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Depictions
In art, Mut was pictured as a woman with the wings of a vulture, holding an
ankh, wearing the united crown of Upper and Lower Egypt and also a dress of
bright red/blue, with the feather of Ma'at at her feet. Alternatively, as a
result of her assimilations, she is sometimes depicted as a cobra, a cat, a cow,
or as a lioness. Some of Mut's titles included World-Mother, Eye of Ra, Queen of
the Goddesses, Lady of Heaven, Mother of the Gods, and She Who Gives Birth, But
Was Herself Not Born of Any.
In Karnak
There are temples dedicated to Mut all over modern-day Egypt and Sudan but the
center of the cult was the temple in Karnak. The temple had the statue that was
regarded as an embodiment of her real ka. Her devotions included daily rituals
by the Pharaoh and her priestesses. Interior reliefs depict scenes of
priestesses, currently the only known example of worship in ancient Egypt that
was exclusively led by women. The rituals included music and drinking.
The queen Hatshepsut had the temple built in Karnak. Previous excavators had
thought that Amenhotep III had originally had the temple built because of the
hundreds of statues of Sekhmet that bore his name. However, Hatshepsut had begun
the work 75 years earlier and began the custom to depict Mut with the crown of
both Upper and Lower Egypt. It is possible the later ruler tried to eclipse his
predecessor by removing most signs of her and adding his own.
Hatshepsut was the ruler that brought Mut to the fore, probably trying to
enhance her image to strengthen her own authority. She stated that she was a
descendant of Mut. She also associated herself with the image of Sekhmet, as the
more aggressive aspect of the goddess.
Akhenaten suppressed the worship of Mut alongside the other gods when he
promoted the worship of his sun god Aten. Tutankhamun re-established their
worship and his successors continued to associate themselves with Mut
afterwards.
Ramesses II added more work on the Mut temple but also rebuilt an earlier temple
in the same area, dedicating it to Amun and himself. People had to pass his
temple on their way to that of Mut.
Kushite pharaohs expanded the Mut temple and modified Ramesses temple for the
use of the shrine the celebrated the birth of Amun and Khonsu, trying to
integrate themselves into divine succession. Their also installed their own
priestesses to the temple of Mut.
The Greek Ptolemaic dynasty added its own decorations and priestesses and used
her authority to emphasize their own interests. Later, the Roman emperor
Tiberius rebuilt the site after a severe flood and his successors supported the
temple until it fell into disuse sometime around the 3rd century AD. Some of the
later occupants used the stone from the temple for their own building projects.
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