Shu

Shu


 * Other** **Names:**

Su, Sw


 * Meaning of Name:**

His name is the root word for “dryness” and “parched” – //shu//.


 * Hieroglyphics:**




 * Titles:**

“He Who Rises Up”

"Lord of Air"

“Holder of the Sky”

**Family:**

Shu was thought to be the son of Atum and Mut, the brother-husband of Tefnut, and the father of Nut and Geb. Occasionally Shu’s wife was thought to be Heket, and his mother Neith.

One of the Ennead, the god of the wind and the atmosphere. Shu was also related to the sun, possibly as an aspect of sunlight. He was said to dwell within the sun’s disk. The Pyramid Texts suggest that the clouds are Shu’s bones. He was called to “lift up” the spirits of the dead so that they might rise up to the heaven, helping them ascend with a ladder (maqet.) Shu was credited with powers that renewed the cosmos, as the god who filled the universe with the very breath of life. The air itself was referred to as the “House of Shu” – mists were the “Lakes of Shu.” He was also thought to be the second divine pharaoh, ruling after Ra.

As a god of the wind, sailors invoked Shu to provide the good wind to power their barques. Shu was incorporated into everyday religion in prayers and spells, especially those that drove away demons. Shu protected Ra's barque from Apophis as it sailed through the Duat. Small amulets of Shu, made of faience, were popular. It was said that Shu and Tefnut were two parts of one soul. Shu was supposed to carry away hunger from the deceased, and Tefnut his thirst. In the Pyramid Texts Shu was closely involved in judging of the heart of the deceased: "Tefnut has weighed the heart and Ma’at has listened, and Shu has born witness."

Shu was pictured as man wearing an ostrich feather - the hieroglyphic symbol for his name - on his head. Sometimes he was shown wearing four tall plumes on his head, symbolizing the four pillars of heaven which supported the sky, or the sun-disk. Occasionally Shu was depicted as a lion, a man with a lion’s head, or as a column of air. Shu was sometimes thought of as a cosmic giant, “whose stride is the length of the sky.” His skin was often black or green as a reference to regeneration. During the reign of Akenaten, when many of the old gods were rejected, Tefnut and Shu remained in favor and Akhenaten and his wife were often depicted as these twin deities.


 * Quotes from the Book of the Dead and other sources:**

Hymn of Shu


 * Egyptian Names Honoring This Deity:**

Pes-shu-per, Nes-shu


 * Outside of Egypt:**

The Greeks associated Shu, the “Holder of the Sky,” with their god Atlas, who is always shown holding the world on his shoulders.

Egyptian Deities - S