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Nephthys, a MythSource painting
Egyptian

Nephthys

Lady of the House · Great of Magic · Lady of Heaven

01Identity

Nephthys in Egyptian tradition

Mourning the murdered Osiris, Nephthys keeps vigil with Isis over his mummy and protects him from further attacks by Seth. She is an Egyptian goddess of lamentation, funerary rites and protection of the dead, and is one of the Two Sisters in the Osirian story. Unlike Isis, her sister and companion, Nephthys never enjoyed the same high status and often appears as a protective presence in funerary art. She is also shown behind Osiris’s throne during the judgment of the dead.

Top questions

The quick answers

  • Who is Nephthys?

    Nephthys is an Egyptian deity associated with mourning and lamentation; funerary rites and burial; protection of the dead; and the Osirian afterlife.
    Source

    Source

    • Handbook of Egyptian Mythology
    • Egyptian Mythology
    • A History of Magic, Witchcraft and the Occult

  • What is Nephthys the goddess of?

    Nephthys is associated with mourning and lamentation; funerary rites and burial; protection of the dead; and the Osirian afterlife.
    Source

    Source

    • Handbook of Egyptian Mythology

  • What family links are recorded for Nephthys?

    Father: Geb, Mother: Nut, Spouse: Seth, 1 child, 3 siblings.
02Family

Nephthys’s family, at a glance

GebNut
NephthysIsisOsirisSeth

with Seth

Anubis
03The names

The names Nephthys answers to

Nebet-Het

Lady of the House

SourceEgyptian Mythology

Nebethet

A variant transcription of Lady of the House

SourceEgyptian Mythology

Lady of the Mansion

A title identifying Nephthys as mistress of the divine household

SourceHandbook of Egyptian Mythology

Great of Magic

Powerful in protective and divine magic

SourceA History of Magic, Witchcraft and the Occult

Lady of Heaven

A celestial goddess and divine lady

SourceHandbook of Egyptian Mythology

04The myths

The myths of Nephthys

1 myth, with sources recorded for each.

Nephthys Conceives Anubis

Nephthys deceived Osiris and lay with him while he believed she was Isis. She was married to Seth, yet her loyalties lay with Isis and Osiris. Plutarch records this episode in On Isis and Osiris, section 14. His account says that Nephthys became pregnant after the union, exposed the child when he was born, and left him to die because she feared Seth’s vengeance. Other accounts say that she made Osiris drunk before their union, or that she disguised herself as Isis. Their child was Anubis.

Nephthys then remained with Isis, who was grieving after Seth murdered Osiris. She joined her sister in searching for Osiris’s body while Seth’s violence forced others to flee and hide. Nephthys eventually told Isis that Anubis was her son. Isis searched for the infant during her search for Osiris and found him in the marshes of the Delta. In another account, dogs led Isis to him. Isis adopted Anubis and saved his life.

Nephthys thereafter stayed with Isis through her trials. Anubis later became associated with Isis as her guard and with the Osirian afterworld. He was also known as a god of embalming, death, magic, and divination.

Nephthys Conceives Anubis, a MythSource painting of the scene

3 sources· checked 2026-08-18

  1. 1Handbook of Egyptian MythologyT1
  2. 2the ancient sourcesT1

    Quote

    “Nephthys conceived Anubis by Osiris, exposed the infant after his birth, and abandoned him because she feared Seth's vengeance.”

    the ancient sources

  3. 3Egyptian MythologyT1

Also mentioned in

Stories elsewhere on MythSource that mention Nephthys, each on that figure’s page.

Continue the road

More of Nephthys’s family, sourced

SethSpouseIsisSiblingOsirisSibling