Editing Wadjet (section)

== History ==
Wadjet was said to be the matron and protector of [[Lower Egypt]] in her cobra form,<ref name="Pearson-2021">{{Cite book |last1=Pearson |first1=Patricia O'Connell |title=World History: Our Human Story |last2=Holdren |first2=John |date=May 2021 |publisher=Sheridan Kentucky |isbn=978-1-60153-123-0 |location=Versailles, Kentucky |pages=29}}</ref> and upon unification with her sister [[Nekhbet]], Goddess of [[Upper Egypt]], the joint protector and patron of all of Egypt. Scenes of the two sisters together as two cobras can be found in King [[Seti I|Sety I]]'s tomb, located in the [[Valley of the Kings]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dzikowski |first=Francis |title=Wadjet and Nekhbet |url=https://thebanmappingproject.com/images/16814jpg |access-date=2024-03-17 |website=Theban Mapping Project}}</ref> The image of Wadjet with the sun disk is called the [[uraeus]], and it was the emblem on the crown of the rulers of Lower Egypt. She was also the protector of kings and of women in childbirth, tasked with guarding them from enemies that could harm them.

Wadjet's family history is largely unconfirmed, mainly found through myth and word of mouth.  In one myth, Wadjet was said to be [[Ra]]'s Daughter, where she was depicted as his seeing eye. Her job was to find [[Shu (Egyptian god)|Shu]] and [[Tefnut]] for him, to which she successfully did.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Edu |first=World History |date=2021-08-25 |title=Wadjet: Origin Story, Meaning, Symbols & Eye |url=https://worldhistoryedu.com/wadjet-origin-story-powers-meanings-symbols/ |access-date=2024-02-29 |website=World History Edu |language=en-US}}</ref> Her father was very proud of her and honored her by commanding that she stay with him to protect him from enemies.  She took her most recognizable form as a snake and struck any enemies that tried to hurt her father. She was also in charge of carrying out Ra's orders.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bianchi |first=Robert Steven |date=February 2022 |title=A Bronze Reliquary for an Ichneumon Dedicated to the Egyptian Goddess Wadjet |journal=Arts |language=en |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=21 |doi=10.3390/arts11010021 |doi-access=free |issn=2076-0752}}</ref> This myth is represented by triadic seals, amulets, and more, depicting the family of gods together, including Ra as the father, Wadjet as the daughter, and [[Set (deity)|Seth]] as Ra's bodyguard.<ref name="Sweeney-2018">{{Cite journal |last1=Sweeney |first1=Deborah |last2=Herrmann |first2=Christian |last3=Koch |first3=Ido |last4=Gadot |first4=Yuval |last5=Oeming |first5=Manfred |last6=Lipschits |first6=Oded |date=2018 |title=A Triad Amulet from Tel Azekah |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26740644 |journal=Israel Exploration Journal |volume=68 |issue=2 |pages=129–149 |jstor=26740644 |issn=0021-2059}}</ref> A clear example of these three gods being tied together was found on a Triad amulet in Tel Azekah, closer to [[Jerusalem|Jerusalem, Israel]].<ref name="Sweeney-2018" />

In another myth, Wadjet was said to be the nurse of the infant god [[Horus]].<ref name="Pearson-2021" /> With the help of his mother [[Isis]], they protected Horus from his treacherous uncle, [[Set (deity)|Set]], when they took refuge in the swamps of the [[Nile Delta]].<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica">{{Cite news |title=Wadjet {{!}} Egyptian goddess |language=en |work=Encyclopedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wadjet |access-date=2018-04-19}}</ref>

Wadjet and Nekhbet have been portrayed as nurses to the various kings in the afterlife, breastfeeding him in order to sustain his royal qualities. These two goddesses appear in the [[Pyramid Texts]], maintaining the king's divinity through suckling while he is in a child-like state.<ref name="Ivanova-2009">{{Cite web |last=Ivanova |first=Maria |date=2009 |title=Milk in Ancient Egyptian Religion |url=https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:713303/FULLTEXT01.pdf |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=Department of Archaeology and Ancient History}}</ref> A similar portrayal of Wadjet as a nurse, found in the tomb of [[Tutankhamun]] on a pendant, instead depicts the King as fully grown and standing straight up while being breastfed.  He is dressed in his traditional royal attire, using the Goddess's milk to help him be successful in his position of king.<ref name="Ivanova-2009" /> This pendant of Wadjet and the king was found in the context of funerary rituals and could serve multiple purposes of both resurrection and coronation. This imagery is also found in King [[Pepi II Neferkare|Pepy II]]'s funerary temple, which shows a damaged relief of Wadjet nursing the king.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bayoumi |first=Tarneem Farag |date=2012 |title=Representations of a Goddess Suckling a King in Ancient Egypt |url=https://cguaa.journals.ekb.eg/article_37343_876ae6fc336f4f8e0358165e273e913c.pdf |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=Egyptian Knowledge Bank}}</ref>

Wadjet's [[oracle]] was in the renowned temple in Per-Wadjet that was dedicated to her worship and gave the city its name. This oracle may have been the source for the oracular tradition that spread to Greece from Egypt.<ref>Herodotus ii. 55 and vii. 134</ref>
From around the 4th dynasty onward, Wadjet was claimed as the patron goddess and protector of the whole of [[Lower Egypt]]. She became associated with [[Nekhbet]], depicted as a [[Egyptian vulture|white vulture]], who held unified Egypt. After the unification the image of Nekhbet joined Wadjet on the crown, thereafter shown as part of the [[uraeus]]. The religious epithet for these patron deities of the entire county was, "nebty ('[[Two Ladies]]')".<ref name="Bianchi-2022">{{Cite journal |last=Bianchi |first=Robert Steven |date=2022 |title=A Bronze Reliquary for an Ichneumon Dedicated to the Egyptian Goddess Wadjet |journal=Arts |language=en |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=21 |doi=10.3390/arts11010021 |issn=2076-0752 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Wadjet, as the goddess of Lower Egypt, had a large temple at the ancient Imet (now [[Tell Nebesha]]) in the Nile Delta. She was worshipped in the area as the "Lady of Imet". Later she was joined by [[Min (god)|Min]] and [[Horus]] to form a triad of deities.<ref>Vincent Razanajao, [http://athena.u-pec.fr/primo_library/libweb/action/dlDisplay.do?vid=upec&docId=aleph_upec_xml000570497&fromSitemap=1&afterPDS=true D'Imet à Tell Farâoun : recherches sur la géographie, les cultes et l'histoire d'une localité de Basse-Égypte orientale.] (English synopsis)</ref> From the site of [[Tebtunis]], in the Egyptian [[Faiyum]], a temple is dedicated to Wadjet and was the site of ritual performance in her honor.<ref name="Bianchi-2022" />

According to ancient Greece, Wadjet was present in their mythology as well. Known as Buto, Uto, Leto or Latona, the goddess was one of the focal points for the town of Buto, as mentioned above.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, Book V. An Account of Contries, Nations, Seas, Towns, Havens, Mountains, Rivers, Distances and Peoples Who Now Exist or Formerly Existed., Chap. 11. –  The Cities of Egypt |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0137:book=5:chapter=11&highlight=buto#note-link38 |access-date=2024-02-29 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref>