Chicago's Oriental Institute on the Scribal Art

The amazing craft of writing practiced early on by women and embodied by the icon Seshat in North Africa is explained by Foy Scalf, Ph.D. candidate in Egyptology at the University of Chicago and Head of the Oriental Institute Research Archives

European LIbrary shows interest in Seshat

Today I came across a news article about a library potentially closing down in Europe.  I thought it odd that the library would make a sort of religious stance and about the closing by calling it sacrilege. However, I did think that it was interesting that there are people out there who still hold value to the Seshat in a religious context.

In a statement the Trustees for the Library of Avalon said it regarded "all libraries as temples of the divine Djehuti...and believe that the destruction, desuetude or disestablishment of any library is on this basis tantamount to sacrilege." They added, the closure would also be sacrilegious to "the divine Maat, goddess of righteousness, correctness and order, and the divine Seshat, goddess of documentation; the Recording Angel."

This unusual library also displays collections from the Research into Lost Knowledge Organisation RILKO describes itself as: "An organisation providing a platform for the dissemination of hidden knowledge incorporated in myth and legend, number and geometry, art and music, architectural proportion, megalithic structures and the geomantic layout of cities and landscape".

Recognizing the Ancestors: African Culture Represented through Seshat

Those that are familiar with deified ancestors among the Afrocentric worldview will understand the concept of a real women who becomes titled as goddess as time goes on. Some call this early representation of Seshat as practice of ancestor worship. I view it as recognizing with high esteem those who have made great accomplishments. Honoring those that have come before us. Those who have left such an impression on life that their influence lives on and remains relevant. Similar to the recognition of dead presidents and military generals we see often in  art, murals, statues, text, etc.today in the United States and worldwide.

One primary difference I see that I think earlier Egyptian scholars considered to be "worship"among the ancient Egyptians is that Africans, and many indigenous cultures for that matter, would pray to these great people for assistance in the areas they were masters in. I will discuss this later in greater detail as I show examples of students asking Seshat for assistance in learning, as recorded in the Book of Thoth and the Book of Proverbs in the Holy Bible. Praying, calling out, invoking, or any other term one would use to describe bringing up an image or thought of something not here physically. This "action" of recalling those from the past who were great in a craft was used as a tool to bring that energy here to this realm, if one were lucky enough to get their attention. Kind of like a child's hope that their letter and nighttime prayers really makes it to Santa. The act of getting Seshat's attention for wisdom vs gifts became a ritual over time.

I live in a world of tooth fairies that are thought of when a child looses a tooth. And Santa Claus who comes to make sure the children have gifts under the tree. Both understood to be images that represent themes, not real, and certainly not Gods. So we must be careful not to think that because someone used the term God or Goddess in translation that it carries the same concept of "God" in its treatment as displayed in our culture. They are more aptly described as deified ancestors; someone who may have existed at some point but has taken on other more grandiose characteristics over time. With the American Santa we are talking a period of centuries with attributes taken on from similar icons before him along with myth, in Egypt we are talking a period of seven thousand years or more. When we practice the ritual of Christmas I would hardly think of us as invoking the God St. Nik with spells of "have you been naughty or nice", or chants (chorals). Or are we?

While I am not equating Seshat with the Fairy God Mother or Santa, I think this topic should be raised for discussion as we delve into research of an ancient culture rich in images and writing, but only translated with our limited worldview and understanding of their language. Moreover the possibility of errors in the thought processes of later writers who attempted to describe what the ancients were conveying.

The story of Seshat is told by people who recognized her. People who called to her image, theme, and energy to enhance their abilities to master the art of writing so that they too could learn and read the great books of mathematics, architecture, medicine, and history. This behavior of calling on ancestors represented over 5,000 years ago in Egyptian hieroglyphs is still practiced today among Africans.

Happy New Year! From the East Coast of Africa to the East Coast of America Seshat 7

Happy New Year!!

