Mut
Symbols: Double Crown, vulture,
cobra, lioness, queen
Cult Center: Thebes
Her name means "mother" and in many ways she was regarded by the Egyptians as the great "world mother," and mother of the pharaohs.
It appears that Mut was originally the female counterpart of Nun. However, in Thebes she replaced Amaunet to become the wife of the great god Amon. Her son was the local god of the moon, Khonsu. Together, the three formed the triad of Thebes that would dominate Egypt during the New Kingdom.
Mut is one of the few goddesses who were self-created. She was called, "Mut, who giveth birth, but was herself not born of any."
The goddess is usually portrayed as a woman wearing the united crowns (or Double Crown) of the North and the South. In her hands she holds the papyrus sceptre and the emblem of life, ankh. Other images show her as a woman standing upright. Her arms are stretched out at 90 degree angles to her body and have large wings attached to them. The feather of Ma'at is at her feet. Some portraits depict Mut with the heads of a man, a woman, a vulture and a lioness. She has a phallus, a pair of wings and the claws of a lion.
The center of her worship was a quarter of Thebes called Asher (Ashrel, Ashrelt, Isheru). Her temple, Het-Mut, was just south of that of Amen-Ra.
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