Don't Know Much About Mythology - Kenneth C. Davis [40]
The fourth child of Geb and Nut was Nephthys, who clearly plays second fiddle to her older sister Isis, the superstar of Egyptian myth. First married to her brother Seth, Nephthys deserted Seth for her other brother, Osiris. Seemingly barren with Seth, she conceives a child who becomes the jackal-headed god Anubis, another key deity in Egyptian burial rituals. Nephthys also becomes significant as a funerary goddess who protects the dead and is often shown on coffins and jars that held the vital organs of the deceased. In Egyptian funeral customs, two women would impersonate Isis and Nephthys to lament over the mummy of the deceased on the funeral boat that carried the deceased to the western side of the Nile, where it would be buried.
These nine deities—Atum, his children Shu and Tefnut, their children Geb and Nut, and their children Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nephthys—were responsible for bringing all other life into being. They are traditionally known by the Greek word for nine, ennea, as the Great Ennead.
MYTHIC VOICES
Hail to you Re, perfect each day,
Who rises at dawn without failing…
In a brief day you race a course
Hundreds, thousands, millions of miles.
—Litany of Re
Who was Re?
The boggling variety of these Egyptian Creation stories, along with the various sun gods and creator gods, point up one of the challenges of Egyptian mythology. Lacking a biblical-style story structure, Egypt’s mythology does not follow a single narrative stream but emerged gradually as local customs and beliefs were blended over centuries and finally integrated into a unified Egyptian religion, often reflecting the changing balance of power in Egypt. Most historians believe that as different regions or cities rose to prominence, their patron deities emerged as the most significant gods.
Still, a dominant force underlies all Egyptian myth. As in many other ancient societies, for the Egyptians it was the sun and its life-giving powers. The daily passage of the sun across the sky gave rise to many different metaphors and images. In the morning, the sun was born from the sky goddess Nut. At midday, it was a boat floating on the blue sea of heaven. It was even envisioned as a scarab beetle pushing a ball of dung across the sand. That would seem a profane image for an all-high god, but the Egyptians saw metaphors of life and death everywhere, especially in the animal world. The scarab—or dung—beetle lays its eggs in a ball of dung that it rolls to its burrow. Within the dung ball, the eggs incubate in the warmth of the sun. Even in the life cycle of one of the lowliest insects, Egyptians found the eternal image of life. This was the reason that scarabs became such a significant motif in Egyptian art.
Over time, the sun god Re (also called Ra) evolved into the most important member of the Egyptian pantheon, and for much of Egypt’s history, he was the supreme deity. Originating in Heliopolis (City of the Sun), Re emerged as the chief sun god, and his name originally may have meant “creator.” Re was considered both the ruler of the world and the first divine pharaoh. Although Re’s existence probably goes back much further in time, his name was first recorded during the Second Dynasty (2890–2686 BCE), and by the time of the Fourth Dynasty, Egypt’s kings were using the words “Son of Re” as one of their honorific titles. From the time of the Fourth Dynasty’s (2613–2494 BCE) King Khafra (also known as Chephren), the pyramids and other sacred buildings were linked with the name of Re. By the Fifth Dynasty (2494–2345 BCE), Re had essentially become the state god, and six of the seven Fifth Dynasty kings built temples exclusively dedicated to him. These sun temples, built near large pyramid complexes, established Re as the “ultimate giver of life and moving force,” according to Egyptologist Jaromir Malek. But these temples were also a statement by the pharaohs of their direct connection to Re, in this world and in the afterlife.