Nut is the Egyptian Sky Goddess as well as the sister and lover of Geb, the Earth God, and the mother of Osiris and Isis. She is one of the most ancient deities in Egyptian mythology. As sky Goddess, her primary role is receiving and protecting the dead. She is also the Mother of the Stars and the Mother of the Sun (Hallam 52). She also has three primary depictions. In the first, she is shown with blue skin, her wings outstretched and a star-studded bosom. In the second she is seen in human form with yellow skin, lying down outstretched or arching over the earth. In the third, she is depicted as a sycamore tree with her body as the trunk and her arms as the limbs.

In the first depiction of Nut, her skin color, her wings, and the stars on her chest are all symbolic. Similar to Isis, her blue skin color represents life and rebirth, and her outstretched wings represent her protection of the dead. The stars on her bosom are what distinguish her from Isis (along with the absence of a headdress). The stars symbolize two things. First, they represent Nut's association with the Heavens. The Cosmos, and particularly the Milky Way, were believed to be the body of Nut (Lesko 25). Second, the stars represent the dead because the Egyptians believed that after death, the human's souls went to the Heavens to become stars (Lesko 27). In this way, the stars on her chest symbolize Nut welcoming the dead into her realm.

When Nut is portrayed in human form, her yellow skin, her braided hair, her nudity, and the positioning of her body all symbolize different aspects of her. As with Isis, the yellow skin represents her immortality. Unlike Isis, her light skin also symbolizes the stars in the sky. It is rare for Egyptian deities to be depicted as nude. Nut is an exception because she is depicted nude because she is about to give birth. In this way, her nudity represents her motherhood, as does her braided hair (women in labor often braided their hair to keep it out of the way) (Lesko 28). As such, she can be viewed as the archetype of the mother, who gives birth to all things. Nut is often portrayed as bending over the earth with her fingertips on one horizon and her toes on the other. This is symbolic of her role as the embodiment of the Heavens (Lesko 28). In these images she stands impassive, "with the sun boats of night and day sailing just beneath her belly" (Baring & Cashford 256). This image then symbolizes the power of Nut over both the Sun and the Moon. It also reinforces her connection to her husband Geb, the God of the Earth. The reclining form of Nut shows her lying down, fully outstretched.

The final depiction of Nut is of the goddess as a sycamore tree with the trunk as her body and the limbs as her arms. The sycamore represented the cosmos in Egyptian art, and due to this, Nut is here imaged as the universe. Often in these depictions, she is shown reaching out from the tree "to offer the deceased food and water" (Wilkinson 90). In this way, the tree symbolizes Nut's protection of the dead and the blessings she bestows upon them. This also reinforces Nut's association with the coffin, which was commonly made of wood (Lesko 43).

Clearly, the depictions of both Isis and Nut in Egyptian art heavily rely upon symbols to convey aspects of the goddesses and beliefs about the goddesses. This use of symbolism is all-encompassing, affecting every detail of the work-from the color of their skin, to the clothes they wear (or don't wear) and the gestures they perform. In addition to this, there are more concrete symbols included in the works such as the sistrum of Isis or the stars of Nut, which add layers of meaning to the work. Collectively, all the symbols work together to reinforce the Goddesses' roles and their power.