Above: The view of the Gurn from the east side of the river reveals two serpents that appear to be descending the mountain. With these examples of serpents in the same geographical area, it is no wonder that Meretseger was connected to this particular section of the West Bank and the artisans.
18. Meretseger
The serpent deity Meretseger was both revered and feared by the artisans. Within her name mrtsgr, (mr) means “love” (with the feminine t ending) and (sgr) means “quiet” and therefore translates as “she who loves silence.” Her worship did not extend beyond the necropolis of Deir el Medina and she was the authority figure concerning the secrets, secrets that the artisans were bound to by oath. Meretseger was generally depicted as a coiled cobra or sometimes she was rendered in cobra form with the head and arms of a woman projecting from the cobra’s hood. In fact Meretseger was said to reside on the West Bank mountain, particularly on the high peak of the Gurn where she protected the tombs from criminals. One can imagine this image of the coiled serpent on the peak of the Gurn as subtly portrayed in the first photgraph lower photgraph.
