MYTH-401 Lessons

Today, the door is already ajar before the clock announces the hour, silently bidding students enter. While the walls are still a cornucopia of artifacts, some particular pieces appear to have been rearranged slightly to make them stand out more. The eye alights upon a variety of Egyptian symbols. The Eye of Horus and the Eye of Re are most predominant, as are various symbols denoting chaos and the sun. Maps have also been sprinkled in throughout, providing a closer look at certain areas of the ancient kingdoms.

It’s good to see I haven’t lost any of you yet. Though who knows what the future holds? No, that was a rhetorical question, Mr. Templeton. I do not intend to consult a seer. With regards to the very near future, I can at least assure you that we will be discussing some specific cults as a continuation of our discussion last week. In order to set these cults apart a bit, as well as actually begin to look at myths -- the entire point of this class -- we will discuss each cult’s myth covering the creation of the universe. Pay attention and start noting any similarities and differences you see, as these will come in handy later on. 

But for now, let’s explain the different types of cults that were prevalent in ancient Egypt. 

The Emergence of Cults
First, it is important to note that there can be a cult to anything. To a particular god or goddess, to a Quidditch team (or player), or even to a particular candy in Honeydukes. All that is required is that the members of the cult believe in the sacredness or divinity of the thing or person they are worshipping. Or, at least in the case of some ancient Egyptians, they go through the motions and perform the rituals associated with those beliefs.

Of course, there was no cult of the Holyhead Harpies back in ancient Egypt. Instead, there were three general categories: cults to one or more of the many gods and goddesses of the time, cults that worshipped the current pharoah, and cults that worshipped particular deceased ancestors. 

As cults surrounding ancestor worship were obviously fairly personal and specific, we won’t be covering them in class. In most cases, there is little to study as individual records would be hard to find. We will also not be covering cults to individual pharaohs in great detail today either. Oddly enough, despite the fact that there were over a thousand gods and only roughly 170 pharaohs, we also won’t be going over cults to individual pharaohs today, as they are not as well-documented. Instead, we’ll be focusing on the various pantheons of Egyptian gods and goddesses.

Divine cults were based on the worship of a particular god (or group of gods) in each province, also called a “nome.” There were 42 of these nomes, and each of them had their own “universal” god who had been in existence since (or even before) time began, according to their beliefs. These universal gods organized the world as the cults knew it and created all living beings. There are a few reasons we are studying only four of these 42 today, one of which is because many of these gods were amalgamated into one god (like the many names of Ra) or were worshipped together in groups. 

Another reason for only studying four out of forty-two possibilities is that these beliefs were generally passed down by word of mouth, leaving us without written records of these myths. Much of what we now know has been cobbled together from various stories passed down through the ages. There is a distinct possibility that the myths we know today are significantly different from what the original myths depicted. As it stands, no amount of magic could safely return us to the Third Dynasty of Egypt, we will have to rely upon magiarchaeological and magianthropological research to understand the beliefs of these ancient people.

Origin Myths
While there were most likely numerous myths of origin throughout ancient Egypt, there are four primary myths that are both well-documented and have had a historical and impact on the religion of the people. Three of these myths originated before or during the Third Dynasty, which existed from 2,686 BCE to 2,613 BCE. The fourth cult, which emerged quite later than the others, had arguably the largest impact on Egyptian beliefs, and it emerged during the Eleventh Dynasty (which spanned from 2,134 BCE to 1,991 BCE) and continued for many centuries due to its prominence. We’ll be saving the latest and most prominent for last, so keep an eye out.

The Heliopolitan Cult
Most cults and their corresponding beliefs are generally named after the location in which they were founded, and the Heliopolitan cult is no exception. This cult developed sometime before the Third Dynasty in the ancient city of Heliopolis, located near the head of the Nile Delta, which is the wide green space you can see in the map to the right. This area is what is called “Lower Egypt,” a distinction that Ancient Runes students might be familiar with, as Egypt was technically divided into two kingdoms, the upper and the lower. 

