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GooseSpoon (talk | contribs) adding details of mythological title of 'creator of birth' and source |
GooseSpoon (talk | contribs) Adding minor details, but removing connection to Ptah-Nun. Nun/Nu/Naunet and Neith, while sharing characteristics and are connected in ways, are not the same deity and cannot be interchanged |
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| cult_center = [[Sais, Egypt|Sais]], [[Esna]]
| symbol = [[bow and arrow|bow]], [[shield]], [[Arrow|arrows]], [[ankh]], [[loom]], [[mummy]] [[cloth]]
| consort =
| offspring = [[Sobek]],{{sfn|Fleming|Lothian|1997|p=62}} [[Ra]],{{sfn|Lesko|1999|pp=60-63}} [[Apep]],{{efn|Due to his serpentine shape, Apep was said to have originated from Ra's umbilical cord. See [[Apep]].}} [[Tutu (Egyptian god)|Tutu]],{{sfn|Wilkinson|2003|p=183}} [[Serket]]
}}
'''Neith''' {{IPAc-en|'|n|iː|.|ɪ|θ}} ({{lang-grc-koi|Νηΐθ}}, a borrowing of the [[Demotic (Egyptian)|Demotic]] form {{lang-egy|nt}}, likely originally to have been '''nrt''' "
Neith was the [[tutelary deity]] of [[Sais, Egypt|Sais]] ({{lang-cop|ⲥⲁⲓ}} ''Sai'' from Egyptian ''Zau''), where her cult was centered in the western [[Nile Delta]] of [[Lower Egypt]]. It is attested as early as the [[First Dynasty of Egypt|First Dynasty]].{{sfn|Shaw|Nicholson|1995|p=250}} Neith was also one of the three tutelary deities of the southern city of Latopolis ({{lang-grc-koi|Λατόπολις}}) or [[Esna]] (Snē) (Sahidic Coptic: {{lang|cop|{{Script/Coptic|ⲥⲛⲏ}}}} from earlier Egyptian: ''t3-snt'', also ''iwnyt''{{sfn|Richter|2016|p=74}}{{sfn|Kaper|2003}}). Latopolis was located on the western bank of the [[Nile|River Nile]] some {{convert|55|km}} south of [[Luxor]] (Thebes). She was [[Interpretatio graeca|associated with Athena]], and was said to have migrated from Libya to build her temple at Sais in the Nile Delta.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Amazigh Religion in Libya |url=https://libyanheritagehouse.org/religion/amazigh-religion-in-libya |access-date=2024-04-13 |website=Libyan Heritage House |language=en-US}}</ref>
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{{More citations needed section|date=June 2022}}
[[File:Bronze statuette of Neith. She wears the Red Crown of Lower Egypt. The hieroglyphic inscriptions, partially erased, mention the name of Padihor. From Egypt. Late Period. The British Museum, London.jpg|thumb|Bronze statuette of Neith, wearing the Red Crown of Lower Egypt; the partially erased hieroglyphic inscriptions mention the name of Padihor - The British Museum, London]]
In her usual representations, she is portrayed as a fierce deity, a woman wearing the Red Crown, occasionally holding or using the [[bow and arrow]], in others, a [[harpoon]]. Neith also is a goddess of war and of hunting and that is the symbolism depicted most often. Her symbol was two arrows crossed over a shield.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2003|p=158}} The hieroglyphs of her name usually are followed by a determinative containing the archery elements, with the shield symbol of the name being explained as either double bows (facing one another), intersected by two arrows (usually lashed to the bows), or, by other imagery associated with her worship. As she is connected with weaving, the symbol is sometimes suggested to be a [[shuttle (weaving)|shuttle]].<ref name="brooklyn">{{cite web |title=Neith |url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/heritage_floor/neith |website=brooklynmuseum.org |access-date=6 July 2024}}</ref>{{sfn|Watterson|1984|p=174}} Her symbol also identified the city of Sais.{{sfn|Fleming|Lothian|1997|p=62}} This symbol was displayed on top of her head in Egyptian art. In her form as a [[war goddess|goddess of war]], she was said to make the weapons of warriors and to guard their bodies when they died.
As a deity, Neith is normally shown carrying the [[Was (sceptre)|was]] scepter (symbol of rule and power) and the [[ankh]] (symbol of life). She is
Neith is one of the most ancient deities associated with ancient Egyptian culture. [[Flinders Petrie]]{{sfn|Petrie|Mace|1901|p=16}} noted the earliest depictions of her standards were known in predynastic periods, as can be seen from a representation of a barque bearing her crossed arrow standards in the Predynastic Period, as is displayed in the [[Ashmolean Museum]], Oxford.
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