| Kebechet | |
|---|---|
| Parents | Anubis and Anput |
In Egyptian mythology, Kebechet (spelt in hieroglyphs as Qeb-Hwt, and also transliterated as Khebhut, Kebehut, Qébéhout, and Kabehchet) is a goddess, a deification of embalming liquid. Her name means cooling water.[1]
Kebechet is a daughter of Anubis and his wife Anput, who is just his female aspect. Her home is Duat.[2]
As the deification of embalming, Kebechet was seen as the goddess of freshness and purification via water. She is the goddess of freshness and purification through water who washed the entrails of the deceased and brought the sacred water to Anubis for his tasks. She was thought to give water to the spirits of the dead while they waited for the mummification process to be complete. She was probably related to mummification where she would fortify the body against corruption, so it would stay fresh for reanimation by the deceased's ka.
Like all female concepts from the Ogdoad belief system, Kebechet was depicted as a snake, or simply as a woman with the head of a snake, although in rare instances she was pictured as an ostrich, which was representative of Ma'at. It is also said that that Kebechet helped purify the mummies for Anubis.