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Protective
Serqet
srqtScorpionsVenomProtection of the dead
How it changed
Her full name means she who causes the throat to breathe, which is what a scorpion sting stops. Her priests were working magician-physicians who treated stings and bites, so this is one of the clearest cases in Egypt of a cult that was also a profession. The gilded figure of her guarding Tutankhamun's canopic shrine, arms out and face turned aside, is among the best-known objects from the tomb.
Cult centre
No major cult centre; her priests were practitioners
Best attested
Old Kingdom onward
Family
One of the four goddesses guarding the canopic chest, with Isis, Nephthys and Neith.
Epithets
- “She who causes the throat to breathe”
How to recognise the figure
A woman with a scorpion on her head, shown with its sting deliberately absent or lowered.
Others in this group