NEKHBET

in Egyptian religion, vulture goddess who was the protector of Upper Egypt and especially its rulers. Nekhbet was frequently portrayed as spreading her wings over the pharaoh while grasping in her claw the cartouche symbol or other emblems. She was sometimes depicted suckling the pharaoh. Her special colour was white, in contrast to the red regalia of her counterpart, Buto, goddess of Lower Egypt. She also appeared as a woman, often with a vulture's head, wearing a white crown. The centre of Nekhbet's cult was al-Kab (Greek: Eileithyiaspolis), but her principal epithet made her the goddess of Hierakonpolis (or Nekhen), the ancient town opposite al-Kab, on the west bank of the Nile River.