Goddess Meskhenet

Goddess Meskhenet name

Goddess Meskhenet

Goddess Meskhenet was a goddess who presided at childbirth, and was besides a goddess of fate who read the lot of the child. She was thought to safety the baby throughout infancy using her close powers - "I am behind you, protective you, like Ra." Meskhenet was embodied by the having bricks that the Egyptian women squatted on during labor  on the bricks was a full term for giving birth. Meskhenet was primarily associated with the birth of mortal spoils, while the goddess Heket was more closely associated with the births of royal line and the divine. Meskhenet was too the patronne and midwife of domestic animals. A hymn in the temple of Esna mentions to four "Meskhenets" at the position of the God Khnum, whose purpose is to drive evil by their conjurations. Meskhenet was represented as a birthing brick with a womans face, or as a woman with a headgear of a cow's uterus, holding a staff topped with flowers. Like other deities linked with birth, Meshkhent was also important in the re-birth of people following death. Magical bricks were placed in the tombs of the dead, to ensure their rebirth in the afterlife - one was found in the tomb of Tutankhamen. Meshkhent was often depicted in the Hall of Judgment, about the plates where the deceased's heart was pressed against the square of Maat. At the judgment, Meshkhent was thought to evidence on behalf of the deceased and their good character.