The Heliopolitan cult and its particular beliefs center around the god Atum, one of the many identities of the god Ra. This particular name meant “the Whole” or “the Complete.” And he was the leader (and progenitor) of all the other gods and goddesses in this cult. This selection of nine deities was called the Ennead, which conveniently means “the group of nine.”

In the beginning, according to Heliopolitan beliefs, Nun was all that existed. Nun was not a god, nor a person, simply a state of complete chaos and nothingness, which again, is conveniently hinted at in its name. Inside of Nun was a sense of consciousness that eventually self-spawned. That consciousness was named Atum and was the god of the sun. Atum, by some supernatural force, created a male and a female offspring; Shu (air) and Tefnut (moisture) respectively.

Shu and Tefnut in turn had two children, Geb (the earth) and Nut (the sky). Geb and Nut then had four children of their own, all gods and goddesses of the Earth: Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nephthys. At this point Shu stepped in and separated Geb and Nut by raising Nut above Geb, forever separating them.

This fairly simple origin myth shows a gradual evolution of the universe. A primordial god wills himself into being. The first set of gods and goddesses are created, then another, until all the pieces of the Earth are present and are populated with gods and goddesses that are not represented by geographical features, weather, or celestial bodies. 

The myth itself was extremely popular not only in Heliopolis, but also in surrounding areas. Quite often the myth was adapted to suit another nome’s local main god by swapping Atum’s name for the name of another deity. It was likely in this fashion that the god Horus became associated with the name Atum, and, therefore, this myth is also found described with “Horus of the Horizon” as the head of the pantheon instead of Atum.

The Hermopolitan Cult 
This cult’s myth of origin is significantly different from the Heliopolitan myth we just examined, in that creation happened in one moment, as opposed to the gradual system that the previous myth described.

Unsurprisingly, the Hermopolitan cult was based in the city of Hermopolis, located in Middle Egypt, which you can see on a map over to your left. 

The gods and goddesses associated with this particular myth are called “The Ogdoad” as there are eight of them, which is really quite thoughtful of the ancient Egyptians. 

These eight gods and goddesses are based on the four elements of chaos: Nun and Naunet, a male and female pair respectively, are the primordial waters. Heh and Hehet (also referred to as Huh and Hauhet) respectively, are the male and female versions of infinity or formlessness. Kek and Keket (or Kuk and Kauket) are the dual deities of darkness; and Amun and Amunet (or Amaunet) are, confusingly, the god and goddess of air and mystery, rather than being the sun god like we spoke about in the last cult. As you can see, it can be quite the ordeal to remember who is the god or goddess of what depending on what region and time period you are in.

As the primordial elements of chaos, everything else in the world was created through them or because of them. They are considered “the fathers and mothers who created the light.” In an interesting twist, each of the gods is depicted with the head  of a frog, while the females are depicted with the heads of serpents. Sadly, it’s unclear how they came by this association, or what it might mean, particularly with regard to their relation to chaos and nothingness. 

This cult’s myth of origin is significantly different from the Heliopolitan myth we just examined, in that creation happened in one moment, as opposed to the gradual system that the previous myth described.

What we do know, however, is an account of the moment of creation. Unlike the gradual progression and multiple generations of the Ennead, creation in the Hermopolitan tradition was instantaneous, with all four god and goddess pairs coming into existence all at once. Depending on which recounting of the myth you read, they either emerged from the Island of Flame, or they created the Island of Flame themselves, which then became the basis for the world. In either case, an interaction between all eight of their heads created an incredible burst of energy that allowed said creation to take place.

The Memphite Cult
If you look back at the map of Lower Egypt we referenced at the beginning of this lesson, you can locate Memphis slightly to the south of Heliopolis, also located near the delta. Memphis was a city of prominence and cultural significance throughout the history of Ancient Egypt and, as such, it is not overly surprising that some writing from ancient times has survived about the area. One particularly fascinating artifact located in the British Museum is the Shabaka Stone - a slab of basalt that was engraved with numerous hieroglyphics that describe the origin myth of this cult, at least the myth as it was recorded in the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty, circa 800 to 701 BCE. Unfortunately, at some point before this artifact was brought safely to the museum, it was  used as a millstone for grinding wheat, resulting in significantly damaging the hieroglyphics on the piece, ruining any potential magical effects contained therein, and making it far more difficult to read. If you look closely at the replica artifact we have here, you can very faintly see fine lines running vertically on the piece (not those creating a starburst from the center). These worn lines are all that remains of this myth. According to this record and our studies about the artifact, this myth developed around the same time as the previous two that we have discussed, sometime around the Third Dynasty.

