Egyptian goddess of the east and cleanser of Ra
Iabet
Iabet is a goddess of Egyptian mythology, regarded as the counterpart of Imentet. She is remembered above all for purifying the sun god Ra and for her association with the east, where the sun rises each day. Her figure is less well known than those of other Egyptian goddesses, yet she appears in important funerary texts.
The myth
According to Egyptian tradition, Iabet was the one who cleansed the sun god Ra, and her domain lay in the east, the place where the star is reborn every morning. Her principal husband was Min, a god linked to fertility, and the two were worshipped together.
Her name was written in several forms, including Iabtet, Iab, Abet, Abtet and Ab, which shows that spelling shifted over time and between writers. As the counterpart of Imentet, she formed with her a pair of complementary figures within the Egyptian religious world.
In the Amduat, the funerary text that describes the sun's nightly journey through the underworld, she appears under the name Iab, shown as a woman with her arms at her sides. Together with eleven other goddesses, among them Isis and her grandmother Tefnut, she belonged to a group known as "those who give praises to Ra as he passes over Wernes", a chorus that accompanied the sun god on his passage.
Worship and religion
She was worshipped at Panopolis, where she shared cult with her husband Min. The available sources do not describe specific temples, festivals or offerings, and there is no evidence that her cult survives today.
Ancient sources: The Amduat, an ancient Egyptian funerary text in which she appears under the name Iab.