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, the sky goddess Nut, and together they gave birth to some of Egypt’s most important gods. The earth itself was often called the House of Geb.
Geb and Creation
According to the creation myth popular at Iuna, an Egyptian city known as Heliopolis to the Greeks, in the beginning, there was nothing but the great primordial water of Nun. Over time, the primordial mound Benben emerged from the waters, and Atum, a sun god closely associated with Ra as Atum-Ra, was able to create himself.
Atum then created Shu and Tefnut, air and moisture, and they mated, giving birth to Geb and Nut, the earth and sky. As was common in ancient Egyptian mythology, this brother and sister pair also became husband and wife. Nut became pregnant, but there was no space in the universe for her to give birth. Shu entered and separated his children, holding Nut high above Geb below. This created the world and allowed Nut to give birth to their children, the gods Osiris, Isis, Seth, Nephthys, and Horus the Elder.
Like all the gods of the Ennead, in some stories, Geb was considered part of the line of kingship, with Atum-Ra serving as Egypt’s first king, who then retired and was replaced by his son Shu, who then retired and was succeeded by Geb. Some stories suggest that Geb actually usurped his father’s throne following a period of conflict between the two, while others skip over Shu and make Geb the heir of Atum-Ra.
Geb also retired and was succeeded by Osiris. He was then killed by his jealous brother Seth, who usurped his position. Isis was able to use her magic to bring her husband back to life and impregnate herself. He was still not able to return fully to the world of the living, so she created the underworld for him to rule. She then gave birth to Horus the Younger, who challenged his uncle Seth and claimed his father’s throne. The living pharaoh was considered an incarnation of Horus.
Geb reportedly supported Horus in the conflict with Seth, which is why the pharaoh was sometimes called the Heir of Geb. This may explain why the throne of the pharaoh was often called the Throne of Geb.
Father Earth
Geb was the personification of the earth, both the fertile lands near the Nile and the desolate lands of the desert. In the earliest times, the dead were believed to dwell in the desert, which made Geb a Chthonic god. He was sometimes described as opening his jaws to devour those who did not deserve to travel to the underworld of Osiris. In this context, Geb sometimes carried a jackal-headed stave. Jackals were associated with the dead because they tend to prowl around cemeteries. This is why Anubis, the god of mummification, was depicted as a jackal.
He was also associated with vegetation, and was sometimes shown with barley growing on his ribs and other green patches on his body. As the earth, Geb was often viewed as the father of snakes, which slither along the earth. In the Coffin Text, he was described as the father of the mythological snake Nehebkau in primordial times.
The mother of this snake was Renenutet (I suppose he was eternally separated from Nut), a minor goddess of the harvest and the mythological caretaker of the young pharaoh, who was represented in the shape of a cobra. As well as being associated with the earth, snakes are generally associated with healing, as was Geb.
As the earth, it was believed that earthquakes were caused by the laughter of Geb, and that he provided the minerals and precious stones found on the earth and prized by the Egyptians. His weeping after being separated from Nut caused the oceans and seas of the world.
Appearance and Symbolism
The earliest known representation of Geb comes from the reign of Djoser, of Step Pyramid fame, during the third dynasty. He appeared as a man with the fake beard of kings, with a goose on his head. This was a link to creation, as some mythologies suggested that a divine goose laid the world egg from which creation emerged.
This same man was often depicted lying on the ground, with Nut arching overhead and the two separated by their father, Shu. He is sometimes shown with his phallus still pointing up towards Nut.
Geb was also sometimes depicted in animal form, as a ram, bull, or crocodile. He was also sometimes depicted as a man with the head of a snake.
Geb as Cronus
As the Greeks came into contact with Egypt and took over the rule of the country after Alexander the Great, they linked the Egyptian gods to their own more familiar deities.
Geb was associated with Cronus, the Greek titan who was the father of the Olympian gods. But he feared being overthrown by his sons, so he swallowed each of his children as they were born. That was until his final son, Zeus. His wife, Rhea, gave her husband a rock to eat in Zeus’ place and sent him away to grow in secret. Zeus then returned, forced his father to vomit up his siblings, and overthrew the Titans.
At the Egyptian city of Tebtunis, in the Fayyum, Geb is clearly associated with Cronus at the temple of Sobek. He is depicted with the attributes of Cronus, nd the priests alternatively called themselves priests Soknebtunis-Geb and Soknebtunis-Cronus.
While Geb had no dedicated temples in Egypt, Edfu was called the “Aat of Geb,” and Dendera was known as the home of the children of Geb.
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