Wosret

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Rare image of Wosret, the figure to the right on a dual stela of pharaoh Hatshepsut (centre left) in the blue Khepresh crown offering oil to the deity Amun and her nephew who would become Thutmose III behind her in the hedjet white crown - Vatican Museum

Wosret[pronunciation?], Wasret, or Wosyet meaning the powerful was an Egyptian goddess with a cult centre at Thebes in Upper Egypt. She was initially a localised guardian deity, whose cult rose widely to prominence during the stable twelfth dynasty when three pharaohs were named as her sons; for example, Senwosret (also spelled as Senusret), the man (son) of Wosret.

She was rarely depicted, and no temples to her have been identified. One example of a depiction of Wosret is on the stela shown to the right where she is the figure farthest to the right.

When she was depicted, it was wearing a tall crown with the Was sceptre, which was related to her name, upon her head and carrying other weapons such as spears as well as a bow and arrows.

Wosret was later superseded by Mut and became an aspect of Hathor. She was also identified with the protection of the deity Horus, Isis' son, when he was young.

She was Amun's first wife (John Ray calls her "the theological equivalent of the girl next door"), and was replaced by Mut, although it is possible that Mut is simply a later name for Wosret.[1] On the stela above Amun is depicted to the left.

Footnotes

  1. Ray, John Reflections of Osiris: lives from ancient Egypt p.28 [1]

See also