I. Name

Neith (|I.EI.F|, Nj.t, Gk. Νηιθ) occurs as a theophoric element in the name אסנת, Asnath, Gk. Ασεννέθ, the daughter of Potiphera, a priest in Heliopolis, and wife of Joseph (Gen. 41.45, see el Sayed 1982 II:400–401 doc. 446). The etymology of the name is not clear, but associations point in two entirely different directions: 1. both the name of the goddess and the name of the crown of Lower Egypt (N.t) might go back to a fuller form Nr.t, meaning ‘the terrible one’. This meaning connects well with th…