Seshat, under various spellings, was the Ancient Egyptian goddess of wisdom,
knowledge, and writing. She was seen as a scribe and record keeper, and her name
means she who scrivens, and is credited with inventing writing. She also became
identified as the goddess of architecture, astronomy, astrology,
building, mathematics, and surveying. These are all professions that relied
upon expertise in her skills. She is identified as Safekh-Aubi in some late
texts. Mistress of the House of Books is
another title for Seshat, being the deity whose priests oversaw the library
in which scrolls of the most important knowledge were assembled and spells were
preserved. One prince of the fourth dynasty, Wep-em-nefret, is noted as the
Overseer of the Royal Scribes, Priest of Seshat on a slab stela. Heliopolis was
the location of her principal sanctuary. She is described as the goddess of
history. In art, she was depicted as a woman with
a seven-pointed emblem above her head. It is unclear what this emblem
represents. Pharaoh Tuthmosis III called her Sefket-Abwy. Spell 10 of the Coffin
Texts states "Seshat opens the door of heaven for you."
Usually, she is shown holding a palm stem, bearing notches to denote the
recording of the passage of time, especially for keeping track of the
allotment of time for the life of the pharaoh. She was also depicted holding
other tools and, often, holding the knotted cords that were stretched to
survey land and structures. She is frequently shown dressed in a
cheetah or leopard hide, a symbol of funerary priests. If not shown with the
hide over a dress, the pattern of the dress is that of the spotted feline. The
pattern on the natural hide was thought to represent the stars, being a symbol
of eternity, and to be associated with the night sky.
As the divine measurer and scribe, Seshat was believed to appear to assist
the pharaoh in both of these practices. It was she who recorded, by notching her
palm, the time allotted to the pharaoh for his stay on earth.
Seshat assisted the pharaoh in the "stretching the cord" ritual. This
ritual is related to laying out the foundations of temples and other
important structures in order to determine and assure the sacred
alignments and the precision of the dimensions. Her skills were necessary
for surveying the land after the annual floods to reestablish boundary lines.
The priestess who officiated at these functions in her name also oversaw the
staff of others who performed similar duties and were trained in mathematics
and the related store of knowledge. Much of this knowledge was considered
quite sacred and not shared beyond the ranks of the highest professionals such
as architects and certain scribes. She also was responsible for recording the
speeches the pharaoh made during the crowning ceremony and approving the
inventory of foreign captives and goods gained in military campaigns. During the
New Kingdom, she was involved in the Sed festival held by the pharaohs who could
celebrate thirty years of reign. Later, when the cult of the moon deity,
Thoth, became prominent and he became identified as a god of wisdom, the role
of Seshat changed in the Egyptian pantheon when counterparts were created
for most older deities. The lower ranks of her priestesses were displaced by the
priests of Thoth. First, she was identified as his daughter, and later as
his wife. After the pairing with Thoth the emblem
of Seshat was shown surmounted by a crescent moon, which, over time,
degenerated into being shown as two horns arranged to form a crescent shape,
but pointing downward. When the crescent moon symbol had degenerated into the
horns, she sometimes was known as Safekh-Aubi, meaning she who wears the
two horns. In a few images the horns resemble two cobras, as depicted in
hieroglyphs, but facing each other with heads touching.
See also List of ancient Egyptian scribes
Tutelary deity Saite Oracle Papyrus
Gallery References