Goddess Mut | Egyptian Goddess of Heaven
Fact About Goddess Mut
Mut (or Mut), whose name means “mother”, symbolizes maternal values, she is one of the oldest divinities of the Egyptian pantheon. She is also a dangerous Goddess when she is one of the forms of the “Distant Goddess” (Hathor), assimilated to Sekhmet. In the Hellenistic period (305-30) she was assimilated by the Greeks to the Goddess Hera, wife of Zeus.
She is represented in the form of a vulture, or as a woman wearing on her head the remains of a vulture, sometimes surmounted by the pschent (the double crown of Egypt), holding a papyrus scepter and the sign Ankh. When she is one of the forms of the "Distant Goddess" she is then represented in the form of a lioness with sharp claws. She was also sometimes represented with wings as a Goddess of the sky, appearing as a vulture or as a cow behind Amun emerging from the waters of the Nun.
Her elements were: Earth, air, fire. Her colors: Blue, red and yellow. Her festival was celebrated on the 29th of the month of Epiphi in the Shemu season. She was also celebrated at the festivals specific to Amun such as those of the Theban triad: The Opet festival and the "Beautiful festival of the valley".
Her place of worship was Isherou, a village south of Karnak. She is venerated there, in her sanctuary located south of the temple of Amun, called Hout-Mou, under the aspect of Sekhmet, but more generally that of a woman wearing the white crown or a vulture. Other sanctuaries are attested at Bubastis, Hermonthis, Memphis, Tanis, Sais and in the oases of Kharga and Dakhla.
She is associated with the Theban triad (Amun, Mut and Khonsu) where she is at the same time the wife, mother and daughter of Amun and the mother of the moon god Khonsu. During the 18th dynasty (1549-1295), her cult became important, replacing in Thebes that of the Goddess Amunet, wife of Amun. Having no children, she decided to adopt Montu, then Khonsu, Montu declining the offer. She was among the sun (Amun-Re) and the moon (Khonsu) as the third eye showing cosmic perfection and promoting the flooding of the Nile.
She is mentioned in the Book of the Dead helping the deceased to reach the afterlife and preventing them from decomposing. She appears on the walls of many temples, alongside her husband Amun, as “Mistress of the Nine Bows” (symbol of all enemies of Egypt).
