Gods of Egypt: The Great Ennead of Heliopolis

The term “Ennead” is of Greek origin, it means "nine" and is (Pesedjet) in the Ancient Egyptian Language.This term refers to a group of nine deities who act together. However, Ennead's nine is sometimes used as general term that doesn’t literally express the number nine in some cases. 

The most famous Ennead is The Great Ennead of Heliopolis which consists of :

• Atum “father of The Ennead”

• Shu & Tefnut “Atum’s children”

• Geb & Nut “ Atum’s grandchildren”

• Osiris , Isis , Seth , Nephthys “The great –grandchildren”

The Myth of creation in Heliopolis & Atum “The creator god”

The primeval mound was the first land to appear above the primeval ocean (Nun) from which all life came. This mound remained the centre of the cosmos taking a pyramidion shape (benben). Atum was identified with this mound as the creator god who began and ended the world, imagined as a bird such as a phoenix, a goose or an ibis. One day Atum felt very lonely, so he impregnated himself and produce Shu & Tefnut an so was the beginning of the creation.

Every major Egyptian temple claimed that its sanctuary was built on the site of the primeval mound where the creation began as the sanctuary was the place where the god of the temple became manifest like the creator first became manifest on the Mound.

Atum’s name derived from a word means “completeness or totality”. He is the father and mother of all gods giving the conception of a divine union between the male and female. 

Shu & His twin sister Tefnut 

Shu was the god of air and Tefnut was the goddess of the morning dew, both were the children of Atum, Shu was sneezed out and Tefnut was spat out by Atum. Shu is shown in human form with a feather on his head trampling on the body of Geb and holding up the body of Nut, while Tefnut is represented as a woman taking the head of a lioness with sundisk. Some early statues of Akhenaten and Nefertiti represent them as Shu and Tefnut. Shu and Tefnut were the twin lions of the Horizon, they are shown as two lions or spotted great cats, facing away from each other with the sun on the horizon between them, these two lions represent yesterday and tomorrow.

Akhenaten and Nefertiti depicted as Shu and Tefnut 

Geb and Nut

Geb is the Earth god while Nut is the sky goddess. Geb and Nut are considered to be the third generation in the group of nine gods who made up the Ennead of Heliopolis. They were forced to be separated by their father Shu forever, this separation was necessary because the living creatures were said to crawl on the back of Geb and in order to allow the existence of air and light between the sky and Earth, this separation is one of the most depicted mythical scenes in Egyptian Art. Geb is shown in human form , his skin could be painted green to symbolize the plants come out of his body , he was responsible for destructive earthquakes and Egyptian Kings were said to sit on the throne of Geb.

Nut was daughter of Shu and Tefnut shown as a giant nude woman arched above the earth or as a giant cow with starry markings, her symbol was a water pot (nw).she is considered to be the mother of all heavenly bodies. Nut draws the dead king up to the heavens to live again. The sky in Ancient Egypt was thought to be a watery region in which the stars and the planets swim like fish or sail in boats. Nut swallowed the sun god, the moon and the stars in order to give birth for them again. Nut was depicted from the New kingdom onward in royal tombs and played a great role in funerary religion as she was carved or painted on the underside of coffin lids. She was shown in The Book of The Dead as the goddess of the sycamore-fig tree giving water and food for the dead to strengthen them in their journey through the underworld.

God Geb of the land supporting Nut, the heaven above.

Osiris

The great god who ruled the Egyptian underworld, he was the eldest son of Geb and Nut. Osiris was usually shown as a mummified king wearing an atef crown and carrying crook and flail. His skin can be black or green symbolizing the connection of Osiris with a cycle of death and regeneration. The dead king is identified with Osiris and by the second millennium BCE this identification was for all the dead as every aspect of burial and mummification in Ancient Egypt was linked to the mythology of Osiris. The etymology of his name is uncertain may be means “the mighty one”. His cult became dominant during the fifth dynasty and was worshipped as a god of agricultural fertility. In the Pyramid Texts Osiris is struck down and trampled by his brother Seth or drowned in the Nile and Isis used the magic to bring Osiris back with the help of Anubis and Thoth and the body of Osiris became the first mummy and he was allowed to rule the kingdom of the dead. In later texts Seth was said to torn up the body of Osiris into fourteen to forty-two parts and buried them at sacred sites all over Egypt, despite all of that Osiris was able to make Isis pregnant in Horus who presented the power of his Eye to raise his father. A New kingdom prayer states that Osiris is the greatest of the gods and all the Egyptians have to come to him in the end. After death there is no difference between rich and poor, only the good will survive the judgment of Osiris and enter his paradise.

Isis

She is the protective mother of Horus and the mother of each Egyptian King (Horus on Earth), the loyal wife of Osiris, part of the Great Ennead of Heliopolis , daughter of Geb and Nut. She was shown as a woman wearing the throne symbol. She was widely worshipped. The pyramid Texts mentioned that Isis searched Egypt for the body of Osiris and brought him to life by mourning becoming the prototype for all mourners by the help of her sister Nephthys   . A new kingdom Hymn mentioned that Isis used magic to protect the body of her husband becoming pregnant from him in Horus and hides Horus in marshes to protect him from Seth and bring him up to avenge his father by killing Seth. Her cult became more prominent during the first millennium BCE as the goddess of sea.

Isis as depicted on the walls of the Philae Temple

Seth

Seth is the enemy of his brother Osiris and the rival of Horus. His consort was Nephthys. His strength was very important to defend the solar barque from the chaos monster. His cult was originated in Upper Egypt and later was identified with foreign gods and worshipped in the Eastern Delta. In western Desert he was the lord of oases. In all periods Seth was associated with dangerous aspects of the desert such as flash floods and sand storms as he was the god who causes storms and clouds. Many desert animals were considered to be Sethian creatures such as Oryxes and wild donkeys. In Myth Seth takes the form of bull, pig, hippopotami, wild donkey, crocodile and panther. He was accused of striking down his brother Osiris and there was a long conflict between him and Horus. Osiris and Seth were often presented as opposites.Osiris symbolizing the order and everything Egyptian while Seth symbolizing the disorder and everything foreign, Osiris ruled the fertile black land of the Nile valley and Seth ruled the barren red land of the deserts. 

Nephthys

One of the sisters who mourned for the murdered of god Osiris. She was the devoted companion of her sister Isis and protective goddess in funerary art. She is shown as a woman wearing the signs that write her name (lady of the Mansion) on her head. Some myths mentioned that Nephthys tricked Osiris giving birth to the god Anubis. Isis and Nephthys are mentioned in the Pyramid texts as part of the group of four goddesses who guarded the king’s mummified body and organs. The sisters in the form of two kites were said to guard the mummy of Osiris to protect him from the attacks of Seth. Nephthys is considered to be one of the goddesses of weaving associated with the linen bandages that wrapped a mummy.

These deities are associated with not only creation but also afterlife in Ancient Egypt...

Sources
Richard H. Wilkinson – The complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt (2003, Thames and Hundson).
Handbook of Egyptian Mythology by Geraldine Pinch.