- Mafdet was associated with the safety of the royal quarters and temples.
- She stood vigil over the poisonous creatures that were considered enemies of Maat.
- Mafdet protected Ra and she also watched over Osiris and helped put his parts back together again.
During the Early Dynastic Period (3150–2686 BC), Mafdet, a divinity of ancient Egypt, served as a celestial cheetah in the Duat—the underworld in ancient Egyptian mythology. The sun and heavenly essence of the cheetah are shown in an artwork on an ancient Egyptian birth tusk (or “magical wand“) that is now on display at the British Museum in London. Part of a solar voyage is shown in this piece, with the cheetah’s head and the rest of the composition leading to the wings of an unnamed creature. According to Egyptologists, this takes place inside Mafdet’s torso as a sky cheetah.
Nut, the Egyptian sky goddess, often performed Mafdet’s heavenly duties. Her outward appearance often changed from that of a lion- and cat-headed serpent goddess to reflect the transition in their respective duties. Just like Anubis, she was an aspect deity; she was often portrayed as a cat but also as a mongoose, with a female human’s head.
4th Millenium BC: Mafdet Appeared in Egyptian Mythology
She often appeared in ancient artwork with a cheetah skin.
Stone containers depicting the goddess Mafdet date back to the Early Dynastic Period (3150–2686 BC), perhaps to the reigns of Den and Semerkhet. She was an important goddess at this time, as pieces of a stone vase with her likeness were discovered in the tomb of Pharaoh Den.
In one Abydos depiction, she is shown as a celestial cheetah with a Was scepter in her right paw, which, in this context, may be interpreted as a phallus. A hieroglyphic neb (basket) supports her; below her, an ankh (Egyptian cross) is housed in a structure.
Alluding to one of her titles, “Mistress of the House of Life” (“Nebet Hut-ankh”), the depiction refers to her central role in mythology.
Mafdet was also linked to the place where offenders were killed, the execution stake, and she was said to eat the heads of those who had been beheaded. Therefore, Mafdet’s name was often mentioned in connection with the administration of Duat’s judgment hall under the New Kingdom. In Duat (underworld), she was said to use her claw to decapitate the pharaoh’s adversaries.
3rd Millenium BC: The Defender of Ra
Mafdet’s cape, made from cheetah hide, became a cloth for the dead in ceremonial sacrifices.
In the Old Kingdom (2700–2200 BC), the goddess was known as “Mafdet with the wand in hand” and served as a guardian of the dead, standing between them and the snake, their mortal adversary, according to the Pyramid Texts.
In this context, the dead person’s foot and arm are thought to be Mafdet, whose full name at the time was “She Who Is in the Midst of the House of Life.” Mafdet’s principal function in the Old Kingdom was as an adversary of snakes and destroyer of the foes of the sun god Ra, and this is how she is shown on “magic wands” from the early Middle Kingdom (2055–1650 BC).
During her time as Khepri (a scarab-faced god), she appears with other deities to guard Ra soon after his birth as the Sun. The precious Palermo Stone has a special dedication to Mafdet.
The bone apexes of the double-ended Was staff Mafdet holds are represented by her claws. Mafdet and Seshat are referenced in relation to the “cheetah skin” since they are the only female goddesses shown with the cheetah skin emblem.
2nd Millenium BC: She Became an Active Goddess
Snake and scorpion bites were no match for Mafdet as she protected the ancient Egyptians.
By the end of the Middle Kingdom (2055–1650 BC), Mafdet had changed significantly from the passive goddess she was throughout the early periods of Egyptian history. In her new role, she was responsible for uniting Osiris’ limbs and feeding the dead, who are said to eat the young animals of Mafdet.
In royal tombs, the insignia or sign of Mafdet was linked to the god Anubis, the god of funerary rites. After being embalmed by Anubis and joined by Osiris, Mafdet takes on the form of a cheetah, a sign of her resistance to Seth‘s influence.
By the time of the New Kingdom (1550–1069 BC), Mafdet had fully undergone the transition and was acting in the role of the departed. Even in death, her defender duty continued. In one of the stories, a departed person admonishes Iaret, the snake, to keep its distance from Mafdet.
In Egyptian mythology, Mafdet tore out the hearts of traitors and gave them to the pharaoh as an offering. She was famous for ripping out Apep‘s heart, a sibling of Ra, whose symbol is a snake. She was worshiped at the House of Life in Heliopolis, ancient Egypt.
1st Millenium BC: Mafdet Became a Patron Goddess
While Ra was off on his regular journey, Mafdet stood guard to guarantee that morning would arrive.
The new male funeral deity Mafed, identified with Behedeti, appeared during the Late Period (664–332 BC). Mafed is a male counterpart of Mafdet and Mafdet is now also identified with Nephthys (Nebet-Het).
During the Greco-Roman era, Mafdet replaced Menhit and Mut as the patron goddess of the 6th and 18th districts of Lower Egypt.
So, she was both the snake goddess Wadjet and the lioness goddess Sekhmet in one. As a result, Mafdet was portrayed differently, as a lion-headed serpent. She was shown as a cat on amulets, where she acted as a guardian of the god Horus with the falcon and the lion.
In addition, Mafdet served as the symbol of the 5th month of the Shemu (Summer/Dry Season) during the early Greco-Roman era. After another two centuries, she was documented as the third month in her function as Mafdet-sat-Geb, daughter of Geb (the Egyptian deity of the Earth).
Mafdet’s Function in Later Times
Her status as the “Avenger of the King,” representing security and fairness, earned her great respect.
Wolfhart Westendorf, an Egyptologist, proposed that Mafdet first appeared in predynastic periods as a “universal deity.” From this, Westendorf derives that she represents virility, sexuality, and vitality. Mafdet embodied all of these qualities as the perfect throne goddess, serving as the king’s guardian deity and preserving his vitality. But in the coming centuries, Hathor, Isis, and Nephthys inherited these qualities.
Westendorf claimed that Mafdet served important purposes in ancient times, but subsequent Egyptological research has been unable to corroborate this. The theory that the role of Mafdet as a goddess survived in other deities likewise lacks supporting proof.
In addition, Egyptology agrees with Wolfhart Westendorf’s observations that the cheetah skin is a sign of Mafdet and her regenerative and life-giving abilities. Mafdet’s titles reflect these roles very well.
Mafdet was in charge of the king’s personal well-being and was known as the “Mistress of Food Supply.” Mafdet’s cape, made from cheetah hide, was often shown in scenes of feasting and in the context of ceremonial sacrifices when it became the clothes for the dead.
Mafdet is linked to the pharaoh and the deity Ra in an ancient board game from 3000 BC called Mehen. Mafdet’s mission in this board game was to keep the pharaoh safe as the pharaoh tried to rescue Ra. Six lions and six sets of marbles were used in this game. As a snake deity, Mehen wraps himself around Ra in mythology.
Mafdet in Modern Culture
- TV Series: Mafdet was featured in an episode of the TV series “Relic Hunter,” titled “Nine Lives,” which aired in 2001. In this episode, a golden statue of the cat goddess Mafdet is stolen, and the main characters are tasked with retrieving it before the opening of an Egyptian exposition.
- Video Game: In 1988, a video game called Mafdet and the Book of the Dead was launched for the Amiga and Atari ST computers. Mafdet played a central role in the gameplay.