Mehet-Weret

Mehet-Weret
An illustration of Mehet-Weret based on a painting from the tomb of Irynefer at Deir el-Medina (TT290)
An illustration of Mehet-Weret based on a painting from the tomb of Irynefer at Deir el-Medina (TT290)
Name in hieroglyphs
mH
t		 N35Awr&r&t E1
SymbolCow, Sun disk
OffspringRa, Heka (some accounts)

Mehet-Weret or Mehturt (Ancient Egyptian: mḥt-wrt) is an ancient Egyptian deity of the sky in ancient Egyptian religion. Her name means "Great Flood".

She was mentioned in the Pyramid Texts. In ancient Egyptian creation myths, she gives birth to the sun at the beginning of time. In spell 17 of the Book of the Dead the god Ra is born from her buttocks.[1] In art she is portrayed as a cow with a sun disk between her horns. She is associated with the goddesses Neith, Hathor, and Isis, all of whom have similar characteristics, and like them she could be called the "Eye of Ra".[2] In some instances she is simply an epithet for those goddesses.[1] Her own titles included 'mound' and 'island'.[1]

  1. ^ a b c Pinch, Geraldine. (2002) Handbook of Egyptian Mythology. ABC-CLIO, 2002. P.163
  2. ^ Wilkinson, Richard H. (2003). The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. P. 174