Nehebkau

Nehebkau, also Nebeb-kau, is a deity of Ancient Egyptian mythology who is attributed a variety of meanings and roles. He is considered the guardian of the entrance to the afterlife (Duat) and is also one of the 42 judges of the dead.

The meaning of his name is not exactly certain; the verbal element nḥb probably corresponds to the verb "to give. Nehebkau thus gives people their ka. He is represented as a (usually two-headed) serpent, possibly because a central hieroglyph in his name (far right) resembles the shape of this animal. Accordingly, he also appears in literary evidence as a cave dweller of coiled form and is said to have been revered as a healer of snake and scorpion bites.

Geb was regarded as his father, Selket and Renenutet come into question as his mother. He himself was the husband of Nehemetawai, who was worshipped in her main cult place Hermopolis Magna together with her Schepsi and Thot. One of these is to be regarded as her son, the other is possibly her husband and would thus be to be equated with Nehebkau. The latter was cultically worshipped in Herakleopolis and in a city called Zššt, behind which perhaps Diospolis Parva is concealed. On the first day of the first winter month, from the Middle Kingdom onwards, the Nehebkau festival was celebrated, which has the character of a New Year's celebration and was connected with the first sowing, but was also several times a date of coronation and royal festivities.

As the one who bestows life on people, Nehebkau was addressed as a protective deity, especially before death, who was supposed to escort the dying into the realm of the dead. According to other traditions, they themselves wanted to be identified with Nehebkau, because as a judge of the dead he was supposed to decide on the entry of an individual into the afterlife and subsequently restore his Ka. In addition, he was also considered responsible for the neck, throat and heart of the human being and prepared a meal for him after death, so that numerous spells were addressed to him. But he also gave life to the other gods according to the conception and was the Ka of every deity.

In some places Nehebkau was even regarded as the creator of the sun god Re and bears his attributes in some depictions, which makes him an extremely important "primordial god". Apparently, in the religious history of Egypt he was a competitor of Atum, who was traditionally regarded as the "primordial god", but in contrast to the latter he appears not as a sky deity but as an earth deity. In this the conflict of two mythological conceptions becomes clear, which regards the sun either as a component of the sky or as earth-born (sunrise).

Yet another aspect of Nehebkau is the negative trait of a serpentine demon from which it was necessary to protect oneself.