Mafdet
| Mafdet | |||||||
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| Name in hieroglyphs |
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| Parents | Ra, Atum | ||||||
| Siblings | Tefnut, Shu | ||||||
| Part of a series on |
| Ancient Egyptian religion |
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Mafdet (also Mefdet, Maftet
Roles in Egypt
Mafdet defended Ra from threats during his daily voyage. She would hunt by night (earning the epithet "Piercer of Darkness") and ensure the coming of dawn.[4]
When Osiris was separated into pieces, Mafdet protected him while she helped bind the pieces together.[5]
Depictions in royal tombs associate the symbol of Mafdet with the symbol of Anubis, suggesting that Mafdet accompanied the gods as a hunter or executioner while Anubis fulfilled his role as messenger and attendant.[6]
Art
In art, Mafdet was alternately shown as a feline or mongoose, a woman with such a head, or such an animal with the head of a woman.[3] The type of feline varies but is commonly interpreted as a cheetah or serval.
She also was depicted in her animal form running up the side of an executioner's staff of office. It was said that Mafdet ripped out the hearts of wrong-doers, delivering them to the pharaoh's feet like cats that present humans with rodents or birds they have killed or maimed.
During the New Kingdom, Mafdet was seen as ruling over the judgment hall in Duat where the enemies of the pharaoh were decapitated with Mafdet's claw.
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Mafdet symbol on a sceptre
References
- ISBN 0816045631.
- ISBN 0-203-20421-2.
- ^ ISBN 0-500-05120-8.
- OCLC 36352165.
- S2CID 201809267.
- ^ Petrie, W. M. Flinders (William Matthew Flinders) (1900). The royal tombs of the first dynasty, 1900-1901. Getty Research Institute. London ; Boston : Egypt Exploration Fund.