The War Shield of Neith
The emblem of the goddess Neith of Sais: a shield across which two crossed arrows are set, combining her natures as a war goddess and a weaver into a single sign. Attested as her writing from the earliest Egyptian hieroglyphs, the emblem was painted on her temple walls, carved on votive objects, and adopted as the badge of her cult city. The Greek and Roman writers Plutarch and Herodotus both describe the goddess and her warlike symbol, and Herodotus records the shrine of Neith at Sais with its festival of lamps. As one of the oldest goddess emblems of Egypt, the shield-and-arrows remained in