Nephthys, the "Friend of the Dead," is first seen in the funerary literature of the Old Kingdom riding the "night boat" of the underworld, meeting the deceased king's spirit at the crossing and accompanying him into "Lightland."

Her hair is metaphorically compared to mummy-swathings, the strips of bandages which wind about the bodies of the dead.

Nephthys' crown is a stylized representation of Her name in hieroglyphics.

Nephthys was associated with funerary rituals throughout Egyptian history and was venerated not as Death itself, but as the companion who gives guidance to the newly deceased in the transition period, and as the "Lady With Wings" who comforts the deceased's living relatives.

She is in most myths the youngest daughter of Nut, sister of Isis and Osiris and the sister/consort of Set. In later periods Nephthys is also considered the mother of Anubis. As far as we know Nephthys did not have her own cult or temples in Egypt until the Ptolmaic-Roman period. However, since Her name is merely a title (the same title given to the eldest woman in any Egyptian household), it is possible that Nephthys may be a specialized form of another Goddess.

Nephthys was often paired with Isis on the funerary canopic shrine (which held the mummified internal organs).