Satet (also known as Setet, Sathit, Satit, Sati, Setis or Satis) was an archer-goddess of the Nile cataracts. Her name comes from the term “sat” (to shoot, to eject, to pour out, to throw). It is often translated as “She Who Shoots (Arrows)” in relation to her aspect as a goddess of the hunt, or “She who Pours” with reference to her role in the inundation and her guardianship over the Nile cataracts.
Her name was originally written with the hieroglyph for a shoulder knot
but this was later replaced by the sign representing a cow’s skin pierced by an arrow
As a warrior goddess, she protected the pharaoh and the southern borders of ancient Egypt and in her role as a goddess of fertility she caused the inundation and purified the deceased with water from the underworld (the mythical source of the Nile). Satet is described in the Pyramid Texts performing this service for the king.
Her most important role was as the goddess of the inundation (yearly flooding of the Nile). According to myth, on the “Night of the Teardrop” Isis would shed a single tear, which was caught by Satet and poured into the Nile, causing the inundation. As a result, she (like Isis) was linked to Sothis, the personification of the star Sept (Sirius A, the “Dog Star”) which rose in the sky just before the arrival of the inundation every year.
Like Anuket (and many other goddesses) she was originally thought to have been Ra’s daughter and was sometimes considered to be the spouse of Montu (the Theban war god). By the New Kingdom, she was believed to be the wife of Khnum and the mother or sister of Anuket. These three gods formed the Abu (Elephantine) triad. As Khnum became linked to Osiris, and Anuket linked to Nephthys, Satet became firmly connected to Isis. She was also linked with Hathor, as goddess of human fertility and love.
She was worshiped through the Aswan area (particularly on Setet Island) and throughout Upper Egypt. However, items found in Saqqara suggest she was popular in Lower Egypt even in ancient times. She remained popular throughout Egyptian history and her temple in Abu (Elephantine) was one of the principal shrines in Egypt.
She is depicted as a woman wearing the Hedjet (White Crown) of Upper Egypt decorated with either ostrich plumes (the Atef crown), or gazelle or antelope horns. Due to her link with Sothis and the inundation, she was sometimes depicted wearing a star on her head and carrying water jars. Occasionally, she carries a bow and arrows, but usually this is replaced by a sceptre and an ankh (symbolising life).
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How did you find it? Amazing! And great information by the way.
Posts: 535 | From: From the Darkest of the Abyss | Registered: Apr 2010
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So the sa symbol represents a herder's or farm pastor's rolled up shelter. Thus it would make sense that 'sat' which is the feminine form would be another item associated with the same occupation.
And when you add the feminine suffix to the already feminine word you get meaning 'satet'.
Also from the paper: The determinative for Satis There is a great deal of confusion with regard to the writing of this name and it is all of our own making. The Egyptian texts are clear enough. The determinative for Satis is always the cow's skin pierced by an arrow, from the time of the Pyramid Texts onwards, as in Pyr. 2209b. Her name is written in this way in the Coffin Texts, where she is said to be 'she who shoots arrows'. It is also written in this way in the Sesostris I inscription in the Temple at Elephantine48 where Wolfgang Schenkel draws attention to two examples. It is interesting that he found no reference to Khnum in this inscription. Gunther Roeder quoted a number of Ptolemaic examples where Satis is shown to be still indisputably associated with the shooting of arrows, although this scholar believed that her name was also used as a pun on the meaning of 'to pour'. We are fortunate in having Labib Habachi's publication of a rock stela of Sethos I from Aswan in which Anukis is called the mistress (or lady) of Elephantine while Satis is clearly labelled nbt ta sti (fig. 2z). It is this epithet for Satis that must be the clue to her name. Her amply documented reputation for shooting arrows must be closely linked with her title of nbt ta sti, which nome is always written with the determinative of the archer's bow. When Gardiner said that the stt sign stood for the name of the island of Sehel in the First Cataract, he was stating the generally accepted view of the scholars of his day, who all followed Brugsch. But the evidence for this is not conclusive. *All the inscriptions from the island of Sehel which speak of nbt stt, written with the pack-saddle sign, are referring explicitly to Anukis, not to Satis.* Whenever they speak of Satis, her name is written with the cow-skin pierced by an arrow. Anukis was clearly favoured on this island, but we need to know a lot more about her history and character before we can safely determine the identity of the place called stt over which she presided, which is sometimes determined by a town sign, sometimes by an island sign, and sometimes by a hill country sign. Her feathered head-dress symbolizes something which we cannot at present understand. We look forward to the forthcoming publication of Dr. Valbelle's thesis on these two goddesses which must enlighten us in many respects. It is possible that the reference in Pyr. III6a-b is to Anukis rather than to Satis, because the name of Satis is always written with the determinative of the cow's skin pierced by an arrow, and it is not written in this way in this text. It is the reference to Elephantine that has made scholars believe that Satis is meant here. Satis has been called the goddess of Elephantine but she has also been called the goddess of ta sti which fits her name very much better. We must not forget the title of Anukis on our stela from Aswan (fig. 2I). Labib Habachi has discussed the close relationship between these two goddesses and has convincingly suggested that Anukis may have been regarded as the daughter of Satis. Another text written with our pack-saddle sign and generally believed to refer to Satis has, I am sure, been wrongly interpreted. It is Pyr. 8I2a b.62 Some thought about its content will show that it must be much more rationally attributed to an enemy people, who burned and ravaged the Two Lands of the King, rather than to a goddess of the King's own lands, who ought to serve as their protectress. But if scholars insist on extracting a goddess from the text, Anukis is indicated rather than Satis, because the name is written with the pack-saddle sign so closely associated with this goddess in later times. Contrary to what [Gunther] Roeder said, I have not been able to find any grounds for linking stt, written with our pack-saddle sign, with the name of Satis, beyond the general relaxation in the discipline concerning the use of these signs which prevailed in later times.
So the Satet label as in the pack-saddle glyph is a case of mistaken identity then, with that title actually belonging to Anuket. It is more accurate to call the horned goddess Setiet as in shooter and not Satet.
-------------------- Mahirap gisingin ang nagtutulog-tulugan. Posts: 26238 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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What I find surprising is that despite the author's convincing case, nowhere does she bring up the relation to the glyph 'sa'.
The sa glyph was an important symbol meaning protection and was used as an amulet meant to provide that.
my understanding is that Satet ( Sṯt or Sṯı͗t) derived from sṯ, has no linguistic relation to Sa
Posts: 42918 | From: , | Registered: Jan 2010
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^ You seem to have missed the point that there are two different words that have the phonetic root s't. One is based on shooting arrows -- setiu and the other is a fiber-work loop that is known as a "shoulder knot" but most likely a packsaddle used by herders --sat. The latter is the feminine form of 'sa' which is also a loop or cord used by herders.
Posts: 26238 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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and is translated as setiu and when you add the feminine suffix you get 
meaning setiet.
meaning sat is NOT a "shoulder knot" as many believe but actually a packsaddle.
'sa'. 
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