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In Egyptian mythology, 'Wadjet' (Egyptian ''w3ḏyt''; also spelt 'Wadjit' or 'Wedjet', and in Greek, 'Udjo', 'Uto', 'Edjo' and 'Buto') was originally the local goddess of the city of Dep^[1] which became part of Buto, ''Per-Wadjet'' (House of Wadjet).^[2] As the patron goddess, she was associated with the land, depicted as a snake, usually a cobra, poisonous snakes which were common in the region.
Eventually, she became the patron goddess of the whole of Lower Egypt, and since she was linked to the land, she was thought of as the wife of Hapy, the god of the Nile, which flowed through it.^[3] As tutelary goddess of Lower Egypt, she became associated with Nekhbet, who held the same position in Upper Egypt, and together they were known as the ''two ladies''.^[4]

Contents

Tutelary goddess of gods and kings

Associations with other deities

Etymology

References

Footnotes

See also

Tutelary goddess of gods and kings

Depicted as a cobra she became confused with Renenutet, with whom her identity eventually merged. As patron and protectress, she was often shown coiled upon the head of Ra, the Egyptian chief deity, in order to act as his protection, an image of her which became the Uraeus symbol. The ancient Egyptian word ''wadjet'' signifies blue and green. It is also a name for the ''Eye of the Moon''^[5] associated with the ''Eye of Ra''. Indeed, in later times, she was often depicted simply as a woman with a snake's head, or as a woman wearing an Uraeus, which had originally itself been her.

Associations with other deities

In becoming the protectress of Ra, who was also a sun deity and was associated with heat and fire; she was sometimes said to be able to send fire onto those who might attack just as the cobra spits poison into the eyes of its enemies.^[6] Consequently, she later became identified with the war goddess of Lower Egypt, Bast, who acted as another figure symbolic of the nation, consequently becoming ''Wadjet-Bast''. In this position, since Bastet was a lioness, Wadjet-Bast was often depicted with a lion's head. Eventually, her position as patroness led to her being identified as the more powerful goddess Mut, whose cult had come to the fore in conjuntion with rise of the cult of Amun, and eventually being absorbed into her as ''Mut-Wadjet-Bast''.

Etymology

The name Wadjet^[7] is derived from the term for the symbol of Lower Egypt, the ''papyrus''.^[8] Its hieroglyphs differ from those of of the Green Crown (Red Crown) of Lower Egypt only by the determinative, which in the case of the crown was a picture of the Green Crown^[9] and in the case of the goddess a rearing cobra.

References

★ Adolf Erman, Hermann Grapow, ''Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache'', Berlin 1963

★ Ana Ruiz, ''The Spirit of Ancient Egypt'', Algora Publishing 2001

★ Toby A. H. Wilkinson, ''Early Dynastic Egypt'', Routledge 1999

★ James Stevens Curl, ''The Egyptian Revival: Ancient Egypt as the Inspiration for Design Motifs in the West'', Routledge 2005

Footnotes

1. Wilkinson, ''op.cit.'', p.297
2. ''Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache'', 1, 268.18
3. Ana Ruiz, ''op.cit.'', p.119
4. Wilkinson, ''op.cit.'', p.292
5. ''Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache'' 1, 268.13
6. Curl, ''op.cit.'', p.469
7. ''Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache'', 1, 268.17
8. ''Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache'', 1, 263.7-264.4
9. ''Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache'', 1, 268.16;

See also

★ Eye of Horus