Also called Mertseger, She who loves silence, Dehenet Imentet (the Peak of the West).
Their story
Meretseger was the cobra goddess of the pyramid-shaped peak above the Valley of the Kings, protecting the royal tombs. The workmen of Deir el-Medina, who cut those tombs, honoured her closely. On a stela a workman called Neferabu tells how she punished him for a wrong he had done, and how, after he confessed, she came to him like a sweet breeze and healed him. Her cult faded when the royal tombs ceased to be built in the valley.
Best times to give to them
- Beautiful Festival of the Valley
- the Wag festival
- quiet evenings
What they like being given
- water
- bread
- incense
- a period of silence
How to honour them
- Offer silence as the gift she loves best.
- Admit mistakes openly, as the workman Neferabu did.
How they can help you
- forgiveness
- honesty
- respect for the dead
- quiet
Symbols
- coiled cobra
- cobra with a woman's head
- the pyramid-shaped peak of el-Qurn
Sources
- Stela of Neferabu (Museo Egizio, Turin 50058)
- Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt
More Egyptian goddesses
- Isis Great of Magic, mother of Horus
- Bastet Protector of the home, lady of joy
- Hathor The Golden One, lady of love and music
- Sekhmet The Powerful One, healer and protector
- Maat Truth, balance and right order
- Nephthys Lady of the House, comforter of the grieving
- Taweret The Great One, guardian of mothers
- Amunet The hidden goddess of the primordial eight