Nekhebet
(Nekhbet)
Symbols: vulture, White Crown
Cult Center: Nekheb
Nekhebet was the vulture-goddess of Upper Egypt whose cult center was the city of Nekheb. She was a protective deity of the south along with Seth. When Seth became disgraced as the murderer of Osiris, she became more important and prominent.
Nekhebet was often shown with Buto, the cobra-goddess of the North. As protective deities, they symbolized a united Egypt and guarded the pharaoh. Nekhebet was often shown with her wings spread above the pharaoh in a protective and almost motherly gesture of protection.
Nekhebet was called the right eye of Re, and the wife of Hapi or Khenti-Amentiu, the First of the Westerners.
Nekhebet was portrayed in art as a vulture or as a woman wearing the White Crown of Upper Egypt. In her hands she holds a lotus flower with a cobra wrapped around it and an ankh.
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