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Goddess Sopdet


Goddess Sopdet name
Goddess Sopdet
Goddess Sopdet  embodying the  star  Sirius  (Dog-star),  herald  of  the annual  Nile  deluge  by  its  bright appearing  in  the  dawn  sky  in  July (Heliacal rising). The Egyptian name of this goddess is Sopdetfrom which gains the Greek version Sothis, ordinarily used in Egyptology. She is pictured as a lady with a star on her head.


Picture of Sopdet from tomb of Seti I
Maybe as early as Dynasty I Sothis is named bringer  of  the  New
Year  and  the Nile  alluvion   the  agricultural  calender leaded off  with  the  rise  of  the  river  Nile. Sothis so became linked  like the  constellation  Orion  with  the  successfulness leaving from the fertile silt forgot by the losing waters. In  the  Pyramid Texts,  where  there  is hard  prove  of  an  early  Egyptian astral cult, the king joins with his sister Sothis who  gives  birth  to  the  Morning-star.  She  is  likewise  the  kings  guide  in  the heavenly Field of Rushes. In afterwards funerary texts  of  broken  courtiers  Sothis  has got mother and nurse.