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Connections

Nit (Neith) & Nebt-Het (Nephthys)
In the Kemetic Orthodox faith, we recognize that some Names are an extension or specialization of other Names. For example, Het-Hert (Hathor) is mostly concerned with prosperity, love, joyfulness and motherhood; She becomes Sekhmet when swift action is required to defend Her children from enemies. Sekhmet is an aspect of Het-Hert, but a Name in Her own right, with a unique appearance and traits.

We believe that the same is true for the trio of Nit, Seshat and Nebt-Het. As far as historical evidence goes, it is made clear in the Pyramid Texts that Seshat is an aspect of Nebt-Het. Nebt-Het and Nit frequently exchange places in the Pyramid Texts, Chapters of Coming Forth by Day and the Leyden Papyrus.

Nit is a creator and a witness to creation. Nebt-Het is death and the limits of existence. Between them is Seshat, time itself, recording history and causing existence to endure.


Ya'met
G.A. Wainwright's article "Seshat and the Pharaoh" mentions an ancient and obscure Name, Ya'met, concerned with royal genealogy and succession, and likely to be a form of Seshat, Nebt-Het or Nit. Her symbol was a "feather of Libya" atop the month-sign. Her name means "Woman from Libya," the country where Nit was said to originate.


Anat
Anat was a foreign warrior-goddess given to Set to be his consort. It is worth noting that both Nit and Nebt-Het were consorts of Set as well. It seems plausible that Anat is a form of Nit.

Anat and Seshat appear in two separate but similar ritual scenes. In one, Anat wears a leopard skin and "kills the enemies because of their maliciousness"; in the other Seshat wears the skin of Set (!) and "punishes the enemies of Ra-Heruakhety."


Djehuty (Thoth)
It has frequently been asserted that Djehuty is the consort, brother or father of Seshat. In Die Göttin Seschat, Dagmar Budde opines that this was due to a mistranslation of the phrase "My hand writes your commands down like my colleague Djehuty" in a single text.

Though the two scribes frequently appeared together in ritual scenes, no evidence conclusively indicates a relationship between Seshat and Djehuty beyond their shared profession.


Aset-Seshat
In the Greco-Roman period, there was a Name known as Aset-Seshat, described both as the protector of Wesir (or any deceased person) and as the female Wesir, and daughter of both Geb and Djehuty.

Aset-Seshat is either a result of Roman influences on the religion of Egypt, particularly the belief that all female Names were forms of Aset (Isis) -- or is a separate entity, not quite Aset and not quite Seshat but Someone different.


Outside Kemet
Other African religions have striking parallels with the religion of ancient Egypt. In the Ifa religion of the Yoruba people, the orisha Oyá is roughly equivalent to Nit, Nebt-Het and Seshat all in one. She is a fearsome warrior (as is Nit), the Gatekeeper of the Cemetary, Mistress of the Marketplace, wife of Chango (the Ifa equivalent to Set), and presides over winds and sudden change. Like Nit, Nebt-Het and Seshat, she is associated with the number nine and the color purple; she enjoys flowers as Seshat does, pennies and pinwheels as Nebt-Het does.

Oyá is, in turn, associated with Saint Therese of Lisieux, "The Little Flower." Therese was a prolific writer during her short life, and images of her usually include a bouquet of flowers.

In Voudou, Seshat has a parallel in the lwa Ayizan. She is the first mambo (female priest), where Seshat is the foremost setem-priest. Palm fronds are her symbol, where Seshat's is the palm branch. Her role is to maintain and protect the religious tradition, as Seshat does in the per-ankh, and thus the two have much in common even in very different cultures.

Ayizan is associated with St. Clare of Assisi, perhaps because she took her vows on Palm Sunday, after the bishop came down from the sanctuary to place a palm branch in her hand.

Copyright © 2002 Rev. Dave Dean