Nephthys was known in ancient Egyptian temple theologies and cosmologies as "The Useful Goddess" or the "Excellent Goddess" because she represented divine assistance on a number of levels. Nephthys was also a ferocious, potentially dangerous divinity, capable of incinerating the enemies of the Pharaoh with her fiery breath. As the "nursing mother" of the god Horus, Nephthys was also considered to be the nurse of the Pharaoh himself. These protective qualities made her a goddess of great flexibility who did not, as is often stated, live constantly in the shadow of her sister, Isis. Moreover, Nephthys was one of the few goddesses especially associated with the sacred sistrum rattle because she was indeed the tutelary goddess of the seventh Nome of Upper Egypt. This nome and its city, Hwt, were considered (at least by Greco-Roman times) to be the particular "fiefdom of Nephthys."
Again, Nephthys was a goddess with far more flexibility than many researches have previously bothered to note. As a mortuary goddess, she was one of the four protectresses of the sacred Canopic jars and of the genii Hapi, in particular. Hapii guarded the embalmed lungs, and as Mistress, Nephthys was a goddess capable of delivering the "breath of life" to the deceased via her wings. In the city of Memphis, Nephthys was honored with the title "Queen of the Embalmer's Shop," and elsewhere associated with the dog-headed god Anubis, who in some myths is considered to be her offspring via an illicit relationship with Osiris, when sister Isis wasn't watching. Other myth-cycles and inscriptions, however, describe Anubis as the offspring of the goddess Hesat, or of a union between Nephthys and Ra.
Nephthys was also, in Egyptian mythology and temple rites, considered the unique protectress of the Sacred Phoenix, or the Bennu Bird. In this capacity, she was given the name Nephthys-Kheresket, and a wealth of temple texts from Edfu, Dendara, Philae, El Qa'la, Esna, etc. refer to Nephthys as the supreme goddess of the 7th Nome and of the Temple of the Sistrum in the city of Hwt.
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