Already during the Old Kingdom Aset was known from the Pyramid Texts and the Heliopolitan Creation Myth where she was the sister-spouse and mourner of Wesir (Gr: Osiris), sister of Nebt-Het (Gr: Nephtys) and Set, all of them children of Geb and Nut of the Heliopolitan Ennead. These two, Geb and Nut in their turn were the children of Shu and Tefnut , who were created by Atum , the Creator God. Further she was the mother of Heru (Gr: Horus), the child and heir of Wesir (Gr: Osiris) whom she helped to the throne of Egypt.

During the Old Kingdom only kings could gain eternal life after death and therefore their tombs were inscribed with texts supporting their rebirth and their transformation into Wesir. During the 1st Intermediate, other ideas and habits slowly took form, preparing the way for a 'democratisation' of funerary habits.

In the Middle Kingdom the popularity of Aset rose among the common people, along with that of her husband, Wesir (Osiris). This was an effect of the democratisation of funeral habits and the concept of the Afterlife that followed in the wake of the weakening of Pharaonic power during the 1st Intermediate. No doubt Aset also appealed to women, as the archetypal widow and single mother who took care of her child. She was however still as much connected to Royalty as the symbolical mother of the King.

During the Middle Kingdom everyone who could afford, supplied either a wooden coffin inscribed with texts, or a roll of papyrus, which would assure his entry into the realms of Wesir. During this period the cult of Aset is attested to at Hierakonpolis, Edfu, Akhmim and Koptos. It seems though that already at this time people were drawn to Aset as a deity who was familiar with suffering, even though archaeology sofar knows of few temples dedicated to her.

After the 2nd Intermediate, during the New Kingdom, references to Aset are more frequent. In the Hall of Judgment She assists her husband or sits in the council of deities who judge the deceased. One could perhaps ascribe Aset´s part in these judgments to the heightened power of women in the royal family of the 18th Dynasty. In the 19th Dynasty she was worshipped at Gebtu (Gr: Koptos) north of Luxor and also in the southern areas of Nubia there were temples built to her during the reign of Ramesses II. She was here even called the Mistress of Nubia.

Sometime during this period Aset and Het-Hert (Gr: Hathor) began to merge. This was probably due to their respective interpretations as Mother goddesses. Het-Hert had already in the Pre-Dynastic days been seen as the Mother of the Falcon god Heru. They were depicted in the same way, both wearing the horned solar disc, and could only be identified, not by their iconography, but by their differing hieroglyphs.