Editing Neith (section)

==Mythology==
[[File:ENHANCED PHOTO OF NEITH.jpg|thumb|upright|Egyptian war goddess Neith wearing the [[Deshret]] crown of northern (lower) Egypt, which bears the [[cobra]] of [[Wadjet]]]]In some [[ancient Egyptian creation myths]], Neith was identified as the mother of [[Ra]] and [[Apep]].<ref name=":14">{{Cite book |last=Pinch |first=Geraldine |title=Handbook of Egyptian mythology |date=2002 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-57607-242-4 |series=Handbooks of world mythology |location=Santa Barbara, Calif}}</ref> When she was identified as a water goddess, she was viewed as the mother of [[Sobek]], the [[crocodile]].{{sfn|Fleming|Lothian|1997|p=33}} It was because of this association with water, i.e. the [[Nile]], that during pairing of deities she sometimes was considered the wife of [[Khnum]] and sometimes was associated with the source of the River Nile. In that cult center, she also was associated with the [[Nile Perch]] as well as being the goddess of the triad.

As the goddess of creation and weaving, she was said to reweave the world on her loom daily.<ref name=":52">{{Cite book |last=Mercatante |first=Anthony S. |title=Who's who in Egyptian mythology |last2=Bianchi |first2=Robert Steven |date=1995 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-2967-1 |edition=2nd |location=Lanham, MD}}</ref> An interior wall of the [[Egyptian temple|temple]] at [[Esna]] records an account of creation in which Neith brings forth the [[Naunet|Nun]], the first land, from the primeval waters. All that she conceived in her heart comes into being, including all thirty deities. Having no husband she has been described as "Virgin Mother Goddess":
{{blockquote|Unique Goddess, mysterious and great who came to be in the beginning and caused everything to come to be. The divine mother of Ra, who shines on the horizon...{{sfn|Lesko|1999|pp=60-63}}}}
[[Proclus]] (412–485 AD) wrote that the [[adyton]] of the temple of Neith in [[Sais]] (of which nothing now remains) carried the following inscription:
{{blockquote|I am the things that are, that will be, and that have been. No one has ever laid open the garment by which I am concealed. The fruit which I brought forth was the sun.{{sfn|Taylor|1820|p=82}}}}
It was said that at the request of Thoth''',''' Neith interceded in the kingly war between [[Horus]] and [[Set (deity)|Set]], over the Egyptian [[throne]], recommending that Horus rule.<ref name=":33">{{Cite book |last=Pinch |first=Geraldine |title=Egyptian myth: a very short introduction |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-280346-7 |series=Very short introductions |location=Oxford}}</ref>

A great festival, called the ''Feast of Lamps'', was held annually in honor of Neith and, according to the Greek historian [[Herodotus]], her devotees burned a multitude of lights in the open air all night during the celebration.<ref name=":52" />{{sfn|Lesko|1999}}{{pn|date=December 2024}}