Egyptian Creation Myths

Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

There were at least three separate cosmogenies in Egyptian mythology,

• The Ennead, in which Atum arose from the primordial waters (Neith),
and masturbated to relieve his loneliness. His semen and breath became
Tefnut (moisture) and Shu (dryness), respectively. From Shu and Tefnut,
were born Geb (earth), and Nut (sky), who were born in a state of
permanent copulation. Shu separated them, and their children were
Ausare (Osiris; death), Set (desert), Aset (Isis; life), and Nebet Het
(Nephthys; fertile land). Osiris and Isis were a couple, as were Nepthys
and Set.
• The Ogdoad, in which Ra arose, either in an egg, or a blue lotus, as a
result of the creative interaction between the primordial forces of
Nu/Naunet (water), Amun/Amunet (air), Kuk/Kauket (darkness), and
Huh/Hauhet (eternity). Ra then created Hathor, his wife, with whom they
had a son, Hor (Horus; in the form known as Horus the Elder), who was
married to Isis. This cosmogeny also includes Anupu (Anubis) as lord of
the dead, amongst others.

Over time, the rival groups gradually merged, Ra and Atum were identified as
the same god, making Atum's mysterious creation actually due to the Ogdoad,
and Ra having the children Shu and Tefnut, etc. In consequence, Anubis was
identified as a son of Osiris, as was Horus. Amun's role was later thought much
greater, and for a time, he became chief god, although he eventually became
considered a manifestation of Ra.
For a time, Ra and Horus were identified as one another, and when the Aten
monotheism was unsuccessfully introduced, it was Ra-Horus who was thought
of as the Aten, and the consequent cosmogony this inspired. Later, Osiris' cult
became more popular, and he became the main god, being identified as a form
of Ptah. Eventually, all the gods were thought of as aspects of Osiris, Isis,
Horus, or Set (who was by now a villain), indeed, Horus and Osiris had started
to become thought of as the same god. Ptah eventually was identified as Osiris.

Creational Myths

In the beginning, before there was any land of Egypt, all was darkness, and
there was nothing but a great waste of water called Nun. The power of Nun was
such that there arose out of the darkness a great shining egg, and this was Re.
He was all-powerful, and he could take many forms. His power and the secret
of it lay in his hidden name; but if he spoke other names, that which he named
came into being.

"I am Khepera at the dawn, and Re at noon, and Tem in the evening," he said.
And the sun rose and passed across the sky and set for the first time.

Then he named Shu, and the first winds blew; he named Tefnut the spitter, and
the first rain fell. Next he named Geb, and the earth came into being; he named
the goddess Nut, and she was the sky arched over the earth with her feet on one
horizon and her hands on the other; he named Hapi, and the great River Nile
flowed through Egypt and made it fruitful.

After this Re named all things that are upon the earth, and they grew. Last of all
he named mankind, and there were men and women in the land of Egypt.

Then Re took on the shape of a man and became the first Pharaoh, ruling over
the whole country for thousands and thousands of years, and giving such
harvests that for ever afterwards the Egyptians spoke of the good things "which
happened in the time of Re".

But, being in the form of a man, Re grew old. In time men no longer feared him
or obeyed his laws. They laughed at him, saying: "Look at Re! His bones are
like silver, his flesh like gold, his hair is the colour of lapis lazuli!"

Re was angry when he heard this, and he was more angry still at the evil deeds
which men were doing in disobedience to his laws. So he called together the
gods whom he had made - Shu and Tefnut and Geb and Nut - and he also
summoned Nun. Soon the gods gathered about Re in his Secret Place, and the
goddesses also. But mankind knew nothing of what was happening, and
continued to jeer at Re and to break his commandments. Then Re spoke to Nun
before the assembled gods: "Eldest of the gods, you who made me; and you
gods whom I have made: look upon mankind who came into being at a glance
of my Eye. See how men plot against me; hear what they say of me; tell me
what I should do to them. For I will not destroy mankind until I have heard
what you advise."

Then Nun said: "My son Re, the god greater than he who made him and
mightier than those whom he has created, turn your mighty Eye upon them and
send destruction upon them in the form of your daughter, the goddess
Sekhmet."

Re answered: "Even now fear is falling upon them and they are fleeing into the
desert and hiding themselves in the mountains in terror at the sound of my
voice."

