Updates? She was an exotic dancer with spirit-realm connections. In some Egyptian accounts, Seshat is referred to as the wife of Thoth, the Egyptian God of science, literature, writing, and keeper of sacred books. Seshats many responsibilities included documenting daily events, the spoils of war (which were either animals or captives) and keeping track of tribute paid to the king in the New Kingdom and tribute owned. In the famous story of Osiris and his murder by Set it is not Osiris who is the hero of the tale but his sister-wife Isis. Reliefs found in temples of the Old Kingdom (c. 2575c. Our publication has been reviewed for educational use by Common Sense Education, Internet Scout (University of Wisconsin), Merlot (California State University), OER Commons and the School Library Journal. Amun. Unlike the major gods of Egypt, Seshat never had her own temples, cult, or formal worship. Submitted by Joshua J. In some . Hermes is also known as the Roman god, Mercury. Isis is a goddess in Egyptian mythology. Wife of Amun, one of the creation goddesses. Seshat is not as well known today as many of the other deities of ancient Egypt but, in her time, she was among the most important and widely recognized of the Egyptian pantheon. Seth - "To Dazzle" God of chaos; killed Osiris. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Seshat was also portrayed recording the pharaohs jubilees, such as in the Sed Festival, cattle counts, and the pharaohs campaigns as early as the 2nd dynasty. Seshat. 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. World History Encyclopedia. surmounted by horns. She has a wide range of interests ranging from ancient cultures and mythology to Harry Potter and gardening. There are other versions of Thoth's birth as well but they all make mention of his vast knowledge and the great gift of writing he offered to humanity. Note: the Gardiner font reads left-to-right; the Palermo Stone is written opposite: right-to-left. [3] Usually, she is shown holding a palm stem, bearing notches to denote the recording of the passage of time, especially for keeping track of the allotment of time for the life of the pharaoh. "width": "100%", "compareAt": { } According to the myth, Seshat was the daughter of Thoth (but in other accounts, she was his consort) and Maat, the personification of cosmic order, truth and justice. Seshat (Sesha, Sesheta or Safekh-Aubi) was a goddess of reading, writing, arithmetic, and architecture who was seen as either the female aspect of Thoth, his daughter, or his wife. (Temples, 38). Historian and Egyptologist Margaret Bunson describes their function: Research was conducted in the House of Life because medical, astronomical, and mathematical texts perhaps were maintained there and copied by scribes. } Seshat - "Lady Scribe" Goddess of measurement. She is often depicted as the consort (either wife or daughter) of Thoth, god of wisdom, writing, and various branches of knowledge. It dates from around 1250 BCE. Rosalie David comments on the Egyptian ideal of writing: The main purpose of writing was not decorative and it was not originally intended for literary or commercial use. "styles": { } else { "margin-left": "0", Egyptologist Rosalie David notes how she "wrote the king's name on the Persea tree, each leaf representing a year in his allotted lifespan" (Religion and Magic, 411). In Egyptian mythology, Seshat (also spelled Safkhet, Sesat, Seshet, and Seshata) was the Ancient Egyptian goddess of wisdom, knowledge, and writing.She was seen as a scribe and record keeper, and her name means she who Scrivens (i.e. At this time, Thoth seems to have been considered a god of wisdom and knowledge as he remained and once a writing system was developed it was attributed to him. In ancient Egyptian art, she was depicted as a woman with a seven-pointed emblem above her head. This actually means gold Horus, so Seshat was sometimes associated with Isis. } Temple Furniture and Sacred Emblems, "Unveiling Seshat: New Insights Into The Stretching Of The Cord Ceremony", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Seshat&oldid=1124743366, This page was last edited on 30 November 2022, at 07:40. Cookies that are necessary to enable my site to function. Representations of her typically show her dress to be a plain sheath covered by a long panther skin, with the . Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund (Public Domain). Seshat is the Ancient Egyptian Goddess of knowledge, wisdom, astronomy, astrology and writing. Seshat Egyptian Goddess of the Written Word, Cross Crosslets Meaning and History of This Unique Cross Type, Pan and Syrinx: A Tale of Love (or Lust?) 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 was also a patron of writing in all its forms including auditing, accounting and most tasks to do with letters and numbers. The crescent above her headdress, resembling a bow, could represent dexterity and precision, if one interprets it along the lines of archery, or simply divinity if one takes the symbol as representing light, along the lines of later depictions of saints with halos. Seshat is an Egyptian Goddess who helps us realize the importance of recording our experiences and learning from the past. Later years saw a decline in her being venerated by the Egyptians and she was made into the consort or also sometimes the daughter of the Ibis-headed God Tehuti ( Thoth) who took over more and more of her attributes and power. Io and Zeus: A Tale of Deception and Transformation, Top 10 Dreadful Deaths in the Bible and Why Theyre So Terrible, The Myth of Eros and Psyche: A Tale of