Editing Serket

{{Short description|Ancient Egyptian deity}}
{{about|the Egyptian goddess|the arachnology journal|Serket (journal)|the ''[[Homestuck]]'' character|Vriska Serket}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Egyptian
| name = Serket
| image = Serket.svg
| alt = 
| caption = The Egyptian goddess Serket is often depicted as a woman with a scorpion gracing her crown. She holds the [[ankh]], the symbol of life, in one hand and a [[was-sceptre]], representing power, in the other.
| hiero = <hiero>z:r-q:t-B1</hiero>or<hiero>z:r-q:t-L7</hiero> <ref>{{cite book |last=Zauzich |first =Karl-Theodor |title=[[Hieroglyphs Without Mystery]] |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=1992 | location=Austin |pages=69}}</ref>
| symbol = [[Scorpion]]
| parents = [[Set (deity)|Set]]{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}, or [[Khnum]]{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}} and [[Neith]]{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}
| siblings = [[Apep]] (in some myths), [[Sobek]] (in some myths){{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}
| consort = [[Horus#Heru-pa-khered (Horus the Younger)|Horus the Younger]] or [[Horus#Heru-ur (Horus the Elder)|Horus the Elder]]
| offspring = [[Nehebkau]] (in some myths)
}}
'''Serket''' [[Help:IPA/English|/ˈsɜːrˌkɛt/]] ([[Ancient Egyptian language|Ancient Egyptian]]: ''srqt'') is the [[goddess]] of protection against the venomous stings and bites of scorpions in [[Egyptian mythology]]. <ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-05-13 |title=Pharaonic Gods |url=http://www.egyptianmuseum.gov.eg/selket.html |access-date=2025-03-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513191152/http://www.egyptianmuseum.gov.eg/selket.html |archive-date=13 May 2008 }}</ref> She was primarily worshiped in [[Lower Egypt]] during the [[Prehistoric Egypt|Predynastic Period]] (c. 6000 – c. 3150 BCE). Serket is often depicted as a woman whose head is surmounted by a scorpion with its tail is ready to sting, an [[ankh]] in one hand, and a [[Was-sceptre|''was-''sceptre]] in her other. Her name, also rendered as Serqet, Selkis, or Selket, is a shortened version of 'Serket hetyt' which means "she who causes the throat to breathe."<ref name=":03">{{Cite book |last=elgamelyan |url=https://archive.org/details/RoutledgeDictionaryOfEgyptianGodsAndGoddesses/page/n154/mode/1up |title=Routledge Dictionary Of Egyptian Gods And Goddesses |language=English}}</ref>  

== Old Kingdom ==
=== Name and Roles ===
She is associated with healing, magic, and protection. Another interpretation of her name is, 'she who gives breath.' As many of the venomous creatures of Egypt could prove fatal, Serket was considered a protector of the dead, particularly being associated with venoms and fluids that cause stiffening.

It has been suggested that Serket's identification with a scorpion may be a misinterpretation of the phrase, 'she who gives breath'; it is possible that it could refer not to a scorpion, but rather a [[water scorpion]] ([[Nepidae]]). According to this hypothesis, the meaning behind Serket's name refers to the way water scorpions can breathe underwater. She was seen as one who could cure scorpion stings and the effects of other venoms such as [[Snakebite|snakebites]]. As such, Serket was often said to protect the deities from [[Apep]], the great [[snake]]-demon of evil.

During the [[Old Kingdom of Egypt|Old Kingdom]] she held a protective role around the throne of the king. However, her primary role was with the funerary cult. She was said to be the protector of the tents of [[Embalming|embalmers]] and is one of the [[Tutelary deity|tutelary]] goddesses depicted on the [[canopic chest]] which contains four [[Canopic jar|canopic jars]]. [[Four sons of Horus|Qebehsenuef]], is said to guard the canopic jars and it is Serket's job to protect him along with [[Neith]], [[Isis]], and [[Nephthys]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=elgamelyan |url=https://archive.org/details/RoutledgeDictionaryOfEgyptianGodsAndGoddesses/page/n154/mode/1up |title=Routledge Dictionary Of Egyptian Gods And Goddesses |language=English}}</ref> This role also coined her the title of 'Mistress of the beautiful house,' referring to the embalming pavilion. <ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last=Wilkinson |first=Richard H. |date=2003 |url=https://archive.org/details/TheCompleteGodsAndGoddessesOfAncientEgypt/The%20Complete%20Gods%20and%20Goddesses%20of%20Ancient%20Egypt/page/n233/mode/2up |title=The Complete Gods And Goddesses Of Ancient Egypt |language=English |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=0-500-05120-8}}</ref>

