys came in is the image of a bird and in some images, she came in human form. Nephthys protected one of the four sons of Horus, who was called "Habi" and Habi was responsible for protecting the lungs of the dead. She appeared in a picture in the Book of the Dead next to her sister Isis and was worshipped in southern Egypt. You can watch the temples that contain the sculptured stories on the walls of the temples like Luxor temple and Karnak temples which are top visited destinations during Egypt Nile cruise tours.
Nephthys is best known for helping her sister Isis, as she was the most grieving for her brother who was killed, and helped her other sister Isis to obtain and collect the body of Osiris. She was also considered the nursing mother of Horus' son and was also one of the great cooks. You can see God Horus's temple in the enchanting City of Aswan during your Egypt Christmas Tour to spend an enchanting vacation.
She also held a position in the ancient city of Abydos, and her image was present at celebrations held in that city. Nephthys was also the protector of the canopic jars and the queen of mummification, and she also held the title because of her skill in the mummification process. Some inscriptions also show her as the goddess of beer, who received lavish beer offerings from the pharaohs, and beer was the reason for her restoration of strength
Nephthys is literally the mistress of the house. She is one of the chief but most enigmatic deities as far as Egyptian mythology is concerned. She has a very important place in the divine pantheon, although she is always overshadowed by her more famous sister, Isis. A goddess of protection, mourning, and the afterlife, Nephthys most closely relates to death and the transformation or transition of souls.
Children of Geb, the earth god, and Nut, the goddess of the sky, Nephthys is the sister of Isis, Osiris, and Seth. In the myth of some Egyptians, she was the wife of Seth, the god of chaos and storms. Their union is, however, a later development in the myth, presumably to round out the divine couple; for the opposite of the husband-brother, destruction, she is pictured as a nourishing and protective goddess.
Nephthys may be represented as a human figure wearing a headdress with hieroglyphic symbols representing her name, such as a basket on top of a temple or house. Unlike some self-represented members of the Egyptian pantheon who may have animal traits, Nephthys is wholly human. This underlines her aspects of protection and mourning. Temple reliefs, tomb paintings, and funerary texts often figure her beside Isis, particularly in afterlife scenes.
Since she never appears separated from Isis, she is likely even doubled. That the union with Seth is a later elaboration of the myth, born from the desire to have two symmetrical divine couples, is also demonstrated by the fact that Nephthys, as Seth's bride, appears dull.
Nephthys has a completely human aspect and is recognized only by the hieroglyphic symbol of the name she wears on her head (the plan of a building surmounted by a basket). In this aspect, Nephthys. appears, always in union with Isis, alongside the corpse of Osiris (and each dead person becomes an Osiris, thus having the right to the care of the two deities). Even in the scenes depicting the Hereafter, she appears, always paired with Isis, at the side of Osiris, depicted either on the throne as the god of the dead or in a snake aspect; it guards the last door of the Underworld through which the sun will return to earth. These scenes are very frequent on the walls of the tombs, in the funerary scenes and papyri, and sometimes are found on the short sides of the sarcophagi, with the task of protecting Isis the chief and Nephthys.
There can be no doubt that the cult of Nephthys existed in the temple and large city of Herakleopolis. A nearby life-size statue of Nephthys (currently housed in the Louvre Museum) boasts an oddly altered inscription. The basalt image was originally placed in Madinet Habu as part of the celebration of the pharaonic-era tradition of the Sed Festival but was transferred at some point to Herakleopolis.
The god Nephthys protected her brother Osiris from her brother Set. She is one of the protective goddesses, «Isis, Nephthys, Serket, Neith» of the canopic jars containing the entrails of the deceased, known as the sons of Horus.
«Nephthys» appears in the form of a complete female with the sign indicating her and distinguishing her on her head, which no one else carries, which is a rectangular figure topped by a semicircle.
The Book of the Dead and the Pyramid Texts are collections of mortuary texts that portray Nephthys as a goddess who helps and guards the deceased as they walk through the Duat, or underworld.
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