Love and Self-Discovery. amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; [1] She is credited with inventing writing. "footer": { The spells of The Egyptian Book of the Dead are the best examples of this concept. As with other dangerous goddesses, she was both a protective goddess, and one who punished the wrong doers with her burning wrath. The Seshat emblem is a hieroglyph representing the goddess Seshat in ancient Egypt. The sacred carvings of the Egyptians were so important to them that they dedicated whole sections of temples or temple complexes to a literary institution known as The House of Life. Seshat, the Egyptian goddess of writing and measurement, was the ruler of this great repository of the ancient world's knowledge of history, science, mathematics, medicine and magic. He is usually depicted as a mummy with the sidelocks of youth with the menat necklace and crook and flail. Finally, it is sometimes suggested that the horns actually represent a bow. "productSet": { Seshat, goddess of wisdom, knowledge and writing. Egyptologist Richard H. Wilkinson notes how Seshat appears in reliefs and inscriptions in the Early Dynastic Period as a goddess of measurements and writing, clearly indicating she was already an important deity at that time: Representations show the king involved in a foundation ritual known as "stretching the cord" which probably took place before work began on the construction of a temple or of any addition. Among Seshat's responsibilities were record keeping, accounting, measurements, census-taking, and patroness of libraries & librarians. The Egyptian goddess Seshat is one of the lesser-known Egyptian deities, and yet she was an enduring one. Bastet, goddess of the hearth, home, women's health and secrets, was popular among both men and women and the goddess Hathor was regularly invoked by both at festivals, parties, and family gatherings. Although Thoth was responsible for the initial gift of writing, his consort Seshat lovingly gathered the works that gift produced, presided over them in the libraries on earth, and kept them eternally safe on her shelves in the heavens. Unfortunately there is no clear evidence to confirm which view is correct. apiKey: 'f97587f900f36918a9a61c58e6050144', 1919-1875 B.C.E., 52.129 Brooklyn Museum. The Egyptians believed that if something were comitted to writing it could be repeatedly made to happen by means of magic (Handbook,199). (52.5 x . Seshat (also given as Sefkhet-Abwy and Seshet) is the Egyptian goddess of the written word. Writing is the physical manifestation of a spoken language. Greek mythology She resides within the moon itself, and is the protector of those who might travel at night. Like her father, she was the . Seshat was the ancient Egyptian goddess of writing, historical records, accounting and mathematics, measurement and architecture to the ancient Egyptians. amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; . Etruscan mythology Menrva, goddess of wisdom. Thoth was worshipped as early as the Pre-Dynastic Period (c. 6000- c. 3150 BCE) at a time when Egyptian writing consisted of pictographs, images representing specific objects, prior to their development into hieroglyphics, symbols representing sounds and concepts. According to one myth, the god Thoth was self-created at the beginning of time and, in his form as an ibis, lay the primordial egg which hatched creation. 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. Which cookies and scripts are used and how they impact your visit is specified on the left. Copyright Symbol Sage 2022 All Rights Reserved. Among her responsibilities were record keeping, accounting, measurements, census-taking, patroness of libraries and librarians, keeper of the House of Life (temple library, scriptorium, writers workshop), Celestial Librarian, Mistress of builders (patroness of construction), and friend of the dead in the afterlife. She was also thought to record the actions of all people on the leaves of the sacred persea tree. Some Rights Reserved (2009-2023) under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license unless otherwise noted. The Two Truths in the Judgment Hall weigh the heart of the deceased against Truth, Ma'at. The words of Isis "come to pass without fail;" the words of Thoth are "Truth." Seshat "Goddess of Writing" Seshat Goddess of Writing - Ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddess - Egypt Tours Portal. World History Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Canada. appId: '6', }, "background-color": "#ffffff" Perhaps because Thoth already had so many responsibilities, the Egyptians transferred the supervision of writing to the goddess Seshat. The daily life of an individual was only part of an eternal journey which would continue on past death. Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including Oxford University. In this way, she helped the souls who had just arrived in the underworld to recognize and understand the spells contained in the Egyptian Book of the Dead so that they could succeed on their journey into the afterlife. Seshat's role at the House of Life would have been the same as anywhere else: she would have received a copy of the texts written there for the library of the gods where it would be kept eternally. Mark, Joshua J.. "quantity": false Mark has lived in Greece and Germany and traveled through Egypt. It is this connection to the magic that keeps her relevant among today's witches. License. Your choices will not impact your visit. Seshat is only one of a number of female deities venerated in ancient Egypt reflecting the high degree of respect given to women and their abilities in a number of different areas of daily life. Marco was a simple man living his life as a . Egyptologist Gay Robins explains: In a few New Kingdom scenes, women are depicted with scribal kits under their chairs and it has been suggested that the women were commemorating their ability to read and write. "margin-left": "-20px" In general, she was seen as the patron of libraries. The dead were not gone as long as their stories could be read in stone; nothing was ever really lost. Anhur. moneyFormat: '%24%7B%7Bamount%7D%7D', This ritual is related to laying out the foundations of temples and other important structures in order to determine and assure the sacred alignments and the precision of the dimensions. According to the texts, the king was assisted in this ritual by Seshat (or Sefkhet-Abwy), the scribal goddess of writing and measurement (Temples, 38). Seshat - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). AMONG SESHATS RESPONSIBILITIES WERE RECORD KEEPING, ACCOUNTING, MEASUREMENTS, CENSUS-TAKING, AND PATRONESS OF LIBRARIES & LIBRARIANS. Seshats role at the House of Life would have been the same as anywhere else: she would have received a copy of the texts written there for the library of the gods where it would be kept eternally. function loadScript() { She is identified as the goddess of architecture, astronomy, astrology, building, mathematics, and surveying. Sina is one of the best-known Polynesian deities. It is possible that many of the texts were not kept in the Per-Ankh but discussed there and debated. Arguing that there were few female scribes based on there being no womens literature in ancient Egypt seems in error as the literature of the culture could hardly be considered masculine in any respect save for the kings monumental inscriptions. Owing to the great value Egyptians placed on writing, however, and her part in the construction of temples and the afterlife, she was venerated widely through commonplace acts and daily rituals from the Early Dynastic Period to the last dynasty to rule Egypt, the Ptolemaic Dynasty of 323-30 BCE. According to one myth, it was Seshat who invented writing. Seshat featured prominently in the concept of the eternal life granted to scribes through their works. "@media (min-width: 601px)": { 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 seven-pointed star arched by a crescent in the form of a bow. She was occasionally called Safekh-Aubi (or Safekh-Abwy meaning She of two horns) because of this headdress, although it is also suggested that Safekh-Aubi was in fact a separate (if rather obscure) goddess. Thoth and Seshat. The emblem was a long stem with a seven-petal flower on top and surmounted by a pair of horns; the archaic form had seven petals (the vertical shaft as 8), (as a vertical, with two crossed lines-(4), as a 'star', and one horizontal, giving 7+ the 1-vertical shaft), and surmounted by two enclosing sickle-shaped signs, two falcon-feathers on top. "One of the world's greatest Goddesses, Hathor was worshiped for more than a millennium longer than the life, to date, of Christianity. Goddess Seshat, ca. Bunson claims that probably only very important cities could support a Per-Ankh but other scholars, Rosalie David among them, cite evidence that "every sizable town had one" (Handbook, 203). The pattern on the natural hide was thought to represent the stars, being a symbol of eternity, and to be associated with the night sky. Thank you! "margin-bottom": "0px" Her powers of cause and effect were legendary in the earliest times of pre-Dynastic Egypt. The leopard skin would represent her power over, and protection from, danger as leopards were a common predator. Goddess Seshat, ca. As the divine measurer and scribe, Seshat was believed to appear to assist the pharaoh in both of these practises. Seshat was the goddess of writing, notations, wisdom, knowledge, books, and measurements her name means "The Female Scribe" and she was the daughter and consort of Thoth the god of wisdom and writing. Dani Rhys has worked as a writer and editor for over 15 years. 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 seven-pointed star arched by a crescent in the form of a bow. OF DIVINE WISDOM, BOOKS & LIBRARIES Seshat - This name comes from the goddess of wisdom and writing, and is associated with knowledge, intelligence, and creativity. } Thoth was worshipped as early as the Pre-Dynastic Period (c. 6000- c. 3150 BCE) at a time when Egyptian writing consisted of pictographs, images representing specific objects, prior to their development into hieroglyphics, symbols representing sounds and concepts. As with most Egyptian goddesses, Seshat is identified by her unique headdress. A limestone relief slab depicting Seshat, the Egyptian goddess of writing. Omissions? "variantTitle": false, id: [362048978983], She was also a goddess of necromancy, skilled in using potions and drugs in her many spells. This list may not reflect recent changes. Mark, published on 18 November 2016. Historian and Egyptologist Margaret Bunson describes their function: Research was conducted in the House of Life because medical, astronomical, and mathematical texts perhaps were maintained there and copied by scribes. Here are the possible solutions for "Goddess of magic in Egyptian mythology" clue. (204-205). 