The Egyptian deity associated with the scorpion and protection of the dead is Selket. She was a goddess of protection, healing, and venom, commonly shown as a woman wearing a scorpion on her head.
Because scorpion stings and snakebites were serious dangers in Egypt, Selket was invoked to neutralize poison and safeguard the vulnerable. Her protective role extended into funerary religion: she guarded the embalming process and was linked with the canopic equipment used to preserve a deceased person’s organs. She also protected Qebehsenuef, one of the four sons of Horus.
Selket’s name appears in several English forms, including Serket, Serqet, and Selkis. These are variant renderings of the same goddess, not separate deities. She is also sometimes confused with Isis or Nephthys, who shared protective funerary functions; however, the scorpion emblem is the clearest clue identifying Selket.