Seshat

(Seshet, Sefkhet-abwy) - "The Female Scribe (Seshat); The Seven-Horned (Sefkhet-abwy)" - Seshat is patroness of libraries and all forms of writing and notation including census, accounting, and other record-keeping. Consort to Djehuty Who invented the written word, Seshat is depicted assisting the ruler in the "stretching of the cord" ceremonies which marked the foundation-starting of major building projects, as well as recording the lives and deeds of men on the leaves of the sacred persea tree. She also often offers palm branches (the hieroglyph for "many years") as a gift to a ruler, as other Names offer ankhs (life). Seshat is depicted as a woman dressed in the long skirt and leopard-skin of a Sem priest, with an obscure symbol on Her head comprised of a seven-pointed star or rosette crowned by either downturned horns or a bow.