Nekhbet (; also spelt Nekhebet) is an early predynastic local goddess in Egyptian mythology, who was the patron of the city of Nekheb (her name meaning of Nekheb). Ultimately, she became the patron of Upper Egypt and one of the two patron deities (alongside Wadjet) for all of Ancient Egypt when it was unified.

Mythology

One of Egypt's earliest temples was the shrine of Nekhbet at Nekheb (also referred to as El Kab). It was the companion city to Nekhen, the religious and political capital of Upper Egypt, at the end of the Predynastic period (c. 3200–3100 BC) and probably, also during the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3100–2686 BC).

In New Kingdom times, the vulture appeared alongside the uraeus on the headdresses with which kings were buried. The uraeus and vulture are traditionally interpreted as Wadjet and Nekhbet, but Edna R. Russmann has suggested that in this context they represent Isis and Nephthys, two major funerary goddesses, instead.

Nekhbet usually was depicted hovering, with her wings spread above the royal image, clutching a shen symbol (representing eternal encircling protection), frequently in her claws.

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File:Temple of Deir Al Bahri Hatshepsut 2b.jpg|Nekhbet with outstretched wings below a row of uraei, from the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el-Bahari

File:Nekhbet as woman.svg|Nekhbet as a woman

File:Tête de déesse vautour (Oxford Ashmolean Museum).jpg|Granite statue of Nekhbet from Sanam in Lower Nubia, Twenty-fifth Dynasty, Ashmolean Museum

File:Medinet Habu Ramses III31c.jpg|Paintings of Nekhbet on the ceiling of the mortuary temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu

File:S F-E-CAMERON EGYPT 2005 RAMASEUM 01360.JPG|Nekhbet above the Nomen and prenomen of Ramesses III

File:Flickr - schmuela - Horus sphinx and Nekhbet.jpg|Nekhbet next to Haremakhet on a column

File:Nekhbet Deir el-Bahri 2007.jpg|A painted relief depicting Nekhbet in the Temple of Hatshepsut

File:Egypt.Nekhbet.01.jpg|Nekhbet holding a staff and Shen ring

File:The Goddess Nekhbet, Temple of Hatshepsut MET 30.4.138 EGDP012970.jpg|A painted relief depicting Nekhbet in Queen Hatshepsut's temple

File:Relief from the Temple of Nekhbet at El Kab.jpg|Relief from the Temple of Nekhbet at El Kab

File:Edfu Tempel 42.jpg|Nekhbet (right) and Wadjet (left) crowning Ptolemy VIII in the Temple of Edfu

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  • Nekhbet is a bird-like monster in Final Fantasy XII.
  • Nekhbet appears in Rick Riordan's The Throne of Fire as a minor antagonist.
  • Nekhbet is the name of a pet vulture in the anime Tenshi ni Narumon.
  • Nekhbet is an ascending goddess in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series.

References

Further reading

  • Hans Bonnet: Nechbet. In: Lexikon der ägyptischen Religionsgeschichte. Nikol, Hamburg 2000, , S. 507f.
  • Wolfgang Helck, Eberhard Otto: Nechbet. In: Kleines Lexikon der Ägyptologie. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1999, , S. 199.
  • Alexandra von Lieven: Grundriss des Laufes der Sterne – Das sogenannte Nutbuch. The Carsten Niebuhr Institute of Ancient Eastern Studies (u.&nbsp;a.), Kopenhagen 2007, .
  • Alexandra von Lieven: Der Himmel über Esna – Eine Fallstudie zur religiösen Astronomie in Ägypten am Beispiel der kosmologischen Decken- und Architravinschriften im Tempel von Esna. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2000, .
  • Marcelle Werbrouck, Fouilles de El Kab II. 1940, pp. 46ff.

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