Editing Seshat (section)

==Roles==
Seshat was the divine measurer and scribe, and thus assisted the [[pharaoh]] in both of these practises. Her skills were necessary for surveying the land, to re-establish boundary-lines after the [[flooding of the Nile|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 also was responsible for recording the speeches the pharaoh made during the [[coronation of the pharaoh|crowning-ceremony]].{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

As early as the [[Old Kingdom of Egypt|Old Kingdom]], Seshat was depicted recording the goods, loot, and captives brought to Egypt, especially those gained in military campaigns.<ref name="Hart 2005" /> She was also shown conducting cattle [[Census|censuses]].<ref>Asante, ''Encyclopedia of African Religion'', p. 609.</ref> From the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]] onwards, she was depicted recording foreign tribute given to Egypt.<ref name="Wilkinson" />

Seshat was closely associated with [[Thoth]] ([[Egyptian language|Ancient Egyptian]]: ''Ḏḥwtj''), the reckoner of time and god of writing, who was also venerated as a god of wisdom. The two shared some overlapping functions and she was variously considered to be his sister, wife, or daughter. Seshat invented writing and Thoth taught writing to man.{{fact|date=February 2022}} Seshat also appeared in funerary contexts, where, along with [[Nephthys]], she restored the limbs of the deceased.<ref name="Wilkinson" />
[[File:Hatshepsut_and_Seshat.jpg|left|thumb|[[Hatshepsut]] (c. 1479–1458 BC) and Seshat in a sunken relief at the [[Red Chapel]], depicted performing the "stretching the cord" ritual for the temple's founding.]]

=== "Stretching the Cord" Ritual ===
Seshat held titles related to construction, including "Lady of Builders",<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Magdolen |first=Dušan |date=2009 |title=A New Investigation of the Symbol of Ancient Egyptian Goddess Seshat |url=https://www.sav.sk/journals/uploads/092611572_Magdolen.pdf |journal=Asian and African Studies |publisher=Institute of Oriental Studies, Slovak Academy of Sciences |publication-place=Bratislava |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=169–189 |access-date=27 February 2025}}</ref> as she was involved in planning the building and expansion of sacred sites, such as temples. 

The "stretching the cord" ritual, or ''pedj-sesh(r)'' ceremony, is one such example.<ref name="Belmonte Seshat2">{{cite book |last1=Belmonte |first1=Juan Antonio |title=In Search of Cosmic Order: Selected Essays on Egyptian Archaeoastronomy |last2=Miguel Angel |first2=Molinero Polo |last3=Miranda |first3=Noemi |date=2009 |publisher=Supreme Council of Antiquities Press |editor1-last=Belmonte |editor1-first=Juan Antonio |location=Cairo |pages=197 |chapter=Unveiling Seshat: New Insights Into The Stretching Of The Cord Ceremony |bibcode=2009iscc.book.....B |access-date=3 July 2022 |editor2-last=Shaltout |editor2-first=Mosalam |chapter-url=http://research.iac.es/proyecto/arqueoastronomia//media/Belmonte_Shaltout_Chapter_7.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202002609/http://research.iac.es/proyecto/arqueoastronomia//media/Belmonte_Shaltout_Chapter_7.pdf |archive-date=2020-12-02 |url-status=live}}</ref> This ritual 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,<ref name=":7">Belmonte, "Unveiling Seshat," pp. 203-210.</ref> while fixing the ground plan and determining its corners.<ref name=":2" /> It involved the use of rope/cord, poles/stakes, and clubs/mallets. Depictions of the ritual typically showed Seshat and the king, across from another, holding these tools and "stretching" the cord between them. The god [[Horus]] is sometimes depicted alongside them.<ref name="Belmonte Seshat2" />

Text from the [[Palermo Stone]] indicates that this festival was performed at least as early as the [[First Dynasty of Egypt|First Dynasty]], where it involved her priests.<ref name=":9">Magdolen, "Sign of Seshat - Part Three," p. 72.</ref><ref name=":8" /> The oldest iconographic depiction dates from the [[Second Dynasty of Egypt|Second Dynasty]], where Seshat and [[Khasekhemwy]] carry out the ritual.<ref>Belmonte, "Unveiling Seshat," pp. 200-201.</ref>
[[File:SFEC-RAMASSEUM-2009-11-14-0011.JPG|left|thumb|Depiction of Seshat, [[Thoth]], and [[Atum]] (not pictured) writing on the fruit of the sacred persea or ''ished'' tree. Sunken relief from the [[Ramesseum]], mortuary temple of [[Ramesses II]] (c. 1303–1213 BC).]]

=== Sed Festival ===
By the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]], she was involved in the [[Sed festival]], a ceremony attested since the [[Early Dynastic Period (Egypt)|Early Dynastic Period]]. Also called the Heb Sed, the festival celebrated the continuing reign of a king, typically after thirty years of rule.<ref>Asante, ''Encyclopedia of African Religion'', p. 660.</ref> Seshat, sometimes alongside [[Thoth]], recorded the king's jubilees and [[Regnal year|regnal years]] on a notched palm rib or the leaves of the sacred ''ished'' (or persea) tree.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":6" /> Seshat and Thoth would have also recorded the names and histories of kings on the sacred ''ished'' tree.<ref>Bunson, ''Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt'', p. 152.</ref>