| Type: | Egyptian |
| Anuket | |
| Hiero: | |
| Cult Center: | Elephantine, Seheil |
| Symbol: | Bow, arrows, gazelle, ostrich feather |
| Parents: | Khnum and Satet |
| Greek Equivalent: | Hestia |
| Roman Equivalent: | Vesta |
Anuket was the ancient Egyptian goddess of the cataracts of the Nile and Lower Nubia in general, worshipped especially at Elephantine near the First Cataract.[1]
In ancient Egyptian, she was known as Anuket, Anaka, or Anqet.[2] Her name meant the "Clasper" or "Embracer". In Greek, this became Anoukis (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Ανουκις), sometimes also spelled Anukis.[3] In the interpretatio graeca, she was considered equivalent to Hestia or Vesta.
Anuket was usually depicted as a woman with a headdress of either reed or ostrich feathers[4] She was usually depicted as holding a sceptre topped with an ankh, and her sacred animal was the gazelle. She was also shown suckling the pharaoh through the New Kingdom and became a goddess of lust in later years. In later periods, she was associated with the cowry, especially the shell, which resembled the vagina. In the 22nd to 26th Dynasty, Anuket was one of the gods that appeared on votive beds used by Thebans to ask for help with fertility, sexuality, and childbirth.
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. Also, they were both related in some way to the Uraeus.
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".[5]
She was associated with swift moving water, and this was the reason for her association with papyruses.
Anuket was part of a triad with the god Khnum, and the goddess Satis. She may have been the sister of the goddess Satis[4] or she may have been a junior consort to Khnum instead.[4]
A temple dedicated to Anuket was erected on the Island of Seheil. Inscriptions show that a shrine or altar was dedicated to her at this site by the 13th Dynasty pharaoh Sobekhotep III. Much later, during the 18th Dynasty, Amenhotep II dedicated a chapel to the goddess.[6]
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.[7]
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.[8] She was seen as bringing forth the flood.[9]