Nu (mythology): Difference between revisions

In the beginning the universe only consisted of a great chaotic cosmic ocean, and the ocean itself was referred to as Nu. In some versions of this myth, at the beginning of time [[Mehet-Weret]], portrayed as a cow with a sun disk between her horns, gives birth to the sun, said to have risen from the waters of creation and to have given birth to the sun god [[Ra]] in some myths.<ref name="Wilkinson-2003"/> The universe was enrapt by a vast mass of primordial waters, and the Benben, a pyramid mound, emerged amid this primal chaos. There was a [[Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea|lotus flower]] with Benben,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-07-13 |title=Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths: From Watery Chaos to Cosmic Egg |url=https://www.glencairnmuseum.org/newsletter/2021/7/13/ancient-egyptian-creation-myths-from-watery-chaos-to-cosmic-egg |access-date=2023-05-21 |website=Glencairn Museum |language=en-US}}</ref> and from this when it blossomed emerged Ra.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lotus - Sunnataram Forest Monastery |url=https://www.sunnataram.org/dhamma-teachings/lotus |access-date=2023-05-21 |website=www.sunnataram.orgcn}}</ref> There were many versions of the sun's emergence, and it was said to have emerged directly from the mound or from a lotus flower that grew from the mound, in the form of a heron, falcon, scarab beetle, or human child.<ref name="Allen 144">{{cite book |last=Allen |first=James P. |year=2010 |title=Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs |publisher= Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1139486354 |page=144}}</ref><ref name="Wilkinson-2003">{{cite book |last=Wilkinson |first=Richard H. |url=https://archive.org/details/completegodsgodd00wilk_0/page/206 |title=The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=2003 |isbn=0-500-05120-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/completegodsgodd00wilk_0/page/206 206–207]}}</ref> In [[Heliopolis (Ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]], the creation was attributed to [[Atum]], a deity closely associated with Ra, who was said to have existed in the waters of Nu as an inert potential being.