Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

218 Neptunussky goddess NUT in the Ennead genealogy ofEgyptian deities defined by the priests ofHeliopolis. Nephthys is depicted in human formwearing a crown in the style of the hieroglyphicfor a mansion, the translation of her Egyptianname. She can also take the form of a hawkwatching over the funeral bier of Osiris. Accordingto legend Nephthys liaised briefly with Osirisand bore the mortuary god ANUBIS. She is said toguide the dead Egyptian ruler through the darkunderworld and to weep for him. Also Neb-hut(Egyptian).NeptunusGod of irrigation. Italic and Roman. Identifiedwith the planet Neptune, but thought to haveoriginated as an agricultural deity concerned withwatering. He was celebrated in the festival of Neptunaliaon July 23. Also the patron deity of horseracing.He became syncretized with the Greekgod POSEIDON, but Neptune’s modern associationwith the sea is a misrepresentation.NereidesAnimistic spirits of the sea. Greco-Roman.Female personalities, the best known of whom isAMPHITRITE, assigned the guardianship of theoceans by the great gods and invoked by seafarers.Also attendants of the god POSEIDON.NereusMinor sea god. Greek. The son of PONTOS andGAIA, and the father of the NEREIDES.See also PROTEUS.NERGALORIGIN Mesopotamian (Sumerian and Babylonian-Akkadian)[Iraq]. Chthonic underworld god.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa 3500 BC tocirca 200 BC.SYNONYMS Erakal, Lugalgirra, Meslamtaea.CENTER(S) OF CULT Kuthu and Tarbisu.ART REFERENCES plaques, votive stelae andglyptics.LITERARY SOURCES cuneiform texts particularlyNergal and Ereškigal.The son of ENLIL and NINLIL and the consort ofthe underworld goddess EREŠKIGAL. He isdepicted as a god of war and sudden death as wellas being ruler of the underworld. He may be alsoseen as a plague god. His sanctuary is known asthe Emešlam. He is usually depicted as a beardedfigure emerging from the ground and carryinga double-edged mace-scimitar typically embellishedwith lion heads. By the Hellenic period heis identified with the god HERAKLES.NerrivikSea goddess. Inuit. The mother of all sea creatures,invoked by fishermen and seal hunters.See also SEDNA.NERTHUS (north)ORIGIN probably Danish [Sjaeland, Denmark].Fertility goddess associated with peace.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa AD 100, thoughprobably much earlier, until AD 400 or later(difficult to determine).SYNONYMS none known.CENTER(S) OF WORSHIP a sacred grove “in anisland of the ocean” identified only by thewriter Tacitus.ART REFERENCES none.LITERARY SOURCES Germania 40 (Tacitus).Some authors argue that Nerthus is a femalecounterpart, possibly the sister, of the Viking god