The Eneada of Heliopolis

It is a set of nine gods, grouped together as a family, who were worshiped in the city of Heliopolis. These gods were Thot,Atun, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Isis, Osiris, Neftis and Seth. This city was, along with Thebes and Memphis, one of the most important.

Tun

He was considered the Perfect or the One who exists by himself. He was depicted in the look of a man and a double crown on his head. According to legend, Atun emerges from the ocean, (Num) and creates himself through human secretions such as saliva, tears, perspiration or others and, through his consciousness, Ra. Create other gods: Shu (air) and Tefnut (moisture). Shu and Tefmut, in turn, are parents of Geb, (the earth) and Nut (the sky) And fathers of the gods: Osiris, Isis, Nephtis, Seth, and Heru-na

Ra or Re Ra is the great Egyptian god. His representation is of a man with a falcon head. He's carrying a dollar disc on his head and a scepter in his hand.

At first he was regarded as one of the gods but later became the official god of the pharaohs, who considered themselves to be his sons.

Much later it merged with the god Thebano Amon and became Amon-Ra, the most important of the Egyptian pantheon. Ra was considered indestructible because no one knew his name. According to legend, Ra went the same way every day with a group of friends.

They climbed into a boat from where the sun rose and reached their destination following their course where the sun set.

It seems confusing, but Ra changes his name depending on the activity. When it leaves in the morning and begins to illuminate it does so with the shape of a beetle and the name of Jepri.

During the day it illuminates the earth with the shape of Falcon and the name of Ra.

At night, when he waits in the dark for the new day to come, he has the form of a hunched old man and the name Aton.

Shu

He is the god of air and light.

He's depicted as a man with a feather on his head and a scepter.

Also like a man holding the world in his hands.

He was always busy holding the sky.

He was the son of Aun-Ra, husband of his twin sister Tefnut and father of Geb and Nut.

tefnut

Also called Lady of the Flame. Goddess of moisture. It represents dew and body processes.

She is depicted as a woman with a lioness's head and the solar disk above her head.

Tefnut is the daughter of Atum. She is born of human saliva and is the wife of her twin brother Shu.

She's also the mother of Geb and Nut.

One day, Tefnet got mad at Ra and left for Nubia.

Then Shu and Thot went out looking for her and then convinced her to return to Egypt. In this way the river Nile flooded its land again by fertilizing it.

Geb or Keb

He's the creator god. Principle of life on earth.

He was depicted as a green man, crowned with a goose on his head.

Geb inherits his father's throne Shu. Then he passes authority over the earth to Osiris, then to Horus and finally to Pharaoh who was called heir to Geb.

Geb was Nut's brother and husband, and his sons were Osiris, Isis, Nephtis, and Seth.

According to the legend of the union with his wife, Nut, an egg emerged from which the Phoenix Ave emerged.

In the book of the Dead he performs the function of weighing the hearts of the dead and was the guardian of the gates of heaven.

Nut

Goddess of heaven and creator of the universe.

She was depicted as a naked woman with her arched body forming the celestial vault, full of stars.

Many times she was depicted as a cow.

Nut, she was Shu and Tefnut's daughter. Wife of his brother Geb and mother of Osiris, Isis, Neftis Seth and Horus.

He protected the dead. He had the ability to feed them and also had the ability to make them reincarnate or reborn.

He lived in a fig tree, and its branches were the refuge of tired souls.

Legend has it that under that fig tree the virgin Mary sat on her journey to Egypt.

The Ogdoad of Hermopolis

Hermopolis was a city located in upper Egypt.

This pantheon was made up of four gods and four goddesses who embody the myth of Chaos prior to the creation of the world.

These eight gods and goddesses all acted at once, constituting a unity.

These were Num and Naumet. They personified the water.

Huk and Hauket personified infinite space.

Kuk and Kautet, personified darkness and finally Amon and Amaunet, who personified the hidden powers.

The representation of the male gods looked like a frog and the female gods as a snake, because frogs and snakes are the first animals to be seen when the waters of the Nile River withdraw after the flood.

According to legend, these four couples of gods laid an egg from which the god Ra was born.

They had their sanctuary west of Thebes.

Elephant Triad

It was composed of the gods Jnam, Satet and Anuket who formed a family of gods worshipped in the city of Elephantine.

Elephantine was a small island on the Nile River opposite the town of Aswan. Very close to the first waterfall.

Jnam

His name meant the one who modeled. He was considered a creator god. He was originally a god of water as a principle of life.

He was depicted as a man with a ram's head and a crown.

He was the one who created the fundamental egg, which gave life to the world.

Also as a modeler, it was believed that he was the potter god who modeled humans, endowing them with Ka, what we could call a soul today.

He was also considered god of fertility and custodian of the waters of the Nile.

Satet

His name meant the one that flies like an arrow. Goddess of flood and love.

She was depicted as a woman with a white crown and two horns. He had in his hands a scepter and the Anj. Sometimes also like an antelope.

She was Jnam's wife and Anuket's mother.

Anuket

She was the goddess of water and falls. Also considered goddess of lust or unbridled pleasures.

It was depicted with a cylindrical crown of feathers above its head.

In his hand he carried a scepter of rolled papyrus and the Anj.

He was attributed the fertilization of the fields during the flood season. A fact that happened every year and ensured a good harvest.

Triad of Thebes

Composed by the gods Ammon, Mut and Jonsu

Amon

His name meant “The hidden” or “What cannot be seen.”

There are representations of Amon in human form but the heads varied. He could appear with a snake's head, a monkey's head, a frog's head, a lion's head. The most popular is that of a blue-skinned man, beard and two feathers on his head, one red and one green or one red and one blue.

In one period he joined the divinity of Ra giving rise to the cult of Amun-Ra. And here he was depicted as a man with a lion's head.

Mut

She is the second wife of Amon-Ra and the Mother of the World.

It is also known as Montu, Mont and Munt

She was depicted as a woman with a crown on her head as a maternity badge.

Jonsu

He was a lunar god, protector of the sick who frightened evil spirits.

He was depicted as a man with a falcon head, and on his head a crown with a lunar disc and a crescent moon.

He is the god who travels through the sky on a boat.

He was also in charge of feeding the gods and helping the pharaohs in their hunts.

It also represented fertility associated with births.

Menphis Triad

Composed of the gods: Ptah, Sekmet and Nefertum and revered in the city of Memphis

ptah It personified the rising sun and its name means “The Opener”, because they thought it was the one who opened the doors of the day. He has a great share in the Egyptian myth of Creation, as they were convinced that he made the earth, the celestial vault and that he was the builder of a metal plate to sustain it. For that reason, they believed that Ptah had a workshop where he built nine boats on which the souls of the dead lived. In his representations he had attributes of builder and architect.

Sekhmet This powerful goddess was worshiped at Menphis and her cult dispersed across the Nile Delta. Sekhmet was Ptah's wife and with him he had a son named Nefer-Tem. She was also identified with Hathor. It was depicted in the shape of a woman and the head of a lioness and was on its head a solar disk. The writings refer to this goddess as the goddess of the distributive power of solar rays, shedding rays against the enemies of the gods.

Nefertum

His name means Man crowned with a lotus flower. He is depicted as a man crowned with a blue lotus flower and two tall feathers. Or also with a lion's head and a lotus flower and two feathers on the head. Or like a child leaning on a lotus flower. It was believed that as a child he had come out of a lotus flower that had emerged from the waters. He is also considered Lord of perfumes, for there are representations where he gives the god Ra a smell of lotus flower.

por Mirta Fernandez