Nehebkau
Egyptian · deity · mythic · Recorded classification
Nehebkau does the connecting. Egyptian anthropology gives a person several parts — the body, the ka or life-force, the ba, the name, the shadow — and the parts have to be joined, at birth and again after death, or the person does not work. He is the god who performs the joining, and he is a snake, in a system where snakes are as often protective as hostile. He has a festival at the new year, which is the same operation performed on time: the year also has to be given its life-force before it will run.
Domains
- protection
- life force
Sources
- Nehebkau is the Egyptian serpent god who unites the ka with the body at birth and with the ba after death, guards the gates of the underworld, and has a festival at the turn of the year.: Reference treatments of Nehebkau, his name, his function and his festival. (secondary)