Unlike most world religions, which envisioned the earth as a great mother with the sky father overhead, for the Egyptians, the earth was masculine. As part of the Ennead of Heliopolis, the earth god Geb was one of the primordial gods who formed the world and allowed for creation. He was married to his sister,... Continue Reading →

The ancient Egyptians envisioned the sky as the goddess Nut, arching over the earth below, her nude body covered in stars. She was one of the gods of the Enneas of Heliopolis and was the great mother in their creation myth. Nut is an enigma in mythology, in which the mother is usually the earth... Continue Reading →

Tefnut was one of the goddesses who formed part of the Ennead of Heliopolis, a group of nine gods believed to be responsible for creation that were principally worshipped at Iuna, known by the Greeks as Heliopolis. The popularity of this creation myth and its gods spread to other parts of Egypt as Heliopolis grew... Continue Reading →

Shu was one of the important primordial gods in the Ennead of Heliopolis, the group of gods principally worshipped at the city of Heliopolis, the Greek name for the Egyptian city of Iunu, at the 13th Nome of Lower Egypt. Different gods and different mythologies rose in importance depending on the political significance of their... Continue Reading →

Several creation myths survive from ancient Egypt, as different myths that emerged in different regions that were then loosely brought together when the country was unified under the pharaohs. One of the most enduring creation myths was that of the Ennead of Heliopolis. It features the god Nun, or Nu, as the primordial waters that... Continue Reading →

Atum was one of the primordial gods who formed part of the Ennead of Heliopolis, a group of nine gods that formed part of one of Egypt’s creation myths. Heliopolis is the Greek name for the city that the Egyptians called Iunu, meaning pillars and referring to the mythical creation mound. He was also important... Continue Reading →

Ra, or Re, was the most important of the various Egyptian gods associated with the sun. He was associated with the noon-day sun, when it was at its height in the sky, rather than the rising or setting sun. But it was also Ra who drove the sun barge through the underworld each night and... Continue Reading →

Khnum was one of the earliest known Egyptian deities, closely associated with the flooding of the Nile, the river that brought life to the Nile valley and the Egyptian people with its annual flood. As an extension of his role of bringing life to the land of Egypt, he became known as the creator of... Continue Reading →

While the Nile River was a source of life in ancient Egypt that nourished the land, it was also dangerous. Few things represented that danger more than the Nile crocodile, who actively hunt humans and still kills hundreds each year. In early Egyptian animistic religion, the Nile crocodile was a dangerous deity to be appeased,... Continue Reading →