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   Neith   
   by Alan G. Hefner   
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         Neith is a goddess of Lower Egypt particularly associated with Sais   
   but soon incorporated into the national pantheon with a sanctuary at   
   Memphis. According to legend Neith emerged from the primeval water to create   
   the world. She followed the course of the Nile to the sea, and when reaching   
   the Delta she formed the city of Sais.   
      
         In the New Kingdom she was regarded as the "god's mother who bore Re,"   
   whereby she assumed the position of a primeval goddess who was neither male   
   nor female. She was the first to "create the seed of gods and men." She is   
   the mother of Egyptian rulers. Also she was a mortuary goddess who watched   
   over Osiris' brier along with Isis, Nephthys and Serket. The deceased   
   received her divine power by means of the mummy's wrappings, for the   
   bandages and shrouds were considered gifts of Neith, who was regarded as the   
   patroness of weaving. Possibly there was an earlier proposal that her symbol   
   was the weaver's shuttle.   
      
         When depicted in human form she wears the red crown of Lower Egypt,   
   and in ancient times her pre-anthropomorphic symbol was a shield bearing   
   crosses because she also was a local war goddess. This goddess of war also   
   blessed hunters' weapons. The practice of placing weapons around the coffin   
   in ancient Egyptian times could be traced to the goddess' protective   
   functions.   
      
         She was sometimes asked to give advice and judgment, as, for example,   
   in the eight-year war of the gods between Seth and Horus, which she advised   
   Re in favor of Horus. In other legends she was the consort of Seth and   
   mother of the crocodile god Sobek, which explains the proximity of her cult   
   center in the Delta.   
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   Article created on 03 March 1997; last modified on 11 January 2004.   
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