Nephthys – Musée du Louvre, Paris, France
Nephthys
Nephthys (NebtHet) is a member of the Great Ennead of Heliopolis in Egyptian mythology, a daughter of Nut and Geb. At the time of the Fifth Dynasty Pyramid Texts, Nephthys appears as a goddess of the Heliopolitan Ennead. She is the sister of Isis and companion of the war-like deity, Set. As sister of Isis and especially Osiris, Nephthys is a protective goddess who symbolizes the death experience, just as Isis represented the (re-)birth experience.
Nephthys is a Greek epithet, transliterated as Nebet-het, and Nebt-het, from Egyptian hieroglyphs. The literal translation of her name is usually given as “Lady of the House,” which has caused some to mistakenly identify her with the notion of a “housewife,” or as the primary lady who ruled a domestic household. This is a pervasive error repeated in many commentaries concerning this deity. Her name means quite specifically, “Lady of the [Temple] Enclosure” which associates her with the role of priestess. Continue reading
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