Knowledge goddesses

thumb|Muse, perhaps Clio, reading a scroll (Attic red-figure [[lekythos, Boeotia, )]] In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses (, ; singular: , Moúsa, ; , ) were the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric songs, and myths that were related orally for centuries in ancient Greek culture.

Saraswati (, ), also spelled as Sarasvati, is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of knowledge, education, learning, arts, speech, poetry, music, creativity, purification, language and culture. Together with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati, she forms the trinity of chief goddesses, known as the Tridevi. Saraswati is a pan-Indian deity, venerated not only in Hinduism but also in Jainism and Buddhism.

Seshat (, under various spellings) was the ancient Egyptian goddess of writing, wisdom, and knowledge. She was seen as a scribe and record keeper. She was also credited with inventing writing. She became identified as the goddess of measurement, accounting, architecture, science, astronomy, mathematics, geometry, history and surveying. She was variously depicted as the wife, daughter, or feminine counterpart of Thoth, who was also associated with knowledge, astronomy, measurement, and writing.''''''

In Greek mythology, Peitho ( or 'winning eloquence') is the personification of persuasion. She is a goddess of charming speech. She is typically presented as an important companion of Aphrodite. Her opposite is Bia, the personification of force. As a personification, she was sometimes imagined as a goddess and sometimes an abstract power with her name used both as a common and proper noun. There is evidence that Peitho was referred to as a goddess before she was referred to as an abstract concept, which is rare for a personification. Peitho represents both sexual and political persuasion. She

thumb|300px|Detail of the Gefion Fountain (1908) by [[Anders Bundgaard]] In Norse mythology, Gefjon (Old Norse: ; alternatively spelled Gefion, or Gefjun , pronounced without secondary syllable stress) is a goddess associated with ploughing, the Danish island of Zealand, the legendary Swedish king Gylfi, the legendary Danish king Skjöldr, foreknowledge, her oxen children, and virginity. Gefjon is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; the Prose Edda and Heimskringla, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson; in the works of skalds; an

or simply Benten is an East Asian Buddhist goddess who originated from the Hindu Saraswati, the patroness of speech, the arts, and learning.

Matangi (, ) is a Hindu goddess. She is one of the Mahavidyas, ten Tantric goddesses and an aspect of the Hindu Divine Mother. She is considered to be the Tantric form of Sarasvati, the goddess of music and learning. Matangi governs speech, music, knowledge and the arts. Her worship is prescribed to acquire supernatural powers, especially gaining control over enemies, attracting people to oneself, acquiring mastery over the arts and gaining supreme knowledge.

In ancient Gallo-Roman religion Angerona or Angeronia was an old Celtic goddess adopted by Romans, whose name and functions are variously explained. She is sometimes identified with the goddess Feronia.

Nisaba was the Mesopotamian goddess of writing and grain. She is one of the oldest Sumerian deities attested in writing, and remained prominent through many periods of Mesopotamian history. She was commonly worshiped by scribes, and numerous Sumerian texts end with the doxology "praise to Nisaba" as a result. She declined after the Old Babylonian period due to the rise of the new scribe god, Nabu, though she did not fully vanish from Mesopotamian religion and attestations from as late as the neo-Babylonian period are known.

thumb|Shrine to Oshun in the Osun-Osogbo|Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove

In Greek mythology, Idyia () or Eidyia (; ) was a daughter of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, and queen to Aeëtes, king of Colchis. She was the mother of Medea, Chalciope and Absyrtus. According to Apollonius of Rhodes, she was the youngest of the Oceanides. Her name means "the fair-faced" or "the knowing one" derived from the Greek word () meaning "to see" or "to know".

Reitia (Venetic: 𐌓𐌄:𐌉:𐌕𐌉:𐌀) was a goddess, one of the best known deities of the Adriatic Veneti of northeastern Italy.

Ninimma was a Mesopotamian goddess best known as a courtier of Enlil. She is well attested as a deity associated with scribal arts, and is variously described as a divine scholar, scribe or librarian by modern Assyriologists. She could also serve as an assistant of the birth goddess Ninmah, and a hymn describes her partaking in cutting of umbilical cords and determination of fates. It has also been suggested that she was associated with vegetation. In the Middle Babylonian period she additionally came to be viewed as a healing deity.