Naunet

Naunet is a primordial goddess in ancient Egyptian religion, representing the boundless, watery abyss from which all creation emerged. She is typically depicted as a woman with a snake's head, or sometimes as a serpent herself. Naunet is part of the Ogdoad, a group of eight primordial deities who personified the chaotic waters of Nun before the creation of the world. Her consort is generally considered to be Nun, the embodiment of these primeval waters.

Within the Ogdoad, Naunet represents the feminine aspect of the primeval waters, while Nun represents the masculine. Together, they symbolize the undifferentiated, fluid state that existed before the emergence of the ordered cosmos. While often depicted as a passive force, Naunet's presence is essential to the concept of creation, as it is from her and Nun's watery domain that the creator god, often Atum or Ra, arose.

Her worship was primarily centered in Hermopolis, the city associated with Thoth, the god of wisdom and scribes, who was also a prominent member of the Ogdoad. Although Naunet is not as frequently depicted or invoked as some other major deities, her role as a fundamental aspect of the pre-creation state makes her a significant figure in understanding Egyptian cosmology. She embodies the mystery and potential of the unformed universe, a necessary precursor to existence itself. Her association with water also links her to themes of rebirth and regeneration, common in Egyptian belief.