| Mafdet | |||||||
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| Name inhieroglyphs |
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| Genealogy | |||||||
| Parents | Ra,Atum | ||||||
| Siblings | Tefnut,Shu | ||||||
Mafdet (alsoMefdet,Maftet[1]) was a goddess in theancient Egyptian religion. She was often depicted wearing a skin of acheetah, and protected against the bite of snakes and scorpions. She was part of the pantheon ofancient Egyptian deities that was prominent during theFirst Dynasty of Egypt. She was prominent during the reign of pharaohDen whose image appears onstone vessel fragments from his tomb and is mentioned in a dedicatory entry in thePalermo Stone. Mafdet was the deification of legal justice, or possibly ofcapital punishment.[2] She was associated with the protection of the king's chambers and other sacred places, and with protection againstvenomous animals, which were seen as transgressors againstMaat. In thePyramid Texts of theOld Kingdom of Egypt, she was mentioned as protecting the sun godRa from venomous snakes.[3]
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]
WhenOsiris 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 ofAnubis, suggesting that Mafdet accompanied the gods as a hunter or executioner while Anubis fulfilled his role as messenger and attendant.[6]
In art, Mafdet was alternately shown as a feline ormongoose, 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 orserval.
She also was depicted in her animal form running up the side of an executioner'sstaff of office. It was said that Mafdet ripped out the hearts of wrong-doers, delivering them to thepharaoh's feet like cats that present humans with rodents or birds they have killed or maimed.
During theNew Kingdom, Mafdet was seen as ruling over the judgment hall inDuat where the enemies of the pharaoh were decapitated withMafdet's claw.
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