The Goddess, Tefnut
Tefnut, Goddess of Rain, Air, Moisture, Weather, Dew, Lions, Fertility, and Water
The goddess Tefnut with the head of a lioness sitting on her throne.
Major cult center Heliopolis, Leontopolis
Symbol Lioness
Consort Shu
Parents Ra or Atum and Iusaaset
Siblings Shu
Hathor
Sekhmet
Offspring Geb and Nut
Tefnut (/ˈtɛfˌnʊt/; Egyptian: Tefenet) is a goddess of moisture, moist air, dew and rain in Ancient Egyptian religion.[1] She is the sister and consort of the air god Shu and the mother of Geb and Nut.
Contents [hide]
1 Etymology
2 Mythological origins
3 Iconography
4 Cult centres
5 Mythology
6 References
Etymology[edit]
Literally translating as "That Water",[2] the name Tefnut has been linked to the verb 'tfn' meaning 'to spit'[3] and versions of the creation myth say that Ra (or Atum) spat her out and her name was written as a mouth spitting in late texts.[4]
like most Egyptian deities, including her brother, Tefnut has no single ideograph or symbol. Her name in hieroglyphics consists of four single phonogram symbols t-f-n-t. Although the n phonogram is a representation of waves on the surface of water, it was never used as an ideogram or determinative for the word water (mw), or for anything associated with water.[5]
Mythological origins[edit]
A menat (a musical instrument similar to the sistrum) depicting the goddess Tefnut and her husband-brother Shu.
Tefnut is a daughter of the solar god Ra-Atum. Married to her brother, Shu, she is mother of Nut, the sky and Geb, the earth. Tefnut's grandchildren were Osiris, Isis, Set, Nephthys, and in some versions, Horus the Elder (Heru Wer). She was also a great grandmother of Horus the Younger. Alongside her father, brother, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchild, she is a member of the Ennead of Heliopolis.
There are a number of variants to the myth of the creation of Tefnut and her twin brother Shu. In all versions, Tefnut is the product of parthenogenesis, and all involve some variety of bodily fluid.
In the Heliopolitan creation myth, the solar god Atum ****es to produce Tefnut and Shu.[6]
Atum was creative in that he proceeded to ****e himself in Heliopolis. He took his **** in his hand so that he might obtain the pleasure of orgasm thereby. And brother and sister were born - that is Shu and Tefnut. Pyramid Text 527[7]
In some versions of this myth, Atum also swallows his semen, and spits it out to form the twins, or else the spitting of his saliva forms the act of procreation. Both of these versions contain a play on words, the tef sound which forms the first syllable of the name Tefnut also constitutes a word meaning "to spit" or "to expectorate".[7]
The Coffin Texts contain references to Shu being sneezed out by Atum from his nose, and Tefnut being spat out like saliva. The Bremner-Rind Papyrus and the Memphite Theology describe Atum ****ing into his mouth, before spitting out his semen to form the twins.[8]
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