Note 93 — Chapter XIV

Sais, in the Delta, was a magnificent city, and the temple of the goddess Neith, who was worshipped there, was celebrated for its splendour. The worship of Neith goes back to the earliest times, but under the dynasty which had its seat at Sais it attained very great prominence. Neith was a nature-goddess, and was called the ‘mother of the sun.’ She represents the hidden and mysterious ground of all things, and hence was naturally regarded as the goddess of wisdom. Like Athena, to whom the Greeks compared her, she was at the same time goddess of war. Over her temple was the inscription: ‘I am what is, what shall be, and what has been, and no man hath lifted my veil; I am the great mother of Ra.’