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The name that most remember or hear of today is Isis, but her ancient Egyptian name, an approximation phonetically in English, is Aset. Isis, sometimes pronounced "Eie-see" (long "e" + "see") by the Greeks, is perhaps one of the most well-known goddesses in the world today. Isis was, however, loved and named by non-Egyptians after Egypt had long since lost its cultural identity in the wake of foreign influence. The Romans loved her also, for they crowned Aset "Isis of Ten Thousand Names" and made her a universal figure. By that time, the particular personification of what Aset had been in Egypt had faded into the visage of Isis. Aset is the mother of Heru-sa-Aset (Greek: Horus Son of Isis or Horus the Younger-not to be mistaken for Heru-ur, or Horus the Elder), sister of Nebet-Het (Greek: Nephthys), Heru-ur, and Set, and wife of Wesir (Greek: Osiris). She is also the Mistress of Magic-the one goddess of the Neter (Divine forces, Gods and Goddesses) who knows Raís ren (true name) and therefore She possesses all of his power. Like the throne on her head, Aset is a symbol of the power of kingship: She empowers her husband, she empowers her son. Without her, no king, either living or dead, can rule with authority. Indeed, Aset-Isis is a force to be reckoned with.
Other Names of the Neter are closely associated with Aset. Serqet, (Greek: Selket) an anthropomorphic female name drawn with a scorpion atop her head, is thought to be another form of Aset. The star Sirius or Sopdet to the Egyptian (Greek: Sothis) is closely associated with Aset. Sirius was the star (or technically the double-binary star system) whose rising signified the New Year for the Egyptians, a time of celebration and of striking back the darkness. Aset is also, of course, strongly identified with her husband Wesir. Wesir is said, in some instances by some, to be essentially helpless, that he cannot move, his arms and legs inert. Aset and Nebt-Het, wife and sister, stand over him to act as hands and protectors. Aset has an association with Heru, and through Heru the Pharaoh himself who was the living incarnation of Heru. Aset he is frequently depicted previous to the Late Period (and even after) with the hieroglyph for the throne, st, on her head. This can be interpreted in a variety of ways. While Aset was never depicted as a ruler, she is the mother of the living God, the one who put Heru on the throne and secured there his place.
Aset was also sometimes used as one of the four guardian Names in funerary motifs. The famous four "Tutankhamen statues" that embraced the box holding his canoptic jars are Aset, Nebt-Het, Serqet, and Nit.
Aset is normally depicted in an anthropomorphic fashion. Her arms may or may not bear the wings of a kite, and her dress may or may not be in a rishi(feathered) pattern. On her head may be the hieroglyph for the throne that is her name. She can be either seated or standing, with the was-scepter or papyrus rod in one hand and an ankh in the other. Beginning with the New Kingdom and progressing afterward She is also portrayed wearing the sun disk and a pair of cowís horns (normally attributed to Het-Hert [Greek: Hathor]) combined with the uraeus and the vulture headdress normally attributed to Mut, the wife of Amen, and to the queens of Kemet. In the case of the sun disk and cowís horns regalia, the surest way to tell a depiction of Aset from that of Het-hert is the presence of either the vulture headdress, the winged arms, the throne hieroglyph, or the rishi-patterned dress. While this doesnít hold true in all cases, it does in most and, of course, reading any present hieroglyphs will usually firmly confirm which is being portrayed. The primary functions of Aset are often displayed when She is portrayed visually. When mourning, she may be drawn as a kite, (usually alongside Nebt-Het). This may have something to do with the cry of the bird, a sound very much like that of a mourner. This may have contributed to their close connection with Heru. She may also be represented anthropomorphically in a mourner's pose, kneeling with one hand in front of her face (the universal sign for crying).
Aset plays a prominent role in several of the more important myths that have been discovered. She is clever. It is Aset who tricked Ra by creating a serpent with poison not of His making, so that he could not cure himself. Using this ploy, she gained his true name, and power greater than all the other Neter possessed individually. We see her cleverness in other myths as well, the Contendings of Heru and Set especially when she sneaked into Setís garden and sprinkled his semen on the leaves, turning the tables on Setís quest for the throne he and Heru were vying for. In one part of The Contendings of Heru and Set, the company of divine judges head off to an island to get away from Aset, whose involvement in the ruling between Heru and Set has now become something of a nuisance. The ferryman of the island is told that under no conditions is he to ferry over any women looking like Aset. To get around this, Aset shapeshifts into an old woman and bribes the ferryman with a gold ring. When he takes her to the island, she immediately goes looking for Set. Shapeshifting once again, this time into a young maiden, she catches him alone. Set, apparently susceptible to the wiles of beautiful young ladies, listens as she tells a tale of woe, how her husband died and her son's lands were taken away. When she asks Set if injustice has been served to her and her son, Set agrees. Aset then promptly changes back to her normal shape, declaring to the judges that Set, who killed her husband and then laid claim to the Two Lands as their ruler, effectively standing between Heru and his birthright, is a hypocrite. This is not the complete story, but it is a very good example of Aset's craftiness and strong will.
