# Seshat

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Seshat (Ancient Egyptian: 𓋇𓏏𓁐, romanized: sšꜣt, lit. 'Female Scribe', under various spellings) was the ancient Egyptian goddess of writing, wisdom, and knowledge. She was seen as a scribe and record keeper. She was also credited with inventing writing. She became identified as the goddess of measurement, accounting, architecture, astronomy, astrology, mathematics, and surveying. She was variously depicted as the consort, daughter, or female counterpart of Thoth, who was also associated with knowledge, astronomy, measurement, and writing.

## History

Seshat is attested from at least the First Dynasty. Her priests and image are referenced in the Royal Annals of the Old Kingdom, during the reign of Den. She was depicted in image as early as the Second Dynasty, where she was shown conducting the "stretching the cord" ritual with Khasekhemwy. The antiquity of her symbols, such as the notched palm stick that predated writing, suggests that she may have originated earlier than the First Dynasty. In addition, examples of her emblem, or symbols that appear related, have been found dating from the 3rd millennium BC Protodynastic Period.
Starting in the Middle Kingdom, Seshat was alternatively represented by the name Sefkhet-Abwy. Seshat and Sefkhet-Abwy continued to be depicted until at least the Ptolemaic Dynasty.

## Iconography

In ancient Egyptian art, she was depicted as a woman with a seven-pointed emblem above her head or extending from a headband. This emblem was the origin of an alternate name for Seshat, Sefkhet-Abwy, which may be translated as "seven-horned". She was frequently shown in a leopard-skin or dress, sometimes with a robe layered under a skin. The leopard-skin was a symbol of funerary priests, with the pattern on the natural hide thought to represent the stars, being a symbol of eternity, and to be associated with the night sky.
Usually, Seshat is shown holding a notched palm rib, the symbol for "year" in Egyptian hieroglyphics. The stem was often depicted ending in a tadpole above a shen ring, representing 100,000 and infinity, respectively. Seshat's notching of the stem indicated the recording of the passage of time, especially that of the king's lifespan. Hieroglyphs representing festivals were shown as suspended from the palm stem when Seshat recorded these events. She was also depicted holding other tools, often the knotted cords that were stretched to survey land and structures.

## Roles

As the divine measurer and scribe, Seshat was believed to appear to assist the pharaoh in both of these practises. Seshat assisted the pharaoh in the "stretching the cord" ritual. This ritual is related to laying out the foundations of temples and other important structures in order to determine and assure the sacred alignments and the precision of the dimensions. She was also the "mistress of builders", and laid the plans for the construction and expansion of sacred sites such as temples. Her skills were necessary for surveying the land, to re-establish boundary-lines after the 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 crowning-ceremony and approving the inventory of foreign captives and goods gained in military campaigns. During the New Kingdom, she was involved in the Sed festival held by the pharaohs, who could celebrate thirty years of reign, recording the regnal years of the king and his jubilees on leaves of the ished or persea tree. It was she who recorded, by notching her palm, the time allotted to the pharaoh for his stay on earth.
"Mistress of the House of Books" is another title for Seshat, being the deity whose priests oversaw the library in which scrolls of the most important knowledge were assembled and spells were preserved. One prince of the Fourth Dynasty, Wep-em-nefret, is noted as the Overseer of the Royal Scribes, Priest of Seshat on a slab stela. Heliopolis was the location of her principal sanctuary.
Seshat also appeared in funerary contexts, where, along with Nephthys, she restores the limbs of the deceased.
Seshat was closely associated with Thoth (Djehuty in ancient Egyptian), the reckoner of time and god of writing who was also venerated as a god of wisdom, with whom he shared some overlapping functions. She was variously considered to be the sister, wife, or daughter of Thoth. Seshat is the inventor of writing and Thoth taught writing to man.

## Emblem

Two variations of Seshat's emblem in hieroglyphs :
The Seshat emblem is a hieroglyph representing the goddess Seshat in ancient Egypt. It is unclear what this emblem represents. As the emblem symbolizes this deity, it sits atop her head. The emblem was a long stem with a seven-petal flower on top and surmounted by a pair of horns; the archaic form had seven petals (the vertical shaft as 8), (as a vertical, with two crossed lines-(4), as a 'star', and one horizontal, giving 7+ the 1-vertical shaft), and surmounted by two enclosing sickle-shaped signs, two falcon-feathers on top.
Alan Gardiner identified the emblem as a "conventionalized flower (?) surmounted by horns." Alternatively, the symbol may represent a device similar to a groma.
The famous 24th century BC Palermo Stone has multiple uses of Seshat's emblem. It occurs on the obverse of the Palermo Piece (at Palermo Museum), 1 of the 2 large pieces of the 7—piece Palermo Stone. It is used on the obverse, Row III (of VI rows), and is used twice in King Year Record 34, and 40 of King Den. It is also used elsewhere on the stone for God Seshu, the male counterpart of Seshat (Seshait or Sesha-t).
The reading is approximately: "YEAR: To create (a) Statue for Seshait, Statue for Mafdet." (The King Year 34 register has the clearer of the two styles of Seshat Emblem, with larger spacing between the two vertical feathers. Note: the Gardiner font reads left-to-right; the Palermo Stone is written opposite: right-to-left. A large renpet (hieroglyph) for YEAR, precedes the register (forms its starting border).)

## Worship

Seshat barely appears outside of her official role as the recorder of construction and written projects and did not have a temple or cult dedicated to her.

## Gallery

* Hatshepsut (c. 1479–1458 BC) and Seshat depicted performing the "stretching the cord" ritual for the founding of the Red Chapel. Sunken relief in the Red Chapel.
* Seshat (third from the left) shown performing the "stretching the cord" ritual with Ramesses II (second from the left). Sunken relief at the Karnak Temple Complex.
* Ptolemy III and Seshat, with Horus alongside, depicted conducting the "stretching of the cord". Bas-relief in the Temple of Edfu (c. 237–57 BC), Ptolemaic dynasty.
* Seshat shown holding the mallet, pole, and rope used in the "stretching the cord" ritual, alongside Horus. Bas-relief at the Temple of Kom Ombo (c. 180–47 BC), Ptolemaic dynasty.
* Depiction of Seshat writing. Sunken relief in limestone from the Pyramid Temple of Senusret I (Dynasty 12, c. 1919–1875 BC); copy of a relief made for Pepi II (Dynasty 6, c. 2284–2214 BC).
* Depiction of Seshat recording the king's life on the palm rib. Thoth (not pictured) is doing likewise across from her. Sunken relief in granite from the back of the throne of the statue of Ramesses II, in the Amun temple at Luxor (c. 1250 BCE).
* Full length of Seshat from the previous image.