These translations include: "that which gives Ka";[2] "he who harnesses the spirits";[1] the "overturner of doubles";[3] "collector of souls";[2] "provider of goods and foods"[2] and "bestower of dignities".

[2] Nehebkau is a considerably powerful deity, which contemporary Egyptologist and author Richard Wilkinson credits to his demonic origins and snake-like qualities.

[6] Nehebkau first appears in the Pyramid Texts,[1] and he is described as an evil, long and winding serpent who devoured human souls in the afterlife.

[1] Additionally, orientalist Professor Wilhelm Max Muller describes Nehebkau to have personally guarded the gates of the underworld.

[6] In the Coffin Texts, however, the ancient god Atum places his fingernail against a nerve in Nehebkau's spine, calming his chaotic and fearsome nature.

[2] Throughout and following the Coffin Texts, Nehebkau is considered a benevolent and helpful deity who may be befriended by gods and men and enlisted into service.

[4] After this transformation, he appears as a servant and partner to the sun god Re,[2] and is said to provide food and assistance to the deceased King in the afterlife.

[2] It is in this peaceful form that he mostly appears in Egyptian mythologies,[4] and he was often evoked as a protective god in religious rituals, amulets and spells.

[4] As a funerary god and one of the forty-two judges in the Court of Maat, Nehebkau played a significant role in the Ancient Egyptian perception of the afterlife.

[2] Additionally, Nehebkau is said to have served the dead Kings in this period: providing food,[7] transmitting messages[7] and intervening with other deities on their behalf.

[1] Nehebkau eventually assumed Re's role in the afterlife:[2] becoming "the King of Heaven and ruler of the Two Lands"[10] and bestowing crowns, ka and other desirable qualities upon the spirits of the deceased.

[1] She was depicted as a goddess holding an infant, with a distinguishing headdress shaped like a sistrum - an Ancient Egyptian musical instrument.

However, early texts and mythologies usually represented Nehebkau as a full serpent[1] with a long body and multiple coils.

[2] Egyptologist Magali Massiera suggests that the two heads could be a representation of his dual good and evil nature,[9] as well as his ability to simultaneously attack from two directions at once.

[11] Although there was no specific priesthood associated with Nehebkau,[9] scholars including Wilkinson consider it likely that he was widely worshipped in popular religion.

[9] Nehebkau was also often associated with the Great Temple of Heliopolis, where he may have had a funerary chapel, as well as a statue that dates back to the reign of King Ramses II.

[12] Kalloniatis also associates these amulets with Nehebkau's ability to sustain ka in spirits and nourish the deceased with food and drink in the afterlife.

[15] The festival is believed by researcher Sharon LaBorde to have been a feast celebrating redemption and rebirth; potentially associated with the lion goddess Sekhmet.