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.
The quick answers
Who is Nephthys?
Nephthys is an Egyptian deity associated with mourning and lamentation, funerary rites and burial, protection of the dead, the Osirian afterlife.Source
Source
- Handbook of Egyptian Mythology
- Egyptian Mythology
- A History of Magic, Witchcraft and the Occult
What is Nephthys the god of?
mourning and lamentation, funerary rites and burial, protection of the dead, the Osirian afterlifeSource
Source
- Handbook of Egyptian Mythology
What family links are recorded for Nephthys?
Father: Geb, Mother: Nut, Spouse: Seth, 1 child, 3 siblings.
Nephthys’s family, at a glance
Parents above, children below, and the figure’s consorts named in between, the same family data as the fact box, laid out as a chart instead of a field list.
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
The myths of Nephthys
1 myth, each traced to its primary text and corpus sources.
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.
In the modern world
No modern rework confirmed yet.
3 sources· checked 2026-08-18
- 1Handbook of Egyptian MythologyT1
- 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
- 3Egyptian MythologyT1
Also appears in
The myths across MythSource where Nephthys features, each on that figure’s page.
- Anubis Guards the Body of Osiris · on Anubis
- The Birth and Rescue of Anubis · on Anubis
- Geb and Nut’s Forbidden Union · on Geb
- Horus Poisoned by the Scorpion · on Horus
- The Conception of Horus · on Horus
- Isis and the First Mummification · on Isis
- Isis Heals the Stung Horus · on Isis
- Isis Revives Osiris · on Isis
- Isis Searches for Osiris · on Isis
- The Marriage of Isis and Osiris · on Isis
- Nut’s Five Epagomenal Births · on Nut
- The Separation of Nut and Geb · on Nut
- Osiris and Nephthys · on Osiris
- Osiris Becomes King of Egypt · on Osiris
- Osiris Fathers Horus After Death · on Osiris
- The Birth of Osiris · on Osiris
- The Reassembly of Osiris · on Osiris
- Ra Separates Earth and Sky · on Ra
- The Curse on Nut · on Ra
- Seth Discovers Anubis's Birth · on Seth
- The Birth of Seth · on Seth
- Thoth Wins the Five Epagomenal Days · on Thoth
2 works catalogued
This is the candidate catalogue for Nephthys: candidate reworks first, then references, then names used as atmosphere. Nothing here has been checked against a source yet. Only reviewed myth-to-work links are promoted in Overview.
Showing 2 of 2 works.
Film2
- Gods of EgyptRework
- Unearthed: The Curse of NephthysRework
These are catalogue candidates, not proof that every work retells this figure. Reviewed myth-to-work links appear in Overview.
What this page is built from
About this page
Written and maintained by MythSource. Last reviewed not yet recorded. How a page gets built.
3 sources are cited on this page, primary texts and corpus scholarship, listed below.
Cite this page
MythSource. (n.d.). Nephthys. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/nephthys
"Nephthys." MythSource, n.d., www.mythsource.com/figures/nephthys.
"Nephthys." MythSource. n.d. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/nephthys.
The mythology summaries and identity fields on this page are grounded in the primary texts and scholarship above. The appearance table records candidates separately; only reviewed joins are presented as modern reworks in Overview.
The film
The Underdrawing video on Nephthys embeds here once it publishes.