"Send against them the glance of your Eye in the form Sekhmet!" cried all the
other gods and goddesses, bowing before Re until their foreheads touched the
ground.

So at the terrible glance from the Eye of Re his daughter Sekhmet came into
being, the fiercest of all goddesses. Like a lion she rushed upon her prey, and
her chief delight was in slaughter, and her pleasure was in blood.

At the bidding of Re she came into Upper and Lower Egypt to slay those who
had scorned and disobeyed him: she killed them among the mountains which
lie on either side of the Nile, and down beside the river, and in the burning
deserts. All whom she saw she slew, rejoicing in slaughter and the taste of
blood.

Presently Re looked out over the land and saw what Sekhmet had done. Then
he called to her, saying: "Come, my daughter, and tell me how you have
obeyed my commands."

Sekhmet answered with the terrible voice of a lioness as she tears her prey: "By
the life which you have given me, I have indeed done vengeance on mankind,
and my heart rejoices."

Now for many nights the Nile ran red with blood, and Sekhmet's feet were red
as she went hither and thither through all the land of Egypt slaying and slaying.
Presently Re looked out over the earth once more, and now his heart was stirred
with pity for men, even though they had rebelled against him. But none could
stop the cruel goddess Sekhmet, not even Re himself: she must cease from
slaying of her own accord -and Re saw that this could only come about through
cunning.

So he gave his command: "Bring before me swift messengers who will run
upon the earth as silently as shadows and with the speed of the storm winds."
When these were brought he said to them: "Go as fast as you can up the Nile to
where it flows fiercely over the rocks and among the islands of the First
Cataract; go to the isle that is called Elephantine and bring from it a great store
of the red ochre which is to be found there."

The messengers sped on their way and returned with the blood-red ochre to
Heliopolis, the city of Re where stand the stone obelisks with points of gold
that are like fingers pointing to the sun. It was night when they came to the city,
but all day the women of Heliopolis had been brewing beer as Re bade them.

Re came to where the beer stood waiting in seven thousand jars, and the gods
came with him to see how by his wisdom he would save mankind.

"Mingle the red ochre of Elephantine with the barley-beer," said Re, and it was
done, so that the beer gleamed red in the moonlight like the blood of men.

"Now take it to the place where Sekhmet proposes to slay men when the sun
rises," said Re. And while it was still night the seven thousand jars of beer were
taken and poured out over the fields so that the ground was covered to the
depth of nine inches -- three times the measure of the palm of a man's hand-
with the strong beer, whose other name is "sleep-maker".

When day came Sekhmet the terrible came also, licking her lips at the thought
of the men whom she would slay. She found the place flooded and no living
creature in sight; but she saw the beer which was the colour of blood, and she
thought it was blood indeed -- the blood of those whom she had slain.

Then she laughed with joy, and her laughter was like the roar of a lioness
hungry for the kill. Thinking that it was indeed blood, she stooped and drank.
Again and yet again she drank, laughing with delight; and the strength of the
beer mounted to her brain, so that she could no longer slay.

At last she came reeling back to where Re was waiting; that day she had not
killed even a single man.
Then Re said: "You come in peace, sweet one." And her name was changed to
Hathor, and her nature was changed also to the sweetness of love and the
strength of desire. And henceforth Hathor laid low men and women only with
the great power of love. But for ever after her priestesses drank in her honour of
the beer of Heliopolis coloured with the red ochre of Elephantine when they
celebrated her festival each New Year.

So mankind was saved, and Re continued to rule old though he was. But the
time was drawing near when he must leave the earth to reign for ever in the
heavens, letting the younger gods rule in his place. For dwelling in the form of
a man, of a Pharaoh of Egypt, Re was losing his wisdom; yet he continued to
reign, and no one could take his power from him, since that power dwelt in his
secret name which none knew but himself. If only anyone could discover his
Name of Power, Re would reign no longer on earth; but only by magic arts was
this possible.

Geb and Nut had children: these were the younger gods whose day had come to
rule, and their names were Osiris and Isis, Nephthys and Seth. Of these Isis was
the wisest: she was cleverer than a million men, her knowledge was greater
than that of a million of the noble dead. She knew all things in heaven and
earth, except only for the Secret Name of Re, and that she now set herself to
learn by guile.