Hapy Nwy Anu Hr

(latin Hr)(Latin Annus)

The goddess Seshat, personification of Writing, shown in the act of inscribing the palm leaf rib which denotes the word renpet, "year" in the hieroglyphic script. Egypt, New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, c.1250 BCE.
Location :Luxor, Thebes, Egypt

Today is New Years in which people across the world celebrate in the middle of the evening and the term "Happy New Year!" is commonly heard.  However, today is looked at with a new lens for me with my understanding of  Seshat in Predynastic Egypt. A friend, Ramomar, mentioned on a blog last night how the the sounds of the terms we use for the current two holidays correlate with terms that represent concepts used in Egyptian hieroglyphs. For instance, he explained the ancient Egyptian Hapi was the bringer of things, he brought water to the city. Ramomar also correlated the tear of Isis bringing forth fertility to the city and the Ball Drop in New York. I have also found further correlations when looking at the etymology of key terms associated with Christmas and New Years that go back through the Greek and Romans usages of the terms and the Egyptian usages of the terms. All which eventually coincide with teaching so ancient they go back to the early representations of Seshat. In the ancient Egyptian New Year the day was celebrated to the Sun God. and offerings were given to Hapy and Amun or can I get a, I mean should I say, Amen or Imen or Amon.

The talk show sparked my curiosity to begin looking for variations of NU or NW, considering that the vowels were omitted in ancient script, easy for foreigners to pick up a word and pronounce it with various vowels through keeping the consonants. So I googled NWY in Egypt, which meant Nile and there was a picture of Sol Invectus wearing a grown with 7 points. Immediately I thought, he is wearing Seshat's crown, why? Is it because she was the time keeper? Why is he sporting her gear? Who is he? and what does he have to do with the New Year?  And wait, he looks like the statue of Liberty, which is in the New York Harbor...So I wondered is her crown the same? Yes, her star, I mean headdress is also shown with 7 points. Seems there were cultures recognizing Seshat 2,000 years ago outside of Egypt.

Well that was quite interesting but where was the more recent connection to Egypt? When  the person who spearheaded the Liberty construction for the US, Bartholdi, started the project around 1867 he approached Ismail Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, to build the lighthouse (pharos) in the form of an ancient Egyptian female fellah for the Suez Canal. The statue at the Suez Canal was to be called "Egypt (or Progress) carrying the light to Asia". This design  was modified and used for the Statue of Liberty, keeping the main aspects of symbolism that relate to the ancient teachings of the women scribes (Seshat). While there is no mention of Seshat specifically by Bartholdi or Pasha, it is clear there indeed exist a direct connection between an Egyptian influenced architect to the design of statues in Rome and the statue of Liberty.

This design of a statue with a raised arm and headdress of 7 points was also used for the Colossus of Rhodes to Helios (305BC), one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, at the harbor entrance with a light to guide the ships. Wait, Helio, that sounds quite familiar to the city in which Seshat was most known in, Heliopolis.  Heliopolis (Annu before the Greeks changed its name, (wait annu for the Greeks meant year)),  is an ancient city in Egypt that houses Seshat's main sanctuary and is also considered the Sun City. 

The ished tree was grown in Heliopolis during the Old Kingdom and is also associated with Seshat in drawings.  The ished tree, while not an evergreen, like the Christmas tree, was considered by the Egyptians to be unique and was regarded as the tree of life. What does the tree of life have to do with New Years, the number 7,  and America? In early Egypt Seshat, sporting her headdress with 7 pin points, holding the time stick by the tree of life was the reason for whom the New Year was celebrated.  Thousands of years later around the change of AD to BC Christmas was placed on December 25, 7 days prior to the New Year Festival. Perhaps there is more to this connection then coincidence, pagan ritual, or religious births.

Hecate (about 4 BC or prior), another Greek Goddess, also wore the headdress of 7 points. Hecate, during the time of the Greeks was known to have some connection with Egypt and Isis. The exact connection today we have not uncovered, but all the signs are there.


Those in Rome and Greece obviously recognized the connection of where the ancestors they recognized came from and continued to institute the time keeping systems from the teachings of the women who scribed (Seshat) in their calendar of 365 days. Continuing to celebrate on the first day in the evening, Hapy being the god of the evening, and starting 7 days prior with celebrating and gift giving. 

The architects of America and Europe did not stop with the Colossal or Hecate or others of ancient days. To add to the symbolism and connection with the Egyptian Seshat. Seshat was the goddess of the 11th month on the Egyptian calendar and stood guard over the last gate before entering heaven. Lady Liberty was placed on a structure that is shaped in the form of an 11 pointed star, the 11 pointed walls of Fort Wood (completed in 1811, 200 years ago), inscribed "The New Colossus"). Having found the perfect 11 pointed star on the harbor of New York, Lady Liberty was then constructed on a pedestal that is a truncated pyramid. Moreover, Seshat was synonymous with wisdom and knowledge the Lady Liberty in NY was erected to enlighten the world. Why is the usage of ancient symbols in American history important? I await your comments.