| Nehmetawy | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Statuette of the goddess Nehemtawy, bronze. Museo Egizio, Turin,c. 406 | |||||||||
| Name inhieroglyphs |
| ||||||||
| Consort | Nehebkau orThoth | ||||||||
| Offspring | Horus-Nefer | ||||||||
Nehmetawy(nḥm.t-ˁw3ỉ; "she who embraces those in need"[1]) is a goddess in theancient Egyptian religion. She is not very widely known. Nehmetawy was the wife of snake godNehebkau, or in other places of worship, like inHermopolis, the wife ofThoth. A local form of the godHorus called Horus-nefer ("Horus, the good one)" might have been viewed as the son of Thoth and Nehmetawy.[2] Her depictions are anthropomorph, with asistrum-shaped headdress, often with a child in her lap.[3]
In a tale from theTebtunis Mythological Manual, the goddessUnut speared the earth godGeb for fornicating with Nehmetawy inKhemenu and Nehbet-anet in Dep. The two different locations where the goddesses were raped represent thetwo lands of ancient Egypt respectively. The tale might be connected with the myth ofShu separating Geb andNut as punishment for the rape of his wifeTefnut.[4]
The manual includes another myth about Nehmetawy, closely tied to the legend of "The returning Goddess." These myths center on a missing, raging goddess who must be convinced to return to Egypt by a male god. Numerous local versions of this myth exist, incorporating regional goddesses into the role of the returning goddess. In the Tebtunis manual, the goddess's exile and return are integral to a festival dedicated to the godThoth, which also serves as the ritual framework for the composite myth of Geb’s crimes. In this context, the godSet appears both as Geb's son, attempting to reclaim his father's ill-gotten possessions, and as a manifestation of Geb himself. The goddess flees from Set toNaunet, where she is visited byNephthys and Thoth. Together, they escort her back to the temple ofKhemenu.[5] There she meets the "Noble one", probably a reference to the local sun godShepsy. Shepsy is associated with theOgdoad, a group of eight primordial deities. This temple, called "The Temple of the Ogdoad" or "The Temple of the Golden One," depicted eight sistra symbolizing the goddess Hathor-Nehmetawy and her connection to the Ogdoad.The myth refers to Thoth and the goddess as siblings, reflecting a restored relationship akin to the union ofHathor-Tefnut and her brother Shu in other versions of the Return of the Goddess myth. Unlike other narratives where the goddess takes refuge inNubia, here she retreats to Naunet, the primordial waters or inner sky, emphasizing the symbolic nature of mythic space.[6]
Two demotic ostraca from thePtolemaic period inHerakleopolis describe a festival characterized by drunkenness, indulgence, music, and sexual activity in the presence of the goddesses Nehmetawy and Ay. This festival alludes to the greatBastet festival inBubastis. Ay embodies the wild, untamed version of the returning goddess, while Nehmetawy represents her peaceful counterpart after her return to Egypt,[7] while In the Tebtunis manual, Unut represents the raging aspect of the returning goddess, while Nehmetawy is the pacified one.[8]
