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Egyptian Artifacts

The Goddess Seshat

Today π“‡π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‡³ I am going to speak about a goddess π“ŠΉπ“ I have never written about before and her name π“‚‹π“ˆ– is Seshat 𓋇𓏏𓁐! The reason I never wrote about Seshat 𓋇𓏏𓁐 is because I never had a picture 𓏏𓅱𓏏 of her! I was so excited to finally β€œmeet” Seshat 𓋇𓏏𓁐 at the Brooklyn Museum!

Seshat
Me at the Brooklyn Museum with a limestone relief of the goddess Seshat! You can always tell that it’s Seshat pictured due to the “𓋇” crown on her head which is associated with her!

Seshat 𓋇𓏏𓁐 is the goddess π“ŠΉπ“ of writing, wisdom and knowledge. Her name π“‚‹π“ˆ– literally translates to β€œfemale scribe,” and she is also the goddess π“ŠΉπ“ of scribes π“Ÿπ“€€π“ͺ! In this relief, she is depicted as a scribe π“Ÿπ“€€ because she is holding writing with a stylus on a board. You can easily pick Seshat 𓋇𓏏𓁐 out in Egyptian art because of the seven pointed emblem 𓋇 that she wears on her head (I call it a star). This symbol is also part of her name, which makes it easy! 

Seshat
Limestone relief of Seshat at the Brooklyn Museum.

Seshat 𓋇𓏏𓁐 is also the goddess of architecture, accounting, mathematics, and surveying. This is what made her an essential part of a building ceremony called the β€œStretching of the Cord.” The β€œStretching of the Cord” was part of the foundation ritual that occurred when a building was constructed in ancient Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š–. It involved nailing four 𓏽 stakes into the ground at the four 𓏼 corners of the building and then linking them with a cord. 

Seshat 𓋇𓏏𓁐 is definitely related to and shares some of the same functions as the god π“ŠΉ Thoth 𓅝𓏏𓏭𓀭 (or Djehuty to the ancient Egyptians), who was also considered to be the god π“ŠΉ of writing, knowledge and wisdom. Usually Thoth 𓅝𓏏𓏭𓀭 is credited with inventing writing/hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ (hence his title β€œLord of the Divine Words/Writing π“ŽŸπ“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“‚‚π“‚‚π“‚‚π“Ÿβ€), however, some mythology credits Seshat 𓋇𓏏𓁐 with inventing writing/hieroglyphs, while Thoth 𓅝𓏏𓏭𓀭 was the one who taught writing to man! 

Here are some ways to write Seshat’s name π“‚‹π“ˆ– in hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ: 

Seshat 𓋇

Seshat 𓋇𓏏𓁐

Seshat π“‹΄π“ˆ™π“„Ώπ“π“…†