Neith

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Neith was a powerful goddess with many different aspects, but was perhaps best known in the first millennium BC as the goddess of the powerful city of Sais in the Delta. In copper alloy she is represented in anthropomorphic form. She wears the red crown, otherwise known as the Lower Egyptian crown, and the long form-fitting dress common to many goddesses. Her arm position suggests that she may have held a scepter in her outstretched hand and perhaps an ankh sign in the other. Sometimes on more elaborate figures, her crown is striped, usually with precious metal inlay, as seen on 26.7.846. The base had an inscription, but it is now illegible. Although Neith was worshipped from the beginning of Egyptian history to the end, her cult grew to great prominence in the 26th dynasty, when her cult center Sais became the capital of the Saite dynasty kings. The many statuettes of this goddess attest to her popularity as a dedication in the 26th dynasty and later.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.

Metropolitan Museum of Art