The identity of the animal by which Mafdet is usually represented is difficult to ascertain as different types of evidence suggest different possibilities. In some cases a feline predator seems to be intended, but in many others a smaller animal such as the civet, ocelot or ichneumon (the African mongoose) must be meant.
The goddess was also associated with the ‘instrument of punishment’ (PT 230) perhaps used in executions from very early times. This consisted of a pole, curved at the top, to which a knife was lashed with a length of rope and seems to have been car-
The symbolic creature of the goddess Mafdet was perhaps the African mongoose.
Ramesses III crowned by Horns and Seth as the mythical heirs of Lower and Upper Egypt. 20th dynasty. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.
Ried in royal processions as a symbol not unlike the later Roman fasces in form or function. In her zoo-morphic form as the serpent-killing predator, Mafdet was sometimes shown running up the pole of this instrument. The solar association of the goddess - as protector of Re - led to the representation of the Mafdet animat with a solar disk - and sometimes a uraeus - atop its head.
Worship
Although she had no cult of her own, Mafdet is mentioned in several temple inscriptions - especially of the latest periods - and she was also invoked in magical rituals which utilized her mythological strengths in everyday life. A spell to counter the harmful effect of a demon or ghost that has smwived from the 21st dynasty applied the assistance of the goddess in an interesting if somewhat bizarre manner. The spell was to be spoken over a phallus-shaped loaf inscribed with the name of the harmful supernatural being; this was then wrapped in fatty meat and given to a cat - as the animal consumed the magical loaf it was believed that Mafdet herself would destroy the influence of the malevolent power.