Ay
Ay is an Egyptian goddess who embodies the wild, untamed version of the returning goddess. She is honored alongside Nehmetawy in a festival from the Ptolemaic period in Herakleopolis characterized by drunkenness, indulgence, music, and sexual activity, alluding to the great Bastet festival in Bubastis.
↻ synthesized from 3 sources
When
- First attested
- 3000 BCE
- Attested period
- -3000 – -100
- Historical notes
- Attested in Ptolemaic period demotic ostraca from Herakleopolis.
Relationships
- allied with
- Nehmetawy
- co occurs with
- Nebtuwi, Ahmose-Nefertari, Ahti, Amathaunta, Amn, Anet, Anhefta, Anit, Anuke, Aperet-Isis, Bairthy, Besna, Esna, Hedetet, Heptet, Heret-Kau, Hert-ketit-s, Hert-Nemmat-Set, Hert-sefu-s, Heru-pa-kaut, Heset, Hetepes-Sekhus, Iaret, Ipy, Iw, Ken, Khefthernebes, Matit, Nakith, Perit, Pesi, Qerhet, Rekhit, Horemheb, Ramesses I, Seti I, Akhenaten, Tutankhamen, Bastet, Tefnut, Set, Thoth, Hathor, Geb, Nut, Nephthys, Shu, Naunet, Shepsy, Unut, Nehbet-anet, Amesemi, Mehit, Qetesh, Astarte, Ammit, Meretseger, Mehet-Weret, Khensit, Mafdet, Meskhenet, Iunit, Raet-tawy, Beset, Anat, Kebechet, Nebethetepet, Iusaaset, Qed-her, Abaset, Khereduankh, Baalat Gebal, Hatmehit, Henet, Pelican, Iabet, Iat, Meret, Ištar, Ramesses II
Mentioned by
- Bastet
- Tefnut
- Set
- Thoth
- Hathor
- Geb
- Nut
- Nephthys
- Shu
- Naunet
- Shepsy
- Unut
- Nehbet-anet
- Amesemi
- Mehit
- Qetesh
and 26 more
Sources
Source passages
“Two demotic ostraca from the Ptolemaic period in Herakleopolis describe a festival characterized by drunkenness, indulgence, music, and sexual activity in the presence of the goddesses Nehmetawy and Ay.”
#23629 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
“Ay – A goddess who embodies the raging aspect of the returning goddess”
#24950 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
“Horemheb filled the interior of the pylon towers with thousands of recycled blocks from dismantled monuments of his predecessors, especially Talatat blocks from the monuments of Akhenaten along with a temple of Tutankhamen and Ay.”
#40656 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001