The Egyptian Goddess Seshat: The ancient Egyptian Goddess of Writing, Knowledge, Wisdom, and Measurement
Seshat was the ancient Egyptian goddess of writing, wisdom, and knowledge. She was a scribe and record keeper. She was also credited with inventing writing. She became identified as the goddess of measurement, accounting, architecture, science, astronomy, mathematics, geometry, history and surveying. She was variously depicted as the wife, daughter, or female counterpart of Thoth, who was also associated with knowledge, astronomy, measurement, and writing.
Seshat (Goddess)
Seshat History
The Egyptian goddess Seshat is attested from at least the First Dynasty. Her priests and image are referenced in the Royal Annals of the Old Kingdom, during the reign of Den. She was depicted in a picture as early as the Second Dynasty because she was conducting the “stretching the cord” ritual with Khasekhemwy. The antiquity of her symbols, such as the notched palm stick, which predates writing, suggests that she may have originated earlier than the First Dynasty.
In addition, examples of her emblem, or symbols that appear related, have been found dating from the 3rd millennium BC Protodynastic Period. Starting in the Middle Kingdom, Seshat was alternatively represented by the name Sefkhet-Abwy. The depiction of Seshat and Sefkhet-Abwy continued until at least the Ptolemaic Dynasty.
Stretching the Cord” Ritual
The Egyptian goddess Seshat held titles related to construction, like “Lady of Builders”. As she was involved in planning the building and expansion of sacred sites, such as temples.
The “stretching the cord”ritual is related to laying out the foundations of temples and other important structures. It would have helped plan dimensions and align structures to astronomic or geographic features, while fixing the ground plan and determining its corners. It involved the use of rope, cord, poles, stakes, clubs, and mallets. Depictions of the ritual typically showed Seshat and the king, across from each other, holding these tools and “stretching” the cord between them. The god Horus is sometimes depicted alongside them.
Text from the Palermo Stone indicates that this festival was performed at least as early as the First Dynasty, where it involved her priests. The oldest iconographic depiction dates from the Second Dynasty, where Seshat and Khasekhemwy carry out the ritual.
Sed Festival
By the New Kingdom, she was involved in the Sed festival, a ceremony attested since the Early Dynastic Period. Also called the Heb Sed, which was the festival celebrated to mark the continuing reign of a king, typically after thirty years of rule. Seshat, sometimes alongside Thoth, recorded the king’s jubilees and regnal years on a notched palm rib or the leaves of the sacred ished (or persea) tree. Seshat and Thoth would have also recorded the names and histories of kings on the sacred ished tree
Seshat Symbols
- In ancient Egyptian art, she was depicted as a woman with a seven-pointed emblem above her head or extending from a headband. This emblem was the origin of an alternate name for Seshat, Sefkhet-Abwy, which may be translated as “seven-horned”.
- She was frequently shown in a tiger-skin or dress, sometimes with a robe layered under a skin. The leopard-skin was a symbol of funerary priests, with the pattern on the natural hide thought to represent the stars, which were a symbol of eternity, and to be associated with the night sky.
- Seshat is usually shown holding a notched palm rib, the symbol for “year” in Egyptian hieroglyphics. The stem was often depicted ending in a tadpole above a shen ring.
There were hieroglyphs, which represented festivals were shown as suspended from the palm stem when Seshat recorded these events. She was also depicted holding other tools, often the knotted cords that were stretched to survey land and structures.
Seshat (Goddess)
What are the roles of Seshat?
- The Egyptian goddess Seshat was the divine measurer and scribe, and thus helped the pharaoh in both of these practices. Her skills were necessary for surveying the land and re-establishing boundary lines after the annual floods. 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. She was also responsible for recording the speeches the pharaoh made during the crowning ceremony.
- As early as the Old Kingdom, Seshat was depicted recording the goods, loot, and captives brought to Egypt, especially those gained in military campaigns. She was also shown conducting cattle censuses. From the Middle Kingdom onwards, she was depicted recording foreign tribute given to Egypt.
What was the Relationship with Thoth?
The Egyptian goddess Seshat was closely associated with Thoth, who was the reckoner of time and god of writing and was also venerated as a god of wisdom. The two shared some overlapping functions, and she was variously considered his sister, wife, or daughter. Seshat invented writing, and Thoth taught writing to man. Seshat also appeared in funerary contexts, where, along with Nephthys, she restored the limbs of the deceased.
Thoth
Sashet Worship
The Egyptian goddess Seshat was strongly associated with the king’s reign and official ceremonies. The general populace did not worship her, and she did not have a dedicated cult or temple of her own. However, her role in the “stretching the cord” ritual would have involved her in the founding of every temple. Likewise, her association with writing and architecture would have made her a patroness of scribes and builders.
The Egyptian goddess Seshat held various titles related to writing and libraries, like “Mistress of Scribes” and “Lady of Books,” as her priests oversaw the places in which scrolls of knowledge were assembled and spells were preserved. This responsibility would have involved her in the House of Life, a place where scribes were trained. Heliopolis was the location of her principal sanctuary.
What is the Sashet Emblem?
The Egyptian goddess Seshat’s emblem is a hieroglyph representing the goddess Seshat in ancient Egypt. In art, it was shown above her head or as part of her headpiece. It is unclear what the emblem symbolises. It is maybe described as a flower, star, or rosette below a crescent or arc.
Alternatively, the emblem may represent a device similar to the Roman groma or a method of identifying directions through the use of gnomons. It is typically shown with seven points and one “stem” of variable length extending from the bottom. The points of the emblem may be depicted with varying shapes and levels of detail, but remain symmetrical. It may also be depicted with a disc or ring in its centre.
Seshat emblem
The emblem has two main variations:
- During the Old Kingdom, the upper arc was depicted as a whole with two upright feathers on top.
- By the New Kingdom, the arc was split into two “horns” with upright points replacing the feathers.
Both variations remained in use throughout the New Kingdom and onwards.
Palermo Stone
The famous 24th-century BC Palermo Stone, a piece of the Royal Annals of the Old Kingdom stele, has multiple uses of Seshat’s emblem. It occurs twice on the “front” side, in years 34 and 40 under Den. The Egyptian goddess Seshat’s emblem is also used on the Palermo Stone to represent Seshu, the male counterpart of Seshat.
Palermo Stone
Conclusion
Overall, the Egyptian goddess Seshat was highly significant in ancient Egypt. She embodies the central Egyptian values of order, knowledge, and eternity. Her powers were not destructive or overtly magical, but were fundamental to the preservation of civilisation itself through the careful documentation of history, royal reigns, and sacred knowledge. Her influence spanned from the mortal world, as the patron of scribes and architects, to the divine. She recorded the lives of kings and preserved the spiritual texts that guided the deceased through the afterlife. At the end, Seshat could be the ultimate archivist and intellectual foundation of ancient Egyptian cosmology.
