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 city. The Ennead of Heliopolis was important from the Old Kingdom, around 2686-2181 BCE, when the creation myth became central to Egyptian religion. It rose again during the New Kingdom from 1500-1070 BCE, when Ra, also venerated at Heliopolis, was made part of the Ennead as Atum-Ra.
The Creation Myth
According to the Heliopolitan creation story, in the beginning, all that existed was the primordial waters of Nun. Atum then emerged from those waters and began creation, first creating Shu, air, and Tefnut, moisture, either by masturbating or spitting.
In the Coffin Texts, early in creation, Atum has a conversation with Nun in which he implies that his child gods are already within him and are attributes of him that give him life. Their birth is better seen as a separation from Atum. Shu is described as the life that makes Atum’s heart beat and his mind function. Tefnut is the breath that Atum inhales to wake to consciousness. After this consciousness, Shu expands with Atum to create a void filled with air, allowing Atum to self-create the cosmos from within his body.
Shu was then the father of Nut, the sky, and Geb, the earth. These were the primordial gods that embodied the world, and Nut and Geb gave birth to the more familiar gods, Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nephthys.
Some versions of the myth say that Shu separated Nut and Geb during the act of lovemaking, which was necessary; otherwise, there would be no way for this new form of divine life to emerge. But this act also created duality: above and below, light and dark, good and evil. This also made Shu the god who gave breath to all life.
Osiris became the ruler of the world with his sister wife Isis, while Seth was the god of the desert with his sister-wife Nephthys. Jealous of his brother, Seth killed Osiris and usurped his position. Isis, with the help of his sister Nephthys, managed to revive Osiris for Isis to impregnate herself with their son Horus. Osiris was unable to return to the world of the living, so Isis created the underworld for him to rule. Meanwhile, Horus challenged his uncle Seth and became the ruler of the world.
God of the Air
Shu was the god of the air, considered the dry, cooling, and calming parts of the air, with Tefnut representing moisture and therefore humidity.
His position between the earth and the sky meant that he was also sometimes considered the wind. The Pillars of Shu hold the sky up above the earth. The Coffin Texts have Shu describe himself: “I am Shu… my clothing is the air… my skin is the pressure of the wind.” The Greeks associated Shu with Atlas, the Titan who held up the sky.
While Shu was not the sun, embodied by Atum and Ra, he was considered to be the sunlight in the sky. He is sometimes depicted on Ra’s sun barge, helping protect it from the god Apophis. Some traditions say that Shu closes the entrance to the underworld at sunrise as the barque emerges.
One myth from the Old Kingdom suggested that a terrible storm was created by Shu and Tefnut fighting, causing Tefnut to leave Egypt for Nubia. Shu tried to get her back, but she changed into a cat and destroyed any man or god that tried to approach her on his behalf. Fortunately, Thoth, the god of wisdom, eventually convinced her to return.
Chthonic God
Nevertheless, fog and clouds were associated with Shy and sometimes called his bones. They represented a ladder that could be used to reach the underworld. In the Pyramid Texts, the deceased pharaoh is purified in the lakes of Shu, probably meaning mist, and will climb up to heaven on his bones, presumably the clouds. In the Coffin Texts, there are six spells that associate Shu with life and express the hope that Shu will be able to breathe life into the dead in the afterlife.
Healing and Protection
As a breather of life, Shu was also considered a healing god and was included in many healing prayers and spells. He was also sometimes asked to protect against demons. Since air penetrates all empty space, Shu was seen to touch everything and have wide-reaching powers. Amulets representing Shu are relatively common.
God of Cyclical Time
Shu was also the god of eternal time. The Egyptians had two concepts of time. There was Djet, time at a standstill, which are the kinds of things that remain perpetually the same, such as mummies or stone buildings. This type of time was represented by Tefnut. Then there is cyclical time, called Neheh, which sees repeating cycles, such as that of birth, death, and renewal. This was Shu’s time.
Kingship
The gods of the Ennead were also associated with kingship and the transfer of power between generations. Gods are immortals. Why do pharaohs die and get replaced?
In versions of the Ennead myth, Atum was the first divine king. He abdicates and passes power to his son Shu, who in turn abdicates for Geb, who abdicates for Osiris, and so on. This abdication represents the transfer of power at the death of the pharaoh. But because the pharaoh is a god, he does not die per se, but lives with the gods in the afterlife.
This also formed the basis for incestuous royal marriages, with brother-sister marriages the basis of the Ennead. This may explain why they rose in popularity during the Ptolemaic period, when family marriages were common to maintain power within the usurping Macedonian dynasty. Incestuous marriages was not common among common Egyptians, as it was something reserved for the divine.
Appearance and Symbolism
Shu was often depicted as the air between the earth and the sky, holding them apart. Sometimes there are eight smaller gods helping him, known as the Heh gods.
Shu was also depicted as a man wearing an ostrich feather, or sometimes up to four feathers. In this way, he was connected with Ma’at, divine balance, which was also represented by an ostrich feather. This was a symbol of lightness and “emptiness.” He carried a Was secpter representing power and an Ankh, the symbol of life.
Shu is sometimes included among the gods that defend Ra’s sun barge from Apophis each night. In this context, he sometimes appears as a man with the head of a lion. He and Tefnut were sometimes depicted together as a pair of lion cubs. In this form, they are sometimes considered the Eyes of Ra.
Interestingly, Shu and Tefnut were some of the few gods besides the sun disk Aten to be depicted during the period of Akhenaten. The pharaoh and his wife Nefertiti were sometimes depicted as Shu and Tefnut, replacing associations of the pharaoh with other gods such as Horus and Ra.
There is no record of temples dedicated to Shu, which was common for the primordial gods. They were seen as more remote divine personifications, whereas younger gods such as Osiris and Isis were seen as more active.
That said, the city of Iunat, also known as Dendera, had a part of the city called the “House of Shu,” and at Djeba, there was a place called the “Seat of Shu.”
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