MehetWeret

Mehet-Weret is an ancient Egyptian goddess associated with the sky, creation, and the primeval waters. Her name is usually interpreted as “the great one” or “the vast one,” and she functions as a personification of celestial and primordial forces that underlie the structure of the cosmos. In various texts, she is described as a creator or a celestial mother who supports the emergence of the world and the sun.

In Egyptian myth, Mehet-Weret is closely linked to the sky and, at times, to the Milky Way. She is often depicted as a cow or as a woman whose head bears a solar disk between cow horns, symbols that connect her with the sky canopy and the generation of light. As a creator and protectress, she appears in funerary literature and ritual spells as a benevolent force that sustains birth, renewal, and the journey of the sun and pharaoh.

Iconography commonly presents Mehet-Weret as either a celestial cow or a woman with celestial or solar imagery, underscoring her association with the heavens and with cosmic waters. While not the focus of a widespread, long-standing cult, she is attested in multiple sources, including pyramid texts, coffins texts, and temple inscriptions, where she serves as a cosmic mother and guardian figure.

Mehet-Weret’s role highlights the interconnected Egyptian concepts of water, sky, and creation, illustrating how the cosmos was conceived as a living, maternal order. See also Hathor, Nut, and other sky or mother goddesses in ancient Egyptian religion.