Domains & Iconography
Domains: justice, execution, protection
Iconography: feline, serpent‑slayer
Earliest Protector
In Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom contexts, Mafdet embodies rapid execution of justice: a feline who kills snakes and scorpions, clearing palaces and courts of venom—literal and figurative.
Iconography & Role
Depicted as a feline or woman with feline aspects, sometimes with a cord of bound serpents; her speed is the virtue—removing harm before it spreads.
Legacy
Later eclipsed by other feline goddesses, Mafdet endures in texts as the sprint of lawful defense.
Sources & References
See also
Ma'at
Goddess who personifies and guarantees Ma'at—the truth-order that sustains gods, king, and people.
Horus
Sky-falcon and patron of kingship; opponent of Seth and son of Isis and Osiris in Osirian myth.
Anubis
Jackal god of embalming and necropolis guardianship; overseer of the weighing of the heart.
Sekhmet
Lioness goddess, a fierce Eye of Ra who subdues chaos; paired with healing and apotropaic rites.