Bennu

Bennu


 * Other Names:**[[image:fenix.jpg width="353" height="258" align="right" caption="Bennu in a barque"]]

Benu, Ben-Ben


 * Hieroglyphics:**

or


 * Meaning of Name:**

The name is related to the verb //weben//, meaning “to rise brilliantly,” or “to shine.”


 * Titles:**

“He Who Came Into Being by Himself”

“Ascending One”

“Lord of Jubilees”


 * Family:**

The Bennu was considered the //ba// (soul) of the god Atum, Ra, or Osiris.

The Bennu bird was the mythological phoenix of ancient Egypt. It was associated with the rising of the Nile, resurrection, and the sun. The image of the Bennu was frequently carved on scarab amulets to help with rebirth. When Tutankhamen's coffin was opened, a black scarab carved with a Bennu bird was one of the magical objects found on his mummy. The Bennu Bird was thought to lead the spirits of the dead through the dangers of the Duat. Some spells in the Book of the Dead aim to assist the deceased to transform themselves into Bennu birds, so that they can travel freely between worlds.

Standing alone on isolated rocks of islands of high ground during the floods, the heron represented the first life to appear on the primeval mound which rose from the watery chaos at the first creation. Being the oldest living creature, the cry of the Bennu was the point which time began. It was also the Bennu who would announce the end of time and the return of the world to chaos. According to Egyptian myth, the Bennu had created itself from a fire that was burned on a holy tree in one of the sacred precincts of the Temple of Ra. Other versions say that the Bennu bird burst forth from the heart of Osiris.

Because the Bennu represented creation and renewal, it was connected with the Egyptian calendar. Indeed, the //Hewet-Bennu// ("Temple of the Bennu") was well known for its time-keeping devices. The Bennu was supposed to have rested on a sacred pillar that was known as the //benben// stone, breaking the primeval silence with a cry. The Egyptian priests showed this pillar to visitors, who considered it the most holy place on earth. When Egyptian kings had reigned for thirty years, they prayed to the Bennu bird to renew their strength and vitality.

The Bennu was pictured as a grey, purple, blue, or white heron with a long beak and a two-feathered crest, sometimes wearing the sun-disk or the Atef Crown. This type of heron was thought to be the Grey Heron, or sometimes the Goliath Heron - however, Archaeologists have found the remains of a much larger heron that lived in the Persian Gulf area 5,000 years ago. There is some speculation that this bird may have been seen by Egyptian travelers and sparked the legend of a very large heron seen once every 500 years in Egypt. Reflecting this, the species was described as the Bennu Heron (//Ardea bennuides //).

Occasionally the Bennu was depicted as a yellow wagtail, or as a falcon with feathers of red and gold. In the most ancient portrayals the Bennu had bright blue feathers, to emphasize its association with the waters of the creation. In rare instances the Bennu was pictured as a man with the head of a heron, wearing a white or blue mummy dress under a transparent long coat.

The goddess Nephthys was considered the protectress of the Bennu Bird. The Metternich Stela makes a connection between the willow tree and the Bennu : "You will not die from the poison's burn, for you are the great Phoenix who was born on the branches of the willow tree in the princely house of Heliopolis." The planet Venus was called the "Star of the Barque of the Bennu."

Pliny the Elder gave the following description of the Bennu, which matches the description of a large heron very well: "It is said that there is only one in existence in the whole world, and that that one has not been seen very often. We are told that this bird is of the size of an eagle, and has a brilliant golden plumage around the neck, while the rest of the body is of a purple color; except the tail, which is azure, with long feathers intermingled of a roseate hue; the throat is adorned with a crest, and the head with a tuft of feathers."


 * Feast and Holy** **Days:**

October 28 (Day of Transformation Into the Bennu Bird)

October 30 (Coming Forth of the Bennu Transformed)


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

Hymns of Bennu

Egyptian Deities - B