and
Neferhotep I making offerings to Anuket on Seheil. Anuket was part of a triad with the god
Khnum, and the goddess
Satis. She may have been the sister of the goddess
Satis or she may have been a junior consort to Khnum instead. During the New Kingdom, Anuket's cult at
Elephantine included a river procession of the goddess during the first month of Shemu. Inscriptions mention the processional festival of Khnum and Anuket during this period. Ceremonially, when the Nile started its annual flood, the Festival of Anuket began. People threw coins, gold, jewelry, and precious gifts into the river, in thanks to the goddess for the life-giving water and returning benefits derived from the wealth provided by her fertility. The
taboo held in several parts of Egypt, against eating certain
fish which were considered sacred, was lifted during this time, suggesting that a fish species of the Nile was a
totem for Anuket and that they were consumed as part of the
ritual of her major religious festival. She was seen as bringing forth the flood. ==References==