Meaning & History
Means "(she who) scrivens (who is the scribe)". In Egyptian mythology she was a goddess of wisdom, knowledge, and writing, seen as a scribe and record-keeper, and is credited with inventing writing. Eventually she came to be identified with architecture, astronomy, astrology, building, mathematics, and surveying as well. She was typically depicted as a woman holding a palm stem or other tools or sometimes a knotted cord used for surveying, and with a seven-pointed emblem above her, though it's unsure what this emblem represents. As the diving measurer and scribe, she was believed to assist the pharaoh in these tasks, and it was she who records, by notching her palm, the time allotted to the pharaoh for his stay on earth. As Thoth became more prominent and identified as the god of wisdom, Seshat became his daughter and, later his wife.