Now Re was growing older every day. As he passed across the land of Egypt
his head shook from side to side with age, his jaw trembled, and he dribbled at
the mouth as do the very old among men. As his spittle fell upon the ground it
made mud, and this Isis took in her hands and kneaded together as if it had
been dough. Then she formed it into the shape of a serpent, making the first
cobra -- the uraeus, which ever after was the symbol of royalty worn by
Pharaoh and his queen.

Isis placed the first cobra in the dust of the road by which Re passed each day
as he went through his two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt. As Re passed
by the cobra bit him and then vanished into the grass. But the venom of its bite
coursed through his veins, and for a while Re was speechless, save for one
great cry of pain which rang across the earth from the eastern to the western
horizon. The gods who followed him crowded round, asking: "What is it? What
ails you?" But he could find no words; his lips trembled and he shuddered in all
his limbs, while the poison spread over his body as the Nile spreads over Egypt
at the inundation.
When at last he could speak, Re said: "Help me, you whom I have made.
Something has hurt me, and I do not know what it is. I created all things, yet
this thing I did not make. It is a pain such as I have never known before, and no
other pain is equal to it. Yet who can hurt me?-for none knows my Secret Name
which is hidden in my heart, giving me all power and guarding me against the
magic of both wizard and witch. Nevertheless as I passed through the world
which I have created, through the two lands that are my special care, something
stung me. It is like fire, yet is not fire; it is like water and not water. I burn and I
shiver, while all my limbs tremble. So call before me all the gods who have
skill in healing and knowledge of magic, and wisdom that reaches to the
heavens."

Then all the gods came to Re, weeping and lamenting at the terrible thing
which had befallen him. With them came Isis, the healer, the queen of magic,
who breathes the breath of life and knows words to revive those who are dying.
And she said:

"What is it, divine father? Has a snake bitten you. Has a creature of your own
creating lifted up its head against you? I will drive it out by the magic that is
mine, and make it tremble and fall down before your glory."

"I went by the usual way through my two lands of Egypt," answered Re, "for I
wished to look upon all that I had made. And as I went I was bitten by a snake
which I did not see -- a snake that, I had not created. Now I burn as if with fire
and shiver as if my veins were filled with water, and the sweat runs down my
face it runs down the faces of men on the hottest days of summer."

"Tell me your Secret Name." said Isis in a sweet, soothing voice. "Tell it me,
divine father; for only by speaking your name in my spells can I cure you."

Then Re spoke the many names that were his: "I am Maker Heaven and Earth."
he said. "I am Builder of the Mountains. I am Source of the Waters throughout
all the world. I am Light and Darkness. I am Creator of the Great River of
Egypt. I am the Kindler of the Fire that burns in the sky; yes, I am Khepera in
the, morning, Re at the noontide, and Tum in the evening."

But Isis said never a word, and the poison had its way in the veins of Re. For
she knew that he had told her only the names which all men knew, and that his
Secret Name, the Name of Power, still lay hidden in his heart.
At last she said: "You know well that the name which I need to learn is not
among those which you have spoken. Come, tell me the Secret Name; for if
you do the poison will come forth and you will have an end of pain."

The poison burned with a great burning, more powerful than any flame of fire,
and Re cried out at last: "Let the Name of Power pass from my heart into the
heart of Isis! But before it does, swear to me that you will tell it to no other
save only the son whom you will have, whose name shall be Horus. And bind
him first with such an oath that the name will remain with him and be passed
on to no other gods or men."

Isis the great magician swore the oath, and the knowledge of the Name of
Power passed from the heart of Re into hers.

Then she said: "By the name which I know, let the poison go from Re for
ever!"

So it passed from him and he had peace. But he reigned upon earth no longer.
Instead he took his place in the high heavens, traveling each day across the sky
in the likeness of the sun itself, and by night crossing the underworld of Amenti
in the Boat of Re and passing through the twelve divisions of Duat where many
dangers lurk.

Yet Re passes safely, and with him he takes those souls of the dead who know
all the charms and prayers and words that must be said. And so that a man
might not go unprepared for his voyage in the Boat of Re, the Egyptians
painted all the scenes of that journey on the walls of the tombs of the Pharaohs,
with all the knowledge that was written in The Book of the Dead, of which a
copy was buried in the grave of lesser men so that they too might read and
come safely to the land beyond the west where the dead dwell.