Nut (goddess)
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Ouranos[1] |
Nut
Names
The pronunciation of ancient Egyptian is uncertain because vowels were long omitted from its writing, although her name often includes the unpronounced determinative hieroglyph for "sky". Her name Nwt, itself also meaning "Sky",[5] is usually transcribed as "Nut" but also sometimes appears in older sources as Nunut, Nent, and Nuit.[6]
She also appears in the hieroglyphic record by a number of epithets, not all of which are understood.
Goddess of the sky, stars
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Nut is a daughter of
Origins
A sacred
Nut appears in the creation myth of
Myth of Nut and Ra
Some of the titles of Nut were:
- Coverer of the Sky: Nut was the goddess of the visible sky which is why she's depicted on all fours arching her back upward in a "covering" position that encompasses the semi-sphere of the visible sky as it can be observed from the perspective of the earth; and beneath her lies her brother Geb as the earth itself at her feet thus simulating the ground. As such she "covers" the rest of the sky which is not visible from the earth with her presence because of her role as the visible sky. During night time her body was believed to be covered in stars which were projected on her since she encompassed the earth shielding it from the open sky, and as such the stars would touch her instead and become visible on her body.
- She Who Protects: Among her jobs was to envelop and protect Ra, the sun god.[8]
- Mistress of All or "She who Bore the Gods": Originally, Nut was said to be lying on top of Geb (Earth) and continually having intercourse. During this time she birthed four children: Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys.[12] A fifth child named Arueris is mentioned by Plutarch.[13] He was the Egyptian counterpart to the Greek god Apollo, who was made syncretic with Horus in the Hellenistic era as 'Horus the Elder'.[14] The Ptolemaic temple of Edfu is dedicated to Horus the Elder and there he is called the son of Nut and Geb, brother of Osiris, and the eldest son of Geb.[15]
- She Who Holds a Thousand Souls: Because of her role in the re-birthing of Ra every morning and in her son Osiris' resurrection, Nut became a key goddess in many of the myths about the afterlife.[8]
Role
Nut was the goddess of the sky and all heavenly bodies, a symbol of protecting the dead when they enter the afterlife. According to the Egyptians, during the day, the heavenly bodies—such as the Sun and Moon—would make their way across her body. Then, at dusk, they would be swallowed, pass through her belly during the night, and be reborn at dawn.[16]
Nut is also the barrier separating the forces of
Because of her role in saving Osiris, Nut was seen as a friend and protector of the dead, who appealed to her as a child appeals to its mother: "O my Mother Nut, stretch Yourself over me, that I may be placed among the imperishable stars which are in You, and that I may not die." Nut was thought to draw the dead into her star-filled sky, and refresh them with food and wine: "I am Nut, and I have come so that I may enfold and protect you from all things evil."[17]
She was often painted on the inside lid of the sarcophagus, protecting the deceased. The vaults of tombs were often painted dark blue with many stars as a representation of Nut. The
Book of Nut
The
References
Citations
- ^ "Greek Gods vs Egyptian Gods: What are the Differences?". November 2021.
- ^ "Nut". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 27 January 2020.
- ISBN 1-57607-763-2.
- ISBN 1-84056-070-3.
- ^ Erman, Adolf; et al., eds. (1957), Wörterbuch der Ägyptischen Sprache [Dictionary of the Egyptian Language] (in German), p. 214
- ^ Budge, An Egyptian hieroglyphic dictionary (1920), p. 350.
- ^ Hart, George (200t). The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. Routledge. p. 110
- ^ a b c The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, by Leonard H. Lesko, 2001.
- The Journal of American Folklore 1987 American Folklore Society.
- ^ Plutarch. Plutarch's Moralia (Loeb)/Isis and Osiris. Translated by Babbitt, Frank. p. 12.
- ^ Budge, E. A. Wallis (1908). Books on Egypt and Chaldaea: Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life. Vol. 1 (3rd ed.). London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd. pp. 42–44. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
- Thames and Hudson, 1959.
- ^ The Moralia – Isis & Osiris, 355 F, Uchicago.edu
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, Google Books
- ^ Emma Swan Hall, Harpocrates and Other Child Deities in Ancient Egyptian Sculpture, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt Vol. 14, (1977), pp. 55–58, retrieved from JSTOR.org
- ISBN 978-0-415-34495-1 p.111 Books.google.co.uk
- ISBN 1-59547-914-7
- ^ Alexandra von Lieven: Grundriss des Laufes der Sterne. Das sogenannte Nutbuch. The Carsten Niebuhr Institute of Ancient Eastern Studies, Kopenhagen 2007.
Bibliography
- Collier, Mark; Manley, Bill (1998). How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs (Revised ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Leeming, David (2004). Egyptian goddesses: The Oxford Companion to World mythology. Oxford University Press.
- Budge, Wallis (2007). Papyrus of Ani: Egyptian Book of the Dead. NuVision Publications.
- Lesko, Leonard H. (2001). The Oxford Encyclopaedia of Ancient Egypt.
- Hollis, Susan Tower (1987). Women of Ancient Egypt and the Sky Goddess Nut.
- Willems, Harco (1988). Chests of Life: A Study of the Typology and Conceptual Development of Middle Kingdom, Standard Class Coffins. Ex Oriente Lux. ISBN 978-90-72690-01-2.
Further reading
- Lesko, Barbara S. (1999). The Great Goddesses of Egypt. ISBN 0-8061-3202-7.
- Billing, Nils (2002). Nut, the Goddess of Life: In Text and Iconography. Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, ISBN 91-506-1653-6.
- Billing, Nils (2004). "Writing an Image—The Formulation of the Tree Goddess Motif in the Book of the Dead, Ch. 59". Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur. 32: 35–50. JSTOR 25152905.
- Roberts, Alison (2000). My Heart My Mother: Death and Rebirth in Ancient Egypt. NorthGate Publishers. ISBN 0-9524233-1-6.
External links
- Media related to Nut (goddess) at Wikimedia Commons
- Quotations related to Nut (goddess) at Wikiquote