Eventually, Serket began to be identified with [[Isis]], sharing imagery and parentage, until finally, Serket was said to be merely an aspect of Isis, whose cult had become dominant.{{Ancient Egyptian religion}}
== Middle Kingdom ==
During the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]], Egyptian myth says that Serket's help is required in the Underworld where according to the [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/4000-year-old-guide-ancient-egyptian-underworld-may-be-oldest-illustrated-book-180973880/ Book of the Two Ways] she guards a twist in the pathway.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Magazine |first1=Smithsonian |last2=Wu |first2=Katherine J. |title=4,000-Year-Old Guide to the Ancient Egyptian Underworld May Be Oldest Illustrated 'Book' |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/4000-year-old-guide-ancient-egyptian-underworld-may-be-oldest-illustrated-book-180973880/ |access-date=2025-03-15 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref> She is also given credit for binding and containing the snake deity, [[Apep|Apophis]] (or Apep). <ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=elgamelyan |url=https://archive.org/details/RoutledgeDictionaryOfEgyptianGodsAndGoddesses/page/n154/mode/1up |title=Routledge Dictionary Of Egyptian Gods And Goddesses |language=English}}</ref>

== New Kingdom ==
Serket was thought to be one of the mother goddesses and was given the title, 'Serket the great, the divine mother.' <ref name=":12">{{harvnb|Wilkinson|2003|p=[https://archive.org/details/TheCompleteGodsAndGoddessesOfAncientEgypt/The%20Complete%20Gods%20and%20Goddesses%20of%20Ancient%20Egypt/page/n233/mode/2up 233]}}</ref> According to history of the Near East, the scorpion was often seen as a symbol of motherhood. As early as the [[Old Kingdom of Egypt|Old Kingdom]], Serket is said to have nursed the king. In the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]] records of the birth of [[Amenhotep III|Amenophis III]] (or Amenhotep III) in the [[Luxor Temple]], and in the mortuary temple of [[Hatshepsut]], Serket is seen with [[Neith]] assisting the god [[Amun]] and the queen in the marriage bed.<ref name=":12" /> She has also appeared with [[Nephthys]] in the myth of the birth of [[Horus]] where the two goddesses assisted [[Isis]] in protecting the infant god from the bites or stings of deadly animals. In the same myth, Isis and her unborn child are protected by seven scorpions said to be emanations of Serket. <ref name=":12" />

== Dedications and rituals ==
The cult of Serket is known to have existed from at least the First Dynasty, and is attested on a funerary stela from [[Saqqara]].{{Sfn|Wilkinson|2003|p=235}} The majority of her worship was seen during the [[Old Kingdom of Egypt|Old Kingdom]]. She is not known to have had any temples erected in her honor, yet she was an important goddess to the kings of the [[Prehistoric Egypt|Predynastic Period]], particularly [[Scorpion I]] and [[Scorpion II]], for her protection against the deadly, venomous animals of Lower Egypt.

In January 2025 a group of French-Swiss [[Archaeology|archaeologists]] discovered the tomb of the chief palace physician in [[Saqqara]], named Tetinebefou. In his temple there is reference to the goddess Serket in that Tetinebefou was said to be the 'director of medicinal plants and conjurer of the goddess Serket.'<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Magazine |first1=Smithsonian |last2=Anderson |first2=Sonja |title=Archaeologists Discover Intricately Decorated Tomb Belonging to a Doctor Who Treated Egyptian Pharaohs 4,100 Years Ago |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-discover-intricately-decorated-tomb-belonging-to-a-doctor-who-treated-egyptian-pharaohs-4100-years-ago-180985788/ |access-date=2025-03-15 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref> Aside from this discovery, and although Serket is said to have powers that can be utilized by the living for healing venomous bites, she is rarely included in spells concerning scorpion stings.

== Family ==
Little is known of her genealogy, but she is sometimes credited as the daughter of [[Neith]] and [[Khnum]], making her a sister to [[Sobek]] and [[Apep]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

Some myths depict her as the mother of [[Nehebkau|Nehebu-Kau]].

== Gallery ==
<gallery mode="nolines" heights="185" widths="185">
File:Egyptian - Figure of Isis-Serget as Scorpion - Walters 54546 - Side A (cropped).jpg|[[Late Period of ancient Egypt|Late Period]] bronze figure of Isis-Serket
File:Serket Scorpion Goddess Edfu Temple.jpg|Serket and her scorpion, [[Edfu Temple]]
File:Serket Tomb of Nefetari.png|Serket as seen in the [[Tomb of Nefertari]]
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{commons category}}
*{{cite book |last=von Känel |first=Frédérique |title=Les prêtres-ouâb de Sekhmet et les conjurateurs de Serket |language=fr |year=1984 |publisher=Presses Universitaires de France}}

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[[Category:Animal goddesses]]
[[Category:Egyptian death goddesses]]
[[Category:Egyptian goddesses]]
[[Category:Health goddesses]]
[[Category:Mythological arthropods]]
[[Category:Naqada III]]
[[Category:Scorpions in culture]]