| Meskhenet | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Meskhenet as a woman with a symbolic cow's uterus (Peseshkef) on her head | |||||||
| Name inhieroglyphs |
| ||||||
| Symbol | Cow's uterus | ||||||
In ancientEgyptian mythology,Meskhenet, (also speltMesenet,Meskhent, andMeshkent) was thegoddess ofchildbirth, and the creator of each child'sKa, a part of theirsoul, which she breathed into them at the moment of birth. She was worshipped from the earliest of times by Egyptians.
Inancient Egypt, women delivered babies whilesquatting on a pair ofbricks, known as "birth bricks", and Meskhenet was the goddess associated with this form of delivery.[1][2] Consequently, inart, she was sometimes depicted as a brick with a woman's head, wearing a cow'suterus upon it.[3] At other times she was depicted as a woman with a symbolic cow's uterus on her headdress.[3]
Since she was responsible for creating the Ka, she was associated withfate.[citation needed] Thus later she was sometimes said to be paired withShai, who became a god of destiny after the deity evolved out of an abstract concept.[3]
Meskhenet features prominently in the last of the folktales in theWestcar Papyrus.[2] The story tells of the birth ofUserkaf,Sahure, andNeferirkare Kakai, the first three kings of theFifth Dynasty, who in the story are said to be triplets.[2] Just after each child is born, Meskhenet appears and prophesies that he will become king of Egypt.[2][4]
Media related toMeskhenet at Wikimedia Commons
