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Egyptian myths. Egyptian creation. In the beginning there was water. The water of creation. From the water emerged Atum, the creator god. Eventually he spit out two children: Shu, the god of air, and Tefenet, goddess of moisture. They went off to explore, and Atum couldn’t find them.
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Egyptian creation • In the beginning there was water. The water of creation
From the water emerged Atum, the creator god. Eventually he spit out two children: Shu, the god of air, and Tefenet, goddess of moisture. They went off to explore, and Atum couldn’t find them.
Atum sent his daughter, a fiery goddess called Atum’s divine Eye to see if she could find them. She brought them back, and Atum cried tears of joy. Atum’s tears turned into the first humans.
Shu and Tefenet had two children: Nut, the sky goddess and Geb, the earth god. • They fell in love, and embraced so tightly there was no room between them. • Nut got pregnant, but there was no room for her children to be born.
Their father, Shu, the air god, separated them and held Nut high above the earth. This made room for living creatures to breathe. • Water surrounded the earth and sky. Every night Nut swallowed the sun, every morning she gave birth to it again.
Nut had two pairs of twins. • Osiris and Isis who fell in love with each other in the womb. Osiris and Isis married. • Osiris was born first, so he was destined to rule.
Nephthys and Seth were the other twins. Nephthys and Seth were married, but Nephthys hated her brother/husband.
The Egyptians’ Creator Gods 1. Atum 2. Amon-Ra 3. Khnum 4. Ptah
Amon-Ra is a fusion of the fertility god Amon and the sun god Ra. In one story he takes the form of a goose and laid the cosmic egg from which life came. In another, he emerged from the primordial chaos in the form of the snake, just like Atum.
Khnum controlled the yearly rising of the Nile. His sacred animal was the ram. He was a potter. He made humans and animals out of clay and breathed life into their bodies. He has a man’s body and ram’s head.
Ptah was worshipped at Memphis. He was considered the god who existed at the beginning of time and created everything. He created all gods by thinking of them and speaking their names out loud. • He made kings and gods from gold • and other metals.
Atum had both male and female attributes. Sometimes called Ra-Atum. • Represented the evening sun that returned to Nut’s womb.
Major Egyptian gods and goddesses Ra, the sun god, was born from Nut every day at dawn, grew up by noon, and was old by evening when he went to the underworld for the night. He took the sun over the sky in a boat. He often took the form of a dung beetle.
Major Egyptian gods and goddesses Isis is sister/wife to Osiris and mother to Horus. One of Egypt’s earliest goddesses.
Major Egyptian gods and goddesses • Osiris ruled the underworld and was the first mummy. Seth murdered him to take his throne, and Isis mummified him. He was also the god of agriculture.
Major Egyptian gods and goddesses • Seth murdered his brother, Osiris, and eventually became the god of storms. He had a lengthy disagreement with his sister Isis and her son, Horus, because he wanted to be the king of the living.
Other deities • Thoth was the moon god. He was depicted as a baboon, an ibis, or a man. He was associated with secret magical powers, many of which were written down in the mythical Book of Thoth. (Thoth is kind of equivalent to Hermes in Greek mythology)
Other deities • Anubis had the head of a jackal. He received the souls of the dead people and led them through the many trials the soul had to pass before reaching Osiris and paradise.
Other deities • Hathor was the goddess of lovers, fertility, and birth, and also the wife of the sun god. She had the shape of the cow. (Isis also had cow-like aspects; the cow was a common symbol for the life-giving female.) She nursed kings from her udder. Women wore amulets (charms) from her sanctuary to prevent prolonged labor.
Other deities • Sekhmet the “Powerful One,” was a lioness goddess. She killed rebellious humans for the sun god. Sometimes criminals were sacrificed to her.
Other deities • Bastet the cat goddess was the patron of love, sex, and fertility. She started out as a lioness like Sekhmet, but got milder as time went on and turned into a gentler kitty cat.
Other deities • Bes was a fat dwarf with the mane and tail of a lion. His tongue stuck out as a warning to enemies. He was the special helper for women in labor and safeguarded young children. People put his image on furniture and wore him as amulets around their necks to ward off demons.
Other deities • Selket was the scorpion goddess, was a guardian of the living and the dead.
Credits… • http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/gods/explore/main.html • Mythology for Dummies