Depiction of El Naddaha
El Naddaha (Arabic: النداهة) ("the caller"), also known as the Egyptian siren, is a Naiad like water jinn believed to inhabit the Nile River in Egypt. This spirit appears as a beautiful woman who calls men to the Nile, most likely to their death or disappearance.
History[]
The origin and the exact place in Egypt where the legend originated are unknown. Prior to the introduction of Islam, in Ancient Egyptian mythology, numerous water spirits and deities governed the Nile River, such as Anuket, goddess of the Nile and nourisher of the fields, Bairthy, goddess of water and was depicted with a small pitcher balanced on her head, holding a long spear-like sceptre, Nephthys, goddess of rivers, death, mourning, the dead, and night, Satet, goddess of the Nile River's floods and Tefnut, goddess of water, moisture, and fertility.
The modern legend of El Naddaha grew to popularity in the 1950s, when stories involving the Nile grew to be more menacing and gloomy.
The Legend[]
El Naddaha is typically spotted around the shores of the Nile during the cycle of the full moon. She appears as a very beautiful, tall woman with long, flowing black hair, and wears long transparent dresses. As expected from sea nymph, she lives in a water cavern on the banks of the Nile Delta.
She leaves her water cavern to wait on the shore for a man to come along the shores of the Nile. El Naddaha hunts men one by one, and normally will only call for a man on his own. To grasp the attention of the man, she calls to him in a hypnotizing and soft voice. This voice compels the man to follow her into the river, where they will meet an unfortunate fate of either drowning or swimming to their deaths. When the night ends, she returns to her cavern and awaits for the next night to repeat the process again.
Io, the Greek Naiad who swam to Egypt[]
In Greek Mythology, the Naiad Io was the daughter of the Greek river god Inachus. According to legend, she swam to Egypt and was worshipped by the Egyptians as the goddess Isis.