A goddess is a female deity. Many cultures have goddesses. Often deities are part of a polytheistic system that includes several deities in a pantheon. The historical records from Ancient Egypt, among the earliest known, designate a deity with special hieroglyphs that preced the name. The earliest Egyptian hieroglyph for a goddess is shown to the right.

Pantheons, those deities worshiped in one culture, may include goddesses, gods, and in some cases, abstract concepts. An abstract concept as a deity may indicate a principle or entity that is not seen as in any way resembling a human or an animal, although it may be believed to be capable of some sort of cognitive activity affecting the lives of humans that may be benevolent or malicious. In both ancient and modern cultures, the symbolism of deities assigned a gender may be open to a wide variety of interpretations.

The primacy of a monotheistic or near-monotheistic goddess is advocated by some modern matriarchists and pantheistsWho: date=July 2007 as a female version of, preceding, or analogue to, the Abrahamic god thought to be the first monotheistic religion among those of historical record. In some feminist circles the Abrahamic god is perceived as being rooted in the patriarchal concept of dominance  to the exclusion of feminine concepts.

Among some duotheists, such as Wiccans, the primary deities are one goddess and one god, who are seen as together making up a larger whole that is both the transcendent divine and the substance of all creation.Fact: date=February 2007

African religions

Ancient Egypt

Among the earliest of historically documented goddesses are those of Ancient Egypt. The earliest deities of the two cultures that became the united country of Egypt had religions that seem to have begun with goddess worship and evolved to paired deities and abstract concepts as well.

Nubia

Many goddesses are documented in the Nubian historical records. Some of their religious practices were imported into Ancient Egypt, however, the Nubians had an ancient tradition that preceded its contact with Egypt, and that reflected closer ties to the cultures around the Sahara desert.

Saharan area

Many goddesses wielded extensive power among the deities of the cultural groups who lived south and west of the Sahara Desert in Africa.

Southern Africa

The goddesses of southern Africa often were represented as a triad and many carvings.

Australian native religions

Hinduism

main: Shakti See also: Hindu views on God and gender, List of Hindu goddesses, Mahavidya, Ashta Lakshmi, Navadurga