Meskhenet

**Meskhenet**


 * Other Na**[[image:meshkhent.jpg width="195" height="146" align="left"]]**mes:**

Mesenet, Meskhent, Meshkent


 * Meaning of Name:**

“Birthing Place”


 * Hieroglyphics:**

or


 * Family:**

Her husband was Andjety or Shai.

Meskhenet was a goddess who presided at childbirth, and was also a goddess of fate who read the destiny of the child. She was thought to guard the baby throughout infancy using her protective powers - "I am behind you, protecting you, like Ra." Meskhenet was personified by the birthing bricks that the Egyptian women squatted on during labor – “on the bricks” was a term for giving birth.

Meskhenet was primarily associated with the birth of mortal babies, while the goddess Heket was more closely associated with the births of royalty and the divine. Meskhenet was also the patroness and midwife of domestic animals. A hymn in the temple of Esna refers to four "Meskhenets" at the side of the god Khnum, whose purpose is to repel evil by their incantations. Meskhenet was depicted as a birthing brick with a woman’s face, or as a woman with a headdress of a cow's uterus, holding a staff topped with flowers.

Like other deities associated with birth, Meshkhent was also influential in the re-birth of people following death. Magical bricks were placed in the tombs of the dead, to ensure their rebirth in the afterlife - one was found in the tomb of Tutankhamen. Meshkhent was often depicted in the Hall of Judgment, near the scales where the deceased's heart was weighed against the feather of Ma'at. At the judgment, Meshkhent was thought to testify on behalf of the deceased and their good character.

Egyptian Deities - M