Editing Mafdet

{{short description|Ancient Egyptian goddess of protection against snakes and scorpions}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Egyptian
| name = Mafdet
| image = Mafdet.svg
| hiero = <hiero>U2:ir-f:d-t-Sms-G7</hiero>
| parents = [[Ra]], [[Atum]]
| siblings = [[Tefnut]], [[Shu (Egyptian god)|Shu]]
}}
{{Ancient Egyptian religion}}

'''Mafdet''' (also '''Mefdet''', '''Maftet'''<ref>{{cite book |author=Bunson, M. R. |year=2002 |title=Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt |edition=Revised |publisher=Facts on File, Inc. |location=New York |chapter=Mafdet (Mefdet, Maftet) |page=223 |isbn=0816045631 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/TheCompleteGodsAndGoddessesOfAncientEgypt/page/n241/mode/2up}}</ref>) was a goddess in the [[ancient Egyptian religion]]. She was often depicted wearing a skin of a [[cheetah]], and protected against the bite of snakes and scorpions. She was part of the pantheon of [[ancient Egyptian deities]] that was prominent during the [[First Dynasty of Egypt]]. She was prominent during the reign of pharaoh [[Den (pharaoh)|Den]] whose image appears on [[Stone vessels in Ancient Egypt|stone vessel]] fragments from his tomb and is mentioned in a dedicatory entry in the [[Palermo Stone]]. Mafdet was the deification of legal justice, or possibly of [[capital punishment]].<ref name=Wilkinson1999>{{cite book |author=Wilkinson, T. A. H. |title=Early Dynastic Egypt |pages=249–251 |publisher=Routledge |year=1999 |isbn=0-203-20421-2 }}</ref> She was associated with the protection of the king's chambers and other sacred places, and with protection against [[venomous animals]], which were seen as transgressors against [[Maat]]. In the [[Pyramid Texts]] of the [[Old Kingdom of Egypt]], she was mentioned as protecting the sun god [[Ra]] from venomous snakes.<ref name=Wilkinson2003>{{cite book |author=Wilkinson, R. H. |title=The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=2003 |isbn=0-500-05120-8 |page=196}}</ref>

== Roles in Egypt ==
Mafdet defended Ra from threats during his daily voyage. She would hunt by night (earning the epithet "Piercer of Darkness") and ensure the coming of dawn.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Roulin|first=Gilles|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/36352165|title=Le livre de la nuit : une composition égyptienne de l'au-delà|date=1996|publisher=Editions universitaires|isbn=3-7278-1054-8|location=Fribourg, Suisse|oclc=36352165}}</ref>

When [[Osiris]] was separated into pieces, Mafdet protected him while she helped bind the pieces together.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Westendorf|first=W.|date=1970|title=Beiträge aus und zu den medizinischen Texten|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11633620|journal=Zeitschrift für Agyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde|volume=96|pages=145–151|doi=10.1524/zaes.1970.96.jg.145 |issn=0044-216X|pmid=11633620|s2cid=201809267 }}</ref>

Depictions in royal tombs associate the symbol of Mafdet with the symbol of [[Anubis]], suggesting that Mafdet accompanied the gods as a hunter or executioner while Anubis fulfilled his role as messenger and attendant.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Petrie|first=W. M. Flinders (William Matthew Flinders)|url=http://archive.org/details/royaltombsoffirs00petr_0|title=The royal tombs of the first dynasty, 1900-1901|date=1900|publisher=London; Boston : Egypt Exploration Fund|others=Getty Research Institute}}</ref>

== Art ==
In art, Mafdet was alternately shown as a feline or [[mongoose]], a woman with such a head, or such an animal with the head of a woman.<ref name="Wilkinson2003" /> The type of feline varies but is commonly interpreted as a cheetah or [[serval]].

She also was depicted in her animal form running up the side of an executioner's [[staff of office]]. It was said that Mafdet ripped out the hearts of wrong-doers, delivering them to the [[pharaoh]]'s feet like cats that present humans with rodents or birds they have killed or maimed.

During the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]], Mafdet was seen as ruling over the judgment hall in [[Duat]] where the enemies of the pharaoh were decapitated with ''Mafdet's claw''.<gallery mode="packed" heights="140">
File:Mafdet symbol.png|Mafdet symbol on a [[sceptre]]
</gallery>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

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[[Category:Egyptian goddesses]]
[[Category:Justice goddesses]]
[[Category:Snake goddesses]]
[[Category:Tutelary goddesses]]
[[Category:Hunting goddesses]]
[[Category:Night goddesses]]

[[ca:Llista de personatges de la mitologia egípcia#M]]
[[Category:Feline goddesses]]