Book of the Dead, spell 141: NebHet
New Kingdom, Dynasty 18
Photo from the wall of the burial chamber of Ay.
Valley of the Kings West Valley, Thebes West Bank, Thebes
The "Mistress of the House," Twin sister of Auset (Isis). NebHet is the "Friend of the Dead," and is first mentioned in Old Kingdom funerary literature as riding the "night boat" of the underworld, meeting the deceased king's spirit and accompanying him into "Lightland." Her hair is metaphorically compared to the strips of cloth which shroud the bodies of the dead.
NebHet is almost universally depicted as a woman with the hieroglyphic symbols of her name (a basket and a house, stacked on top of each other) situated atop her head. She was associated with funerary rituals throughout ancient Egyptian history and was venerated not as Death itself, but as the companion who gives guidance to the newly deceased. NebHet is in most myths the youngest daughter of Nut, twin sister of Auset (Isis), sister of Ausar (Osiris) and the sister-consort of Set.
