Nu (mythology)
Nu | |||||
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Name in hieroglyphs |
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Symbol | Water | ||||
Consort | Naunet |
Naunet | ||||||
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Name in hieroglyphs |
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Consort | Nu |
Nu ("Watery One") or Nun ("The Inert One") (Ancient Egyptian: nnw Nānaw; Coptic: Ⲛⲟⲩⲛ Noun), in ancient Egyptian religion, is the personification of the primordial watery abyss which existed at the time of creation and from which the creator sun god Ra arose.[1]
Nu is one of the eight deities of the Ogdoad representing ancient Egyptian primordial Chaos from which the primordial mound arose. Nun can be seen as the first of all the gods and the creator of reality and personification of the cosmos. Nun is also considered the god that will destroy existence and return everything to the Nun whence it came. No cult was addressed to Nun.
Nun's consort (or his female aspect) was the goddess Nunut[2] or Naunet (Ancient Egyptian: nnwt).
Name
The name on Nu is paralleled with nen "inactivity" in a play of words in, "I raised them up from out of the watery mass [nu], out of inactivity [nen]". The name has also been compared to the Coptic noun "abyss; deep".[3]
Origin myth
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The ancient Egyptians envisaged the oceanic abyss of the Nun as surrounding a bubble in which the sphere of life is encapsulated, representing the deepest mystery of their cosmogony.[4] In ancient Egyptian creation accounts, the original mound of land comes forth from the waters of the Nun.[5] The Nun is the source of all that appears in a differentiated world, encompassing all aspects of divine and earthly existence. In the Ennead cosmogony, Nun is perceived as transcendent at the point of creation alongside Atum the creator god.[4]
Creation myth
In the beginning the universe only consisted of a great chaotic cosmic ocean, and the ocean itself was referred to as Nu. In some versions of this myth, at the beginning of time
History
Beginning with the Middle Kingdom, Nun is described as "the father of the gods" and he is depicted on temple walls throughout the rest of ancient Egyptian religious history.[4]
The
Iconography
Nun was depicted as an anthropomorphic large figure and a personification of the primordial waters,
Nu was shown usually as male but also had aspects that could be represented as female or male. Naunet (also spelt Nunet) is the female aspect, which is the name Nu with a female gender ending. The male aspect, Nun, is written with a male gender ending. As with the primordial concepts of the Ogdoad, Nu's male aspect was depicted as a frog, or a frog-headed man. In Ancient Egyptian art, Nun also appears as a bearded man, with blue-green skin, representing water. Naunet is represented as a snake or snake-headed woman.[citation needed]
In the 12th Hour of the Book of Gates, Nu is depicted with upraised arms holding a solar bark (or barque, a boat). The boat is occupied by eight deities with Khepri, Ra's morning aspect, standing in the middle and being surrounded by the seven other deities.[citation needed]
During the Late Period when Egypt was occupied by foreign powers, the negative aspect of Nun (ie. chaos) became the dominant perception, reflecting the forces of disorder that were set loose in the country.[4]
See also
- Abzu – Primeval sea in Mesopotamian mythology
- Cosmic ocean – Mythological motif
- Firmament – Solid dome dividing the primal waters
- Hapi – Ancient Egyptian god of the annual flooding of the Nile
- Sea of Suf – Primordial sea in Mandaean cosmology
- Tehom – Primordial waters of creation in the Bible
- Vishnu – Major deity in Hinduism
- Wadj-wer – Ancient Egyptian god of fertility
- Wuji – The primordial in Chinese philosophy
- Tiamat (Ancient Mesopotamian)
- Chaos (cosmogony) (Ancient Greek)
- Ymir (Norse)
- Pangu (Chinese)
References
- ^ a b c The Complete Gods And Goddesses Of Ancient Egypt.
- ^ Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary, page 350
- ^ Budge (1904), p. 284.
- ^ ISBN 0-425-19096-X
- ISBN 0-19-521952-X, p. 120
- ^ "Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths: From Watery Chaos to Cosmic Egg". Glencairn Museum. 13 July 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
- ^ "Lotus - Sunnataram Forest Monastery". www.sunnataram.org. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
- ^ Allen, Middle Egyptian, p. 144.
- ISBN 0-500-05120-8.
Further reading
- E. A. Wallis Budge, The Gods of the Egyptians: Or, Studies in Egyptian Mythology (1904), vol. 1, 283f.