Anuket
Anuket is the goddess of the First Cataract and of Lower Nubia, worshipped at Elephantine and on the island of Sehel, where her temple stood and pharaohs from Sobekhotep III to Amenhotep II left dedications.
Anuket's Greek equivalent is Hestia and her Roman Vesta; the interpretatio graeca is later than her Egyptian cult and is not part of it. She is sometimes called the sister of Satet and sometimes a junior consort of Khnum - the sources disagree and both are recorded. The planetary, zodiacal and tarot values are later Western correspondences. The common retelling that worshippers threw coins into the Nile at her festival is modern: coinage is a Ptolemaic and later introduction, so the attested gifts are gold, jewellery and produce.
Correspondences
Offerings
- Offerings
- Cool waterGold given to the riverBreadBeerFishLotus flowersGrain
Sacred timing
- Sacred Timing
Symbols and forms
- Alternate Names
- AnukisAnqetAnakaThe Embracer
- Gender Expression
- Feminine
- Titles
- Lady of the CataractThe EmbracerMistress of ElephantineLady of SehelThe Nubian
- Symbols
- PapyrusReed crownGazelleBowArrowsOstrich featherCataract
Practice
- Invocation Approach
- ToneQuick and coolAddressAnuketLady of the CataractThe EmbracerRelationshipThe rush of the first cataractWarningShe is the cataract and the flood and she answers to the riverResonanceThose at a river or a border and the blessing of fast water
- Modern Practice
Anuket is called at the rising of a river or a tide, for the southern boundary, and for the blessing of fast water. The practice is a libation poured into moving water, with nothing asked that the river cannot give.
Nature and meaning
- Domain
- The first cataractThe nile floodLower nubiaThe southern borderSwift waterPapyrusFertilityBlessing
- Mythology Summary
Anuket is the goddess of the First Cataract and of Lower Nubia, worshipped at Elephantine and on the island of Sehel, where her temple stood and pharaohs from Sobekhotep III to Amenhotep II left dedications. She is the daughter of Khnum and Satet in the Elephantine triad, 'the Embracer' whose outstretched arms may figure the two branches of the Nile, and the flood is hers: when the river rose her festival began and the taboo on certain fish was lifted. Her name meant 'the embracer', and in the New Kingdom she was 'the Nubian'.
Details
- Correspondences
- ColorsBlueGreenGoldWhiteScentsLotusFrankincenseMyrrhMetalsGoldCopperSilverAnimalsGazelleFishGoose
One of 3,120 entries in the Grimoire — the whole library, every cross-reference, is free to take. Take the whole thing Is it wrong somewhere?
Referenced by 2
Every entry that names Anuket, grouped by the system it comes from.
More in Deities
The entries either side of this one in the same catalogue.
All of Deities →New entries, when they land
Occasional notes when a section of the grimoire is added or revised. No account, no tracking across sites, and one line to leave.