Nun

**Nun**


 * Other Names:**[[image:nun.jpg width="222" height="332" align="right"]]

Nu


 * Meaning of Name:**

“Abyss”


 * Hieroglyphics:**




 * Titles:**

"Father of the Gods"

"Maker of Humankind"


 * Family:**

Nun was thought to be the father of Thoth, or to have been created by Thoth. Many gods were said to have been born from the waters of Nun, such as Ra, Apophis, Heryshaf, and Neheb-Kau. His wife was Naunet.

One of the Ogdoad, an ancient god of creation and the waters of chaos. The name of Nun was written with the hieroglyphic sign for water, and he was represented by the purifying lakes which belonged to every temple. The deep “well” shafts and steeply descending passageways in some of the New Kingdom royal tombs appear to symbolically descend toward the underlying waters of Nun in order to tie them to the underlying basis of creation, and thus recreation and rebirth. Nun was thought to purify and refresh the deceased on their way through the Duat, offering them "pure water," the most precious of all substances in desert countries.

Egyptian respect for the wisdom of old age led to Nun being revered as a wise counselor. Praise was given for honoring elders - "an obedient son is a follower of Horus" was a common motto. The hieroglyphic of an old man with a cane meant "to learn." In Egyptian scriptures Nun was called “Infinity, Nothingness, Nowhere and Darkness.” The Egyptians believed that when people slept, their spirits went to be rejuvenated in the waters of Nun. He was associated with Nile floods, ground water, and the seas which surrounded dry land. Mankind and gods were to feast on the "fishes of Nun." In religious scenes the king pours out water before Nun from vases made of turquoise, silver, gold, and lapis lazuli, ritually returning the life-giving water to its source.

Nun was depicted as a bearded man with green or blue skin, standing waist-high in water, supporting the sacred barque of Ra or the sun disk. In one hand he holds a palm frond, a symbol of long life, and wears another one in his hair. One some occasions he was depicted as a frog, a bull, or as a frog-headed man.


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

The Pyramid Texts say, “Your offering-cake belongs to you, Nun and Naunet, who protects the gods, who guards the gods with your shadows.”

Egyptian Deities - N