Nephthys
Mythology of
Nephthys
Picture: Kneeling figure
of Nephthys with her hieroglyphic'mistress of the mansion'
headdress. Late Period.Brooklyn Museum of Art. New
York.
Nephthys was a funerary
goddess who usually played a subordinate role to her sister
Isis. She appears only in the myths of Heliopolis and
nothing is known about her before appearance there. The
goddess's Egyptian name, nebet-hut, means 'mistress of the
mansion' but gives us no real clue to her original identity.
As the daughter of Geb and Nut, she was one of the four
Egyptian gods at the core of the Osiris myth, characterized
as the nominal partner of the god Seth just as Isis was the
wife of Osiris. According to one late story Nephthys also
had a sexual liason with Osiris resulting in the birth of
her son Anubis. Her role in the Osiris myths is always
supportive of Isis and Osiris and the goddess does not seem
to ever take her husband's side in the mythical struggles.
When Osiris is murdered, Nephthys mourns greatly and joins
her sister in searching for the god and reassembling and
guarding him when he is found. In the Pyramid Texts the
goddess appears alongside Isis many times, usually with
assertions that the two sisters assist, protect and support
Osiris. Their roles were naturally applied to the king who
is also said to be 'reassembled' by them as well as being
'conceived' and 'nursed' by the two goddesses, along with
various other metaphors stressing their part in the king's
resurrection or afterlife rebirth. Nephthys thus became one
of the major gods held to be protectors of the dead and
along with Isis she was one of the four guardian deities of
the canopic jars and of other items of the funerary
assemblage in royal and private burials alike. In the Late
Period Nephthys was also linked with Anukis, though her
primary association remained always with Isis.
Picture: Winged figures of Nephthys and Isis
protect the djed columns of Osiris.Pectoral of
Tutankhamun.18th Dynasty. Egyptian Museum.Cairo.
Iconography of
Nephthys
 Picture: Nephthys traditionally guardedthe
head of Osiris and was depictedon the head-end of coffins
and sarcophagi.18th Dynasty. Sarcophagus of Tuthmosis
IV,Valley of the Kings. Western
Thebes.
The usual manner of depiction
for Nephthys is anthropomorphic as a female goddess
distinguished only by the hieroglyphic symbols for her name
which she wears on her head. Nephthys may also be
represented as a kite, however, especially in the vignettes
of funerary texts where the two sisters are sometimes
depicted in the avian form guardian the body of Osiris. In
human from Nephthys was represented at the corners or ends
of Sarcophagi, coffins and shrines for the protection of
their contents and is usually placed at the head end of the
deceased while Isis was positioned at the feet - although
the two sisters are occasionally both depicted at the head
of the deceased. In scenes where Osiris is depicted the two
goddesses usually flank the netherworld god or his symbol,
and when he is shown enthroned they both stand behind him in
a position of protection and support.
Worship of
Nephthys
Despite her important
position in ancient Egyptian funerary beliefs and her
widespread representation, Nephthys appears to have had no
temples or formal cult of her own, though her association
with Isis. Anukis and other Egyptian gods led to the
representation of Nephthys in their sanctuaries. Amulets of
the goddess are quite common, but even these appear much
later than those of other members of the Osirian drama.
While one or two examples are known from the 22nd Dynasty,
no other amulets of the goddess are known to date before the
26th Dynasty. After this time, however, Nephthys amulets
appear on virtually every ancient Egyptian mummy, usually
alongside those of Isis. 
Picture: Nephthys and
Isis in the form of birds of prey watch over the mummy of
Osiris. 19th Dynasty. Tomb of Nefertari, Valley of the
Queens. Western Thebes.
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