Nebti
one of the twelve goddesses who surround the hidden soul
Identified
Group: the twelve goddesses of the Ninth Division of the Am-Tuat, on the left of Ra's boat, opposite twelve seated gods [budge-1904].
Budge states their function, and it is unusually specific:
these last are said to breathe after he has saluted them, and after they have heard his voice, and their duty is to utter words of power wherewith they are to surround the hidden soul, and thereby to cause life and strength to rise up in Osiris. [budge-1904]
They do not guard, escort or judge. They speak — and the speech is structural: words of power wrapped around the hidden soul, and Osiris rises because of it. The twelve are the mechanism of the resurrection at this hour, which is a larger role than most rosters carry.
And they breathe only after Ra has greeted them and they have heard his voice. The order is stated: salutation, then hearing, then breath, then speech.
The roster
Nehata · Teba · Ariti · Menkhet · Hebs · Nebti · Asti-neter · Asti-paut · Hetemet-khu · Neb-pat · Temtu · Men-a · Perit · Shemat-khu · Nebt-shat · Nebt-shefshefet · Aat-aatet · Nebt-setau · Hent-nut-s · Nebt-mat · Tesert-ant · Aat-khu · Sekhet-metu · Netert-en-khentet-Ra
That is twenty-four names for twelve goddesses, which is Budge running two registers together — the corpus has recorded the same over-count before and does not silently split it.
Under the companies rule (C246) this is a pointer rather than an entry. Several of the others are already worked: neb-pat, shemat-khu, neb-t-shat, neb-t-setau.
The record
Every claim above traces to a row here. Source, exact place in that source, and what it actually supports.
| Source | Locus | Attests |
|---|---|---|
[budge-1904] | *Gods of the Egyptians* I, **the Ninth Hour**, p. 244 | **Nebti** in the roster; the twelve **breathe after Ra salutes them**, **utter words of power to surround the hidden soul**, and **cause life and strength to rise up in Osiris** |
Sources
[budge-1904]— Budge, The Gods of the Egyptians (1904), vol. I. Public domain, archived. He lists twenty-four names for a group he calls twelve; the discrepancy is his and is preserved.
Open questions
- Twelve or twenty-four? The count and the list disagree. Read the Am-Tuat plate for the Ninth Division and settle whether two registers have been merged.
- The other names are mostly not in the census — Nehata, Teba, Menkhet, Hebs, Asti-neter, Asti-paut, Hetemet-khu, Temtu, Men-a, Perit, Aat-aatet, Hent-nut-s, Tesert-ant, Aat-khu, Sekhet-metu, Netert-en-khentet-Ra (C397).
- "Surround the hidden soul." The phrase recurs in the Am-Tuat and the corpus has not tracked it.
Cite this entry
Research grade: ⇄duplicate — A second spelling or roster listing of a name entered elsewhere.
"Nebti", The Egyptian God Corpus,
graded duplicate, retrieved 2026-08-10.