Neith

the Goddess Neith
detail from the “House of Eternity” of Queen Nefertari, Valley of the Queens, QV66, west ‘Uaset’-Thebes

-Words of the Goddess Neith, the Great Divine Royal Mother, Lady of Heaven and Lady of all Gods:
“I have come before you, King’s Great Wife, Lady of the Two Lands, Lady of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nefertari Beloved of Mut, whose word is right and true before Osiris Who resides in Amente (the West, the NetherWorld). I have accorded you a place within the ‘Duat’ (one of the names of the NetherWorld), so that you may appear gloriously in Heaven like Ra.”
(from the “House of Eternity” of Queen Nefertari)

 

 

– HYMN TO THE GODDESS NEITH –
from the Temple of Neith and Khnum at ‘Iunyt’-Latopolis (Esna)
(VII column, ESNA 252-25, V-111)

“Adoration to the Goddess Neith.
Words to say:

“You are the Lady of Sais,
that is the Primaeval Mound,
of which two-thirds are male,
and one third is female.
Primaeval Goddess, Mysterious and Great,
She Who began to be in the Beginning,
and Who initiates all things.

You are the Heavenly Vault
in Which ….
She Who gave birth to all the stars,
and raised them on their chapels;
She Who burns to a cinder the Earth with the Flame of Her Eyes,
with the heat coming out of Her mouth.
She is the Mother of Ra, Who shines in the Horizon,
She is the Mysterious-One Who radiates with Her own light.

You are the Primaeval Serpent-Goddess arisen before Them all,
She Who protects the whole land,
She Who began to be before the coming into being of Those Who had to be,
She Who . . . . under Her authority,
. . . . .
You are the One Who created the NetherWorld,
in Her form of the Goddess Who reaches everything, up to the limits of the cosmos,
in Her material form of the watery surface,
in Her name of boundless duration.

Lady of the anointing oil
and also of the making of clothing,
She Who shared out the mark of Her craft among the five . . . . that inhabit heaven and earth.

You are the watery expanse,
She Who created the God of the Primaeval Mound and Who created Nun,
the Lady of the childbirth from which everything arose.
You are the One Who makes the flood flow in its time,
and Who gives a new youthfulness to the Water of the Renewal in its season,
She Who makes vegetation grow,
and Who creates the Tree of Life for the living-ones,
She Who raises . . . . the Nun
. . . . Methyer (‘Mehet-Wret’) . . . .
. . . . the one who rebels . . . .

You are the Lady of Iunyt,
within the mysterious countryside,
to the north of the mound of the two birdies,
She Who suckles the two crocodiles
in Their names of Shu and Tefnut,
She is the Guardian of Her Divine Palaces,
She Who holds embraced in Her arms the neck of the two crocodiles,
namely Ra and Osiris,
and the two little birds, children of Her son Ra in Pi-SahuRa,
and She Who provides the divine offerings for Gods and Goddesses.

You are the cow . . . .
the Lady of Khent-to,
the Ruler of the countryside of Ra
within the mound of the two birdies,
She Who supports the sky on Her back spine,
Neith the Great,
Who gives birth to the beings,
Who creates grains,
sustaining the son Shu with Her milk.
She nourishes the Great Purposes of Creation inside Aba,
She makes Osiris Lord of Life rejuvenate.”

 

– HYMN TO THE GODDESS NEITH –
from the Temple of Neith and Khnum at ‘Iunyt’-Latopolis (Esna)
(VI column, Sauneron ESNA V p.110)

“Adorations to the Goddess Neith:
You are the Lady of Courage in the Day of Battle,
She Who takes the bow and shoots Her arrow,
driving back the mobs of rebels (that are the unrighteous-ones, the rebels against the Goddess of Righteousness and Truth).
Great is Your power over the Nine Bows (the “Nine Bows” is a term used for the traditional enemies of Egypt),
and the barbarians (the “Nine Bows”) fall down as victims of their own slaughters!
Indeed it is She Who chooses the one who is Her most beloved to be King, always and eternally like Horus above the ‘Serekh’ (the facade of the King’s Palace, the royal title of the King as “Horus” is written inside the Serekh, and the sacred falcon of Horus is represented above it).
You are the Queen of Heaven, Earth, and the Netherworld,
of Water and Mountains,
and Your glory is exalted everywhere.”

-Neith-Athena:

“There is a sacred grove beginning on the mountain they call Pontinus(in Argolis). Now Mount Pontinus does not let the rain-water flow away, but absorbs it into itself. From it flows a river, also called Pontinus. Upon the top of the mountain is a Sanctuary of Athena Saitis” (Pausanias, Description of Greece 2. 36. 8)