THE GODDESS NUT
and the Wisdom of the Sky
By Lesley Jackson
“Nut is the all-encompassing Great Mother but a very different one to those of most other cultures. Normally the Great Mother is seen as the natural regenerative force of the individual womb and the womb of earth. Nut however is the Great Round who encloses the universe. Hers is the womb of the generative nun. She is a creative space in which life is constantly regenerated. By providing the attributes of contained space and water Nut can be viewed as life itself. Nut is the source of everything. The cosmos is her body and she births and nourishes all living things taking them back into her body at death. Unlike virtually all the other Mother Goddesses Nut isn’t remotely chthonic, despite being associated with the tomb and coffin.” – Lesley Jackson
The Goddess Nut and the Wisdom of the Sky is a fascinating and in-depth study of the Ancient Egyptian goddess Nut, in her aspects as both Sky and Tree Goddess together with all that she encompasses. Lesley Jackson presents the history and myths of the Sky Goddess within the context of Ancient Egyptian culture and religion, providing considerable insights into what is currently known about how the ancient Egyptians related to the visible cosmos and how it informed their belief in the unseen realm and the afterlife.
Nut, like many goddesses, is a Mother Goddess, referred to as the Great One, Lady of Heliopolis and the Mistress of the Two Lands. Nut is also the Mother of the Gods, who gave birth to the god Ra, and to another five divine children with Geb: Osiris, Horus the Elder, Seth, Isis and Nephthys. She is the Great Encloser, and Shentayet, the “Mysterious One”, alluding to the important role she held in the afterlife. Her name was written as Nwt using the hieroglyph symbols of a circular water pot and a loaf above the sky symbol.
Explore Nut’s depictions, her epithets, her sacred animals and family connections, as well as her essential role in the Ancient Egyptian creation myth which tells the story of the creation of the Cosmos. This book explores this and many of Nut’s other important roles in mythology, religion and in other aspects of life as well as the fluidity of the inter-relationships of the Egyptian Gods. The Ancient Egyptian calendar, marked by the movement of the stars, the significance of stellar alignment and the decan stars (including Sirius) and their role in dividing the year, the Moon and lunar cycles and many other forms of timekeeping are also explored.
This book is highly recommended not only to students of Ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, but also to all those who have ever looked up to the night sky with awe and wonder.
2021, 232 pages. Paperback & Kindle editions are available.
ISBN 978-1-910191-25-5
The Goddess Nut by Lesley Jackson
INTRODUCTION
NAMES & ICONOGRAPHY
THE COW GODDESS
The Forms of Hathor
Pre-dynastic Goddesses
The Emergence of the Hathor Cow
The Celestial Cow
Other Cow Goddesses
THE SKY GODDESS
THE SOLAR GODDESS
THE TREE GODDESS
Trees in Egypt
Sacred Groves and Tree Cults
OBJECTS ASSOCIATED WITH HATHOR
The Sistrum
The Menat
Mirrors
Spoons
Papyrus
ASPECTS OF HATHOR
MUSIC & DANCE
LOVE & SEX
LADY OF DRUNKENNESS
The Distant Goddess
Beer in Egypt
Wine in Egypt
Ritual Offerings and Drunkenness
Offerings to Hathor
Offerings to the Deceased
The Festival of Drunkenness
Secular Drinking
The Issue of Excess
FRAGRANCE
FERTILITY & CHILDBIRTH
PROTECTING & NURTURING
Nursing the King
Provision of Food and Drink
Healing and Hathor
Hathor the Protector
Protector of Ra
The Battle Against Apophis
A GEOLOGICAL GODDESS
Mining in Egypt
The Desert
Specific Rocks and Minerals
GODDESS OF TRADE & FOREIGN LANDS
Protector of Sailors
Goddess of Merchants
Hathor of Byblos
Hathor in Nubia
Other Places
THE AFTERLIFE & REBIRTH
THE SEVEN HATHORS
Foretellers of Fate
Magic
Afterlife
Handmaidens
Conclusion
SEKHMET (Lion Goddess)
RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER DEITIES
Family Relationships
Horus of Edfu
Ptah
Sobek
Sons
Horus the Younger
Other Relationships
ALTER EGOS & ASSIMILATIONS
THE WORSHIP OF HATHOR
The Egyptian Concept of Religion
Propitiation
Hathor and Royals
The Worship of Hathor by Non-royals
At Amarna
Hathor the Women’s Goddess
Hathor’s Help to Mortals
Encountering Hathor
Praising Hathor
Hymns and Prayers
Offerings
Hathor Festivals
Return of the Wandering Goddess or the Distant Goddess
HATHOR’S TEMPLES
Those Who Serve Hathor
Hierarchy
The Roles of Women
Hereditary Positions
Individual Priests and Priestesses
Temple Rituals
Temple Offerings
WHAT HAPPENED TO HATHOR?
The Decline of Hathor
Isis
The Rise of Isis
Why Did Isis Triumph?
HATHOR FESTIVALS
CHRONOLOGY
PLACE NAMES IN THE TEXT
SACRED GEOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
Lesley Jackson has a lifelong interest in archaeology, ancient history and sacred myth and a fascination with the mysterious geographical, be they lost worlds, otherworlds or the sacred places of this world. She is a devotee of the Egyptian deities and since being blessed with early retirement has devoted much of her time to researching and writing about them.
Lesley is the author of Thoth: The History of the Ancient Egyptian God of Wisdom, Hathor: A Reintroduction to an Ancient Egyptian Goddess, Isis: The Eternal Goddess of Egypt and Rome, Sekhmet and Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt, and The Cobra Goddess & the Chaos Serpent in Ancient Egypt, all published by Avalonia. She has written a number of articles about Egyptian religion, some of which have been published in Pagan Dawn and Nile Magazine.
Despite the strong call of Egypt she is a Northerner at heart, preferring cooler climes and wooded landscapes. She lives in the East Riding of Yorkshire, close to the lost world of Doggerland.