The Memphite myth centres around the god Ptah, who existed before everything else. He interacted with Nun, who in this telling is the primeval ocean, or a form of chaos. And from that union, eight personifications emerged. Take a moment to reflect on that wording. The distinction of personifications is important. These eight deities were not considered offspring or children, but permutations of Ptah himself. For anyone similar with Indian mythology, this is much like Krishna, or for those familiar with Christianity, it is similar to the Trinity. Think of these personifications as a splitting of one being in order to create others. 

One of these personifications was Ur, meaning “great,” who is fairly comparable to Atum in the Heliopolitan cult; however, Ur was the manifestation of the heart and tongue of Ptah. Ur is then further personified into two other gods: Horus, who represented Ptah’s thoughts (which were believed at this time to come from the heart) and Thoth who represented Ptah’s speech (which, more logically to us, comes from the tongue. 

Through Ur, Horus, and Thoth, Ptah created all things on Earth using wood, clay, and stone to act as bodies. These bodies were then filled with spirits or the divine power known as “ka.” Finally, once the body and the spirit were present, these creations were all brought to life by Ptah simply declaring their names, as names had tremendous power in ancient Egyptian civilization.

After all of this arduous labor, Ptah finally went on to create not only living things, but some abstract concepts as well. The concepts of law and justice were attributed to him. It is interesting that the Memphite myth takes time to specifically note the creation of these two concepts, as nothing similar is mentioned in any of the others. These origin myths typically focus on concrete entities, usually parts of the world, or at the very least people and parts of the body. Some feel this last portion was a later addition to the original myth as some form of competition with other prevailing and competing cults in the same time and area. Essentially, it may have been a form of ancient one-upmanship: “our cult is better than your cult” or something along those lines. 

The Theban Cult 
Finally, we have the latest cult, Theban. This one is the only one located in Upper Egypt, which you can see on a map in the back of the room, and developed significantly later than the others.  

Around the Eleventh Dynasty, Thebes became the capital of the Egyptian kingdom, and a merging of belief systems occurred, leading to a modified version of the Hermopolitan myth becoming the predominant belief in Thebes, which is the basis for what we will discuss now.

In this particular version, Amun (of the four Ogdoad pairs, not the progenitor sun god listed in the Ennead) is elevated to the King of the Gods and the Master of Thebes. However, he didn’t stop there. Much like the Memphite display of superiority, this Amun is said to have created the Ogdoad, rather than just being a part of it, and he is said to also have created the gods of the Ennead. Quite the résumé.

Apart from these comparisons, though, his interaction with the goddess Mut who was known as the mother goddess (and whose name means mother), resulted in the birth of Khons, the moon god. From this original triad, the world was created. 

As it came so much after many of the other cults, this cult incorporated many of the gods and goddesses from other belief systems, and its popularity spread over much of the surrounding areas. Due to Thebes’ prominence as the religious capital at the time and its promotion by the  pharaohs of the time, it enjoyed significant popularity.

Closing
As you can no doubt see, there is a lot to dissect here, but as these are our first myths (and they are quite old with few accounts), we will be starting with the basics. Today, your job will be simply to note similar trends and differences that stand out to you. Eventually we will graduate to hypothesizing as to what these similarities and differences might mean about the civilization, or their beliefs, or their magical practices… but that is for another day.

There is also an extra credit assignment where you can, if desired, flex your creative muscles to illustrate or somehow visually represent one of these myths in an attempt to make them feel less abstract and keep them straight in your mind.

Image credits here, here, here, here, and here

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Sources: 

Oakes, Lorna, and Gahlin, Lucia. 2002. Ancient Egypt. Hermes House Anness Publishing Inc., New York.

Grimal, Pierre. Ed. 1989. Larousse World Mythology. Gallery Books, New Yor