Satet, also written Satis, was an ancient Egyptian goddess of Elephantine, the island in the Nile at Aswan that marked Egypt's traditional southern frontier. She was worshipped there with the ram-headed god Khnum and the goddess Anuket, a local family of gods tied to the First Cataract of the Nile.
Mistress of Elephantine
The Metropolitan Museum of Art records Satet with the title "Mistress of Elephantine" in a New Kingdom inscription. Elephantine was both a sacred site and a strategic one, the gateway between Egypt and the lands to the south, and Satet's cult there was one of the oldest on the island.
The Elephantine triad
Satet appears with Khnum and Anuket in the religious life of Elephantine and Aswan. The British Museum connects Khnum closely with the Nile's annual flood, and the Met notes that the gods invoked with Satet on one New Kingdom statue all belong to the Aswan region.
Was Satet a goddess of the flood?
Modern summaries often say so. The evidence is more cautious: the flood is most firmly tied to Khnum, and Satet is best described as the goddess of Elephantine and the cataract region, a region whose life depended on the river.
How Satet was shown
Satet usually appears as a woman wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt flanked by antelope horns, and a wooden figure identified as Satis survives in the British Museum.
Satet in jewellery
A Satet design can reference Elephantine, the Nile at Aswan and Egypt's southern frontier. Take a look at the AURYN Satet/Satis charm, or read our guide to ancient Egyptian symbols.
