Editing Anuket

{{short description|Ancient Egyptian goddess}}
{{about|the Ancient Egyptian goddess}}
{{Infobox deity
| type        = Egyptian
| name        = Anuket
| image       = Anuket.svg
| alt         = 
| caption     = The goddess Anuket, depicted as a woman with a tall, plumed headdress
| god_of      = 
| hiero        = <hiero>a:n-q:t-B1</hiero>
| cult_center = [[Elephantine]], [[Seheil]]
| symbol      = Bow, arrows, gazelle, ostrich feather
| parents     = [[Khnum]] and [[Satet]]
| siblings    = 
| consort     = 
| offspring   =
| greek_equivalent = [[Hestia]]
| roman_equivalent = [[Vesta (mythology)|Vesta]]
}}
{{Ancient Egyptian religion}}
'''Anuket''' was the [[ancient Egyptian deities|ancient Egyptian goddess]] of the [[cataracts of the Nile]] and [[Lower Nubia]] in general, worshipped especially at [[Elephantine]] near the First Cataract.<ref>Hart, George (2005), ''The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, Revised Edition'', p. 28</ref>

==Etymology==
In [[Egyptian language|ancient Egyptian]], she was known as Anuket, '''Anaka''',{{sfnp|EB|1878}} or '''Anqet'''.<ref name="AncientEgyptOnline-Anuket">{{Cite web |url= http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/anuket.html |title= Anuket |last= Hill |first= J. |date= 2010 |website= ancientegyptonline.co.uk |publisher= Ancient Egypt Online |access-date= 2016-10-26 }}</ref> Her name meant the "''Clasper''" or "''Embracer''".{{sfnp|EB|1878}} In Greek, this became '''Anoukis''' ({{lang|grc|Ανουκις}}),{{sfnp|EB|1878}} sometimes also spelled '''Anukis'''.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt|last=Wilkinson|first=Richard H.|publisher=Thames & Hudson|year=2003|isbn=0-500-05120-8|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/completegodsgodd00wilk_0/page/138 138]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/completegodsgodd00wilk_0/page/138}}</ref> In the ''[[interpretatio graeca]]'', she was considered equivalent to [[Hestia]] or [[Vesta (mythology)|Vesta]].{{sfnp|EB|1878}}



== History and roles ==
She was originally the daughter of [[Ra]], but was always related to [[Satet]] in some way. For example, both goddesses were called the "[[Eye of Ra]]", along with [[Bastet]], [[Hathor]], and [[Sekhmet]].<ref name="AncientEgyptOnline-Anuket" /> Also, they were both related in some way to the [[Uraeus]].<ref name="AncientEgyptOnline-Anuket" />

Anuket was the goddess of the Nile flood and a protective goddess of the southern border of Egypt. Her posing with her arms outstretched may have been a visual reference to the shape of the Nile, with its two tributaries, and influenced her being called "the Embracer". In the New Kingdom, her aspects as a southern goddess were emphasized to the point where one of her epithets was "the Nubian".<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Abdelhakim |first=Walaa Mohamed |last2=Zein |first2=Mohamed |last3=Mosallam |first3=Amr |date=1999-12-01 |title=The Sexual Symbolism of the Votive Beds’ Decorations and Its Relation to Their Function |url=https://ijthsx.journals.ekb.eg/article_285658.html |journal=The International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Studies |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=162–143 |doi=10.21608/ijthsx.2023.180510.1040 |issn=2785-9843}}</ref>

She was associated with swift moving water, and this was the reason for her association with papyruses.<ref name=":0" />

==Worship==
[[File:Neferhotep I 3.jpg|thumb|left|Reliefs of [[Senusret III]] and [[Neferhotep I]] making offerings to Anuket on Seheil.]]
Anuket was part of a triad with the god [[Khnum]], and the goddess [[Satet|Satis]]. She may have been the sister of the goddess [[Satet|Satis]]<ref name="Pinch">Geraldine Pinch, Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt, Oxford University Press, 2004, p 186</ref> or she may have been a junior consort to Khnum instead.<ref name="Pinch"/>{{sfnp|EB|1878}}

A temple dedicated to Anuket was erected on the [[Seheil|Island of Seheil]]. Inscriptions show that a shrine or altar was dedicated to her at this site by the [[Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt|13th Dynasty]] [[pharaoh]] [[Sobekhotep III]]. Much later, during the 18th Dynasty, [[Amenhotep II]] dedicated a chapel to the goddess.<ref>[[Kathryn A. Bard]], ed., ''Encyclopedia of the archaeology of ancient Egypt'', Psychology Press, 1999, p 178</ref>

During the New Kingdom, Anuket's cult at [[Elephantine]] included a river procession of the goddess during the first month of Shemu. Inscriptions mention the processional festival of Khnum and Anuket during this period.<ref>Zahi A. Hawass, Lyla Pinch Brock, Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century: Archaeology, American Univ in Cairo Press, 2003, p 443</ref>

[[File:N372.2d.jpg|thumb|right|Anouké or Anouki (Anucè, Anucis, Istia, Estia, Vesta), N372.2, [[Brooklyn Museum]]]]
Ceremonially, when the Nile started its annual flood, the Festival of Anuket began. People threw coins, gold, jewelry, and precious gifts into the river, in thanks to the goddess for the life-giving water and returning benefits derived from the wealth provided by her fertility. The [[taboo]] held in several parts of Egypt, against eating certain [[fish]] which were considered sacred, was lifted during this time, suggesting that a fish species of the Nile was a [[totem]] for Anuket and that they were consumed as part of the [[ritual]] of her major religious festival.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Anuket |url=https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/anuket/ |website=Ancient Egypt Online}}</ref> She was seen as bringing forth the flood.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hoffman |first=Susanne M |title=Preliminary Observations on the Dendera Zodiac (Egypt) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Susanne-Hoffmann-5/publication/378342368_Preliminary_Observations_on_the_Dendera_Zodiac_Egypt/links/65d5afb3adc608480adb8328/Preliminary-Observations-on-the-Dendera-Zodiac-Egypt.pdf |journal=Astronomy in Culture}}</ref>

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
* {{citation |contribution=[[s:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Anoukis|Anoukis]] |title=Encyclopædia Britannica|edition=9th|volume=II|editor-last=Baynes |editor-first=Thomas Spencer |display-editors=0 |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |location=New York |date=1878 |ref={{harvid|EB|1878}} |page=90 }}.

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Valbelle |first=Dominique |title=Satis et Anoukis |language=French |year=1981 |publisher=Verlag Philipp von Zabern |isbn=3-8053-0414-5 }}

{{Commons}}

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[[Category:Egyptian goddesses]]
[[Category:Sea and river goddesses]]
[[Category:Nubian goddesses]]
[[Category:Personifications of rivers]]
[[Category:Elephantine]]