Why was seshat worshipped

Seshat is thus a granter of homes, temples, libraries, and every other foundation of the world. As she is the daughter of knowledge and order, she is the bases upon which the world thrives- assisting in the eternal evolution and truth-seeking of mankind. Darkness is necessary for the development of intuition, wisdom, and the unfolding of mysteries, as well as the ability to face certain truths that may be hard to accept.

Thus, Seshat brings forth the light of truth and knowledge into the darkness of ignorance. From her comes all inventions, documents, scientific discoveries, and revelations. She is the goddess who is aware of all events and possesses a vast mind full of understanding and depth. She is an illuminating teacher to humanity- a goddess who brings the light of knowledge forth so that the world can become better. Appearance: Sehsat was depicted as a woman wearing a leopard skin dress as worn by shamanic priests ; the pattern of this hide was thought to represent the stars, being a symbol of eternity, and to be associated with the night sky.

Seshat is also shown wearing a headdress composed of either a palm-leaf stalk or a seven-pointed star on top of a pair of inverted horns the number seven symbolizes perfection.

However, others have suggested that the horns were originally a crescent moon, representing her connection with Thoth. She may also be shown holding a palm stem, bearing notches to denote the recording of the passage of time, especially for keeping track of the allotment of time for the life of the Pharaoh.

In Egyptian mythology, Seshat also known as Seshet and Sefkhet-Abwy was known as the goddess of the written word. Seshat was also a patron of writing in all its forms including auditing, accounting and most tasks to do with letters and numbers. According to the myth, Seshat was the daughter of Thoth but in other accounts, she was his consort and Maat , the personification of cosmic order, truth and justice.

Thoth was the god of wisdom and Seshat is often viewed as his feminine counterpart. With Thoth, Seshat had Hornub. Seshat is the only female Egyptian deity who has been portrayed with a stylus in her hand and depicted writing.

While there were several other female characters depicted with a palette and a brush in their hands, giving the idea that they were capable of writing, none were shown in the act. In art, Seshat is often depicted as a young woman dressed in a leopard skin, which was an ancient form of dress worn by funerary priests, with a headdress consisting of a star or a flower above her head. As with most Egyptian goddesses, Seshat is identified by her unique headdress. A merkhet was used to keep time by checking the alignment of certain stars, especially Polaris.

Seshat was involved with the pharaoh in other ways. In the image below, she cuts notches in a palm-stick to mark the length of the his reign. This method of tallying dates back to earliest times. Sometimes she presents a pharaoh with a palm tree, symbolic of a long reign. Seshat with her leopard skin dress and seven-pointed symbol.

Her leopard skin was a status item , worn only by the pharaoh and priests. They were mainly associated with the funerary priests, because Anubis wore one but the spots could also refer to the endless stars in the sky. Linen made to look like leopard skin often had stars or rosettes instead of spots.

Other theories suggest a lotus blossom or a papyrus reed, shown below. Earlier, during the Middle Kingdom, women were occasionally described as seshat , although the argument about what exactly that means is still raging. As the site Women and Literacy in Ancient Egypt puts it:. In the Middle Kingdom we see occasional references to seshet which sounds like the feminine of the Egyptian word for scribe.

It is quite possible that one woman with this title was indeed a scribe, but the others were clearly from a non-elite class.

One with the title was a hairdresser by trade and it has been suggested that seshet could have been an abbreviated word for cosmetician. These references do not appear in the Old or New Kingdoms. There may have been a few women scribes, but it seems certain that the position was almost totally reserved for men. During the Pre-dynastic era, she was given a narrow role that saw her serve as the goddess of writing and measurement.

She took record of the daily activities, particularly those involving the Egyptian pharaohs and other nobles.

She was also in charge of recording the years that a pharaoh reigned. Considering how much of an importance accurate measurement was to the Egyptians when it came to building, Seshat was revered to a large extent by builders, architects and other artisans. She was regarded as the patroness of land surveyors. She thus became the patroness of mathematics, building, and accounting. This meant that she was associated with astronomy and astrology.

As the divine measurer and scribe, she is believed to have assisted the pharaohs when it came to constructing temples and burial tombs. The ancient Egyptians prided themselves with their precise alignment of religious structures or tombs of a pharaoh with some heavenly bodies. This was done in a bid to invoke the blessings of the gods. It also allowed the dead pharaoh to make a safe passage to the afterlife. Seshat association with knowledge and writing made her the patroness of libraries and librarians.

She was famed for being the Divine Keeper of the House of Life Per-Ankh , which was a combination of a temple library and school. The goddess Seshat was usually depicted as a young woman wearing the hide of a leopard or a cheetah.