#MermaidMonday: Hatmehit
Hatmehit, also transliterated Hatmehyt because we have zero idea of how Ancient Egyptians pronounced anything, was a goddess associated with the city of Djedet in the Nile Delta. Her name means something along the lines of “the Foremost of a shoal”, and uses the term mḥyt for “fish”, which in Egyptian is always and only […]
Hatmehit, also transliterated Hatmehyt because we have zero idea of how Ancient Egyptians pronounced anything, was a goddess associated with the city of Djedet in the Nile Delta. Her name means something along the lines of “the Foremost of a shoal”, and uses the term mḥyt for “fish”, which in Egyptian is always and only a collective noun.
She is traditionally depicted either as a fish or a woman with a fish on her head, worn as a crown. Her fish-crown was also the symbol of the area of Djedet, one of the “nomes” in Lower Egypt, and other protective deities of the area often wear her crown. Scholars have been debating what kind of fish she’s wearing on her head, because that’s what scholars do.
Drop by on my Patreon and read a little more about her.
