Nephthys or Nebet-Het in Ancient Egyptian (Greek: Νέφθυς) is a goddess in ancient Egyptian

religion. A member of the Great Ennead of Heliopolis in Egyptian mythology, she was a daughter
of Nut and Geb. Nephthys was typically paired with her sister Isis in funerary rites[1] because of their
role as protectors of the mummy and the god Osiris and as the sister-wife of Set.
She was worshiped as the goddess of mourning, rivers, the night, service, childbirth, mothers, the
dead, protection, the home, the hearth, coffins, burial, and air.

Etymology[edit]

Nephthys – Musée du Louvre, Paris, France

Nephthys is the Greek form of an epithet (transliterated as Nebet-het, and Nebt-het, from Egyptian
hieroglyphs).The origin of the goddess Nephthys is unclear but 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[citation needed].
This title, which may be more of an epithet describing her function than a given name, probably
indicates the association of Nephthys with one particular temple or some specific aspect of the
Egyptian temple ritual. Along with her sister Isis, Nephthys represented the temple pylon or
trapezoidal tower gateway entrance to the temple which also displayed the flagstaff. This entrance
way symbolised the horizon or akhet.

Function[edit]
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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 birth experience. Nephthys was known in some ancient
Egyptian temple theologies and cosmologies as the "Useful Goddess" or the "Excellent
Goddess".[2] These late Ancient Egyptian temple texts describe a goddess who represented divine
assistance and protective guardianship.
Nephthys is regarded as the mother of the funerary-deity Anubis (Inpu) in some
myths.[3][4] Alternatively Anubis appears as the son of Bastet[5] or Isis.[6]
As the primary "nursing mother" of the incarnate Pharaonic-god, Horus, Nephthys also was
considered to be the nurse of the reigning Pharaoh himself.[7] Though other goddesses could
assume this role, Nephthys was most usually portrayed in this function. In contrast Nephthys is
sometimes featured as a rather ferocious and dangerous divinity, capable of incinerating the
enemies of the Pharaoh with her fiery breath.[8]
New Kingdom Ramesside Pharaohs, in particular, were enamored of Mother Nephthys, as is
attested in various stelae and a wealth of inscriptions at Karnak and Luxor, where Nephthys was a
member of that great city's Ennead and her altars were present in the massive complex.[9]
Triad of Isis, Nephthys, and Harpocrates. Early Greco-Roman. Walters Museum

Nephthys was typically paired with her sister Isis in funerary rites[1] because of their role as protectors
of the mummy and the god Osiris and as the sister-wife of Set.
Less well understood than her sister Isis, Nephthys was no less important in Egyptian Religion as
confirmed by the work of E. Hornung,[10] along with the work of several noted scholars.
"Ascend and descend; descend with Nephthys, sink into darkness with the Night-bark. Ascend and
descend; ascend with Isis, rise with the Day-bark."
Pyramid Text Utterance 222 line 210.[11]

Symbolism[edit]
In the funerary role, Nephthys often was depicted as a kite, or as a woman with falcon wings, usually
outstretched as a symbol of protection. Nephthys's association with the kite or the Egyptian hawk
(and its piercing, mournful cries) evidently reminded the ancients of the lamentations usually offered
for the dead by wailing women. In this capacity, it is easy to see how Nephthys could be associated
with death and putrefaction in the Pyramid Texts. She was, almost without fail, depicted as crowned
by the hieroglyphics signifying her name, which were a combination of signs for the sacred temple
enclosure (hwt), along with the sign for neb, or mistress (Lady), on top of the enclosure sign.[12]
Nephthys was clearly viewed as a morbid-but-crucial force of heavenly transition, i.e., the Pharaoh
becomes strong for his journey to the afterlife through the intervention of Isis and Nephthys. The
same divine power could be applied later to all of the dead, who were advised to consider Nephthys
a necessary companion. According to the Pyramid Texts, Nephthys, along with Isis, was a force
before whom demons trembled in fear, and whose magical spells were necessary for navigating the
various levels of Duat, as the region of the afterlife was termed.

Mythology and position in the Pantheon[edit]

Nephthys and Set[edit]
Though it commonly has been assumed that Nephthys was married to Set and they have a
son Anubis, recent Egyptological research has called this into question. Levai notes that
while Plutarch's De Iside et Osiride mentions the deity's marriage, there is very little specifically
linking Nephthys and Set in the original early Egyptian sources. She argues that the later evidence
suggests that:
while Nephthys's marriage to Set was a part of Egyptian mythology, it was not a part of the myth of
the murder and resurrection of Osiris. She was not paired with Set the villain, but with Set's other
aspect, the benevolent figure who was the killer of Apophis. This was the aspect of Set worshiped in
the western oases during the Roman period, where he is depicted with Nephthys as co-ruler.[13]

It is Nephthys who assists Isis in gathering and mourning the dismembered portions of the body of
Osiris, after his murder by the envious Set. Nephthys also serves as the nursemaid and watchful
guardian of the infant Horus. The Pyramid Texts refer to Isis as the "birth-mother" and to Nephthys
as the "nursing-mother" of Horus. Nephthys was attested as one of the four "Great Chiefs" ruling in
the Osirian cult-center of Busiris, in the Delta[14] and she appears to have occupied an honorary
position at the holy city of Abydos. No cult is attested for her there, though she certainly figured as a
goddess of great importance in the annual rites conducted, wherein two chosen females or
priestesses played the roles of Isis and Nephthys and performed the elaborate 'Lamentations of Isis
and Nephthys'. There, at Abydos, Nephthys joined Isis as a mourner in the shrine known as the
Osireion.[15] These "Festival Songs of Isis and Nephthys" were ritual elements of many such Osirian
rites in major ancient Egyptian cult-centers.
As a mortuary goddess like Isis, Neith, and Serqet, Nephthys was one of the protectresses of
the Canopic jars of the Hapi. Hapi, one of the Sons of Horus, guarded the embalmed lungs. Thus we
find Nephthys endowed with the epithet, "Nephthys of the Bed of Life",[16] in direct reference to her
regenerative priorities on the embalming table. In the city of Memphis, Nephthys was duly honored
with the title "Queen of the Embalmer's Shop", and there associated with the jackal-headed
god Anubis as patron.[17]
Nephthys was also considered a festive deity whose rites could mandate the liberal consumption of
beer. In various reliefs at Edfu, Dendera, and Behbeit, Nephthys is depicted receiving lavish beer-
offerings from the Pharaoh, which she would "return", using her power as a beer-goddess "that [the
pharaoh] may have joy with no hangover". Elsewhere at Edfu, for example, Nephthys is a goddess
who gives the Pharaoh power to see "that which is hidden by moonlight". This fits well with more
general textual themes that consider Nephthys to be a goddess whose unique domain was
darkness, or the perilous edges of the desert.
Nephthys could also appear as one of the goddesses who assists at childbirth. An ancient Egyptian
myth preserved in the Papyrus Westcar recounts the story of Isis, Nephthys, Meskhenet, and Heqet
as traveling dancers in disguise, assisting the wife of a priest of Amun-Re as she prepares to bring
forth sons who are destined for fame and fortune.
Nephthys's healing skills and status as direct counterpart of Isis, steeped, as her sister in "words of
power", are evidenced by the abundance of faience amulets carved in her likeness, and by her
presence in a variety of magical papyri that sought to summon her famously altruistic qualities to the
aid of mortals.