Editing Neith (section)

==Attributes==
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2022}}
[[File:Aegis of Neith-H1550-IMG 0172.jpg|thumb|left|[[Aegis]] of Neith, [[Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt]] - [[Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon]]]]
{{Ancient Egyptian religion}}
An analysis of her attributes shows Neith was a goddess with many roles. From predynastic and early dynasty periods, she was referred to as an "Opener of the Ways" (same as Wepwawet),<ref name="touregy" /> which may have referred, not only to her leadership in hunting and war but also as a psychopomp in cosmic and underworld pathways, escorting souls. References to Neith as the "Opener of Paths" occurs in Dynasty Four through Dynasty Six, and Neith is seen in the titles of women serving as priestesses of the goddess. Such epithets include: "''Priestess of Neith who opens all the (path)ways''", "''Priestess of Neith who opens the good pathways''", "''Priestess of Neith who opens the way in all her places''". (el-Sayed, '''I''': 67-69). el-Sayed asserts his belief that Neith should be seen as a parallel to Wepwawet, the ancient jackal god of Upper Egypt, who was associated in that southern region with both royalty in victory and as a psychopomp for the dead.

The main imagery of Neith as ''Wepwawet'' was as the deity of the unseen and limitless sky, as opposed to representations of Nut and Hathor, who respectively represented the manifested night and day skies.<ref name="globegy">{{cite web |title=Neith |url=https://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/glossary.aspx?id=264 |website=globalegyptianmuseum.org |access-date=6 July 2024}}</ref> Neith's epithet as the "Opener of the Sun's paths in all her stations" refers to how the sun is reborn (due to seasonal changes) at various points in the sky, under Neith's control of all beyond the visible world, of which only a glimpse is revealed prior to dawn and after sunset. It is at these changing points that Neith reigns as a form of sky goddess, where the sun rises and sets daily, or at its 'first appearance' to the sky above and below. It is at these points, beyond the sky that is seen, that Neith's true power as the deity who creates life is manifested.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

Georges St. Clair noted that Neith is represented at times as a cow goddess with a line of stars across her back{{sfn|St. Clair|1898|p=176}} (as opposed to representations of Nut with stars across the belly) [See el-Sayed, II, Doc. 644], and maintained this indicated that Neith represents the full ecliptic circle around the sky (above and below), and is seen iconographically in ancient texts as both the regular and the inverted determinative for the heavenly vault, indicating the cosmos below the horizon. St. Clair maintained it was this realm that Neith personified, for she is the complete sky that surrounds the upper (Nut) and lower (Nunet?) sky, and who exists beyond the horizon, and thereby, beyond the skies themselves. Neith, then, is that portion of the cosmos that is not seen, and in which the sun is reborn daily, below the horizon (which may reflect the statement assigned to Neith as "I come at dawn and at sunset daily").{{sfn|St. Clair|1898|p=177}}

Since Neith also was goddess of war, she thus had an additional association with death: in this function, she shot her arrows into the enemies of the dead, and thus she began to be viewed as a protector of the dead, often appearing as a uraeus snake to drive off intruders and those who would harm the deceased (in this form she is represented in the tomb of [[Tutankhamun]]). She also is shown as the protectress of one of the [[Four sons of Horus]], specifically [[Duamutef]], the god who protected the stomach. Through her role as a goddess of weaving, she was associated with the wrappings of mummies.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2003|pp=157-158}}

Neith appears sporadically in the Pyramid texts, usually in association with the goddesses Isis, Nepthys, and Selket. These four initially appear as protectors of royal remains, or in other cases attendant to Osiris, Neith later would later appear in the funerary practices of commoners as well.{{sfn|Lesko|1999}}{{page needed|date=December 2024}} The Coffin Texts portray Neith as involved in the judgement of the dead, and in her role as a patron goddess for weavers she is associated with the wrappings of mummies.