Mafdet
Egyptian · deity · old kingdom · deity
Mafdet is the cat you want in the room. She is one of the oldest deities attested by name in Egypt, from the First Dynasty, and her job is snakes: the Pyramid Texts have her leap at the serpent's throat and tear it, which is what a mongoose or a cheetah actually does. Her other office follows from the first — she presides over executions, the instrument of which is described in terms of a leaping cat — so that the goddess who protects the palace from venom also carries out its sentences. Which animal she is has been argued about for a century: cheetah, mongoose, lynx, or a generic desert cat.
Domains
- protection
- justice
Sources
- Pyramid Texts.
- Reference treatment of Mafdet, her animal form and her protective and judicial roles.