4.8 out of 5 stars 9. One needed to know how to avoid demons, how to transform ones self into various animals, and how to address the entities one would meet in the next world and so the spells had to be precise in order to work. 49. Intriguing Goddess Seshat was one of the most intelligent deities of ancient Egypt. You may change your settings at any time. It is a certainty that the majority of the priests and scribes of the Per-Ankh were men but some scholars have pointed to evidence for female scribes. They had a child called Hornub. Circe was the Greek goddess of metamorphosis and illusion. We will try to find the right answer to this particular crossword clue. For example, in the Pyramid Texts she is given the epithet The Lady of the House (nbt-hwt, ie Nephthys) while Nephthys is described as Seshat, Foremost of Builders. When translated, the name 'Seshat' means ' female scribe'. node: document.getElementById('product-component-3d475c3f992'), [1], Hatshepsut and Seshat, from the Red Chapel, Goddess Seshat, ca. The House of Life was a combination library, scriptorium, institute of higher learning, writers workshop, print shop/copy center, publisher, and distributor. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. (Egyptian Museum, Turin). amzn_assoc_region = "US"; [7], The reading is approximately: "YEAR: To create (a) Statue for Seshait, Statue for Mafdet." Set (also known as Seth) is a god of the desert, chaos . ), Seshat barely appears outside of her official role as the recorder of construction and written projects and did not have a temple or cult dedicated to her. Seshat, in ancient Egyptian religion, the goddess of writing and measurement and the ruler of books. World History Encyclopedia. The deity who presided over the brewing of beer, the most popular drink in Egypt, was not male but the goddess Tenenet and the primary protector and defender of Isis when she was a single mother safe-guarding Horus was the goddess Serket. Related Content "product": { He was the scribe to the gods who kept a great library of scrolls, over which Seshat (the goddess of writing) was thought to be mistress. Thoth is the messenger much like the Greek god, Hermesa transmutation made from Egyptian to Greek mythology. 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. Heka (/ h k /; Ancient Egyptian: k(w); Coptic: hik; also transliterated Hekau) was the deification of magic and medicine in ancient Egypt.The name is the Egyptian word for "magic". "title": { Later demoted in pantheon of Egyptian deities to consort of Thoth. } Seshat (also given as Sefkhet-Abwy and Seshet) is the Egyptian goddess of the written word. Bast, or Bastet, is the Egyptian goddess of warfare, depicted in the form of a cat. This happens in a similar scene when the mans dog is put under the womans chair. Thoth and Seshat are two intertwined deities of wisdom and keepers of knowledge within ancient Egyptian mythology. This item: Egyptian Seshat Goddess of writing wisdom Magic Wicca Pagan Paganism Khonsu Silver Pewter Men's Pendant Necklace Safe Travel Prosperity Talisman Lucky Charm Protection Amulet w Black Leather Cord . Since the gods were thought to literally reside in their temples, this arrangement would be comparable to having a permanent house-guest in ones home who takes care of responsibilities one may value but simply has not time for. (Handbook,199). Arguing that there were few female scribes based on there being no "women's literature" in ancient Egypt seems in error as the literature of the culture could hardly be considered "masculine" in any respect save for the kings' monumental inscriptions. While there were several other female characters depicted with a palette and a brush in their hands, giving the idea that they were capable of writing, none were shown in the act. Book of the Dead of Aaneru, ThebesMark Cartwright (CC BY-NC-SA). She also never had a cult or female worship. Egyptian society was quite conservative and written works generally adhered to a set structure and theme throughout the various periods of history. Seshat was the essence of cosmic intuition, creating the geometry of the heavens alongside Thoth. Heliopolis was the location of her principal sanctuary. In art, Seshat is often depicted as a young woman dressed in a leopard skin, which was an ancient form of dress worn by funerary priests, with a headdress consisting of a star or a flower above her head. Thoth, originally a moon deity, later became god of wisdom and scribe of the gods Sia, the deification of wisdom Seshat, goddess of wisdom, knowledge, and writing. }, Seshat is the Goddess of Libraries, all forms. The spells the soul speaks help one to navigate through assorted dangers to arrive at the perfect paradise of the Field of Reeds. The floor plan of the temple was laid out through the "stretching the cord" ceremony after an appropriate area of land had been decided upon. Serapis Syncretic god of the afterlife. Our latest articles delivered to your inbox, once a week: Our mission is to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. Writing, as David notes, could bring concepts or events into existence from a kings decree to a mythological tale to a law, a ritual, or an answered prayer but it also held and made permanent that which had passed out of existence. However, she was one of the most widely recognized and important goddesses of her time. "styles": { (113). Goddess of magic in Egyptian mythology. The Book of the Dead is a guide through the afterlife written for the deceased. A number of other women were depicted holding the scribes palette and brush, indicating that they could write, but not actually engaged in writing. Seshat is almost like the 'Egyptian Fairy Godmother' and her magic wand with its seven pointed star was the symbol which represented the source of all creative ideas.