Great Goddesses of Egypt

The great goddesses of Egypt inspired magnificent temples and art and a literature that speaks of their supreme importance to the ancients -- men and women, royalty and commoners. In this book Barbara S. Lesko follows the changing fortunes, over thousands of years, of the seven most significant Egyptian goddesses: Nut, Neith, Nekhbet, Wadjet, Hathor, Mut, and Isis. Some already appeared in prehistory, and some were later political creations. One became a universally revered goddess of the Greco-Roman world who successfully held her own against Christianity for five hundred years.Although they often assumed human form, some goddesses were associated with animals that Lesko traces back to African clan divinities. Understood as the sun's heat, the Milky Way, the flood, and the mother of the king of Egypt, the great goddesses also assumed the caring role of protector for deserving humans, assisting with careers, romance, and fertility. They held out the promise of eternal life, and records show that they won fierce loyalty from their followers. Wherever Egyptians traveled, favorite goddess cults were sure to accompany them.Because works on Egyptian goddesses generally appear in scholarly series or European publications, they are inaccessible to most American readers. Furthermore, many studies of Egyptian religion overlook goddesses, focusing instead on male deities. In this volume, Lesko presents a distillation of available sources and offers original insights that bring into focus goddesses whose powers equaled those of the gods and whose attributes are sometimes astounding.