Atum

Atum


 * Other Names:**

Tum, Tem, Itm


 * Hieroglyphics:**




 * Titles:**

“Lord to the Limit of the Sky”

"Father of the King of Egypt"

“Lord of All”

“He Who Came into Being of Himself”

"Lord of Heliopolis" (the main center of his worship)

“The Great He-She” (because he embodied both the male and female aspects of life)


 * Family:**

Atum was the male counterpart of Iusaas, and as such was thought to be her husband. He was thought to be the father of Heka and Nefertem, and sometimes Shu, Tefnut, Wadjet, and Bast.

Atum was thought to have arisen at the beginning of time and created the first gods. His cult was a very ancient one. The “cool breezes of the north wind,” for which every dead man prayed, were supposed to proceed from him. Atum’s creative nature had two sides to it – he was the uncreator and well as the creator. Thus, in the Book of the Dead, Atum states that at the end of the world he will destroy everything he has made and return to the form of the great primeval serpent.

In the Old Kingdom it was believed that Atum lifted the dead king's soul from his pyramid to the starry heavens so that he could become a god. Atum was revered not only as the father of the gods but also as the father of pharaohs. The title "Son of Atum" was included in the many titles of the king, even after the pharaohs styled themselves "Sons of Ra." Atum provided protection to the deceased in the Duat and punished hostile forces. Amulets and small reliquaries of lizards – one of Atum’s symbols – were popular in the Late Period.

A sun god, Atum was depicted as the setting sun (Ra was the rising sun,) or as an obelisk. He was also pictured as a lion, a monkey (sometimes armed with a bow and arrow), a black bull named Mnevis, a scarab, a ram-headed man, a bearded man wearing the Double Crown, a mongoose, an eel, the planet Venus, the Bennu bird, or as a horned viper. Atum was thought to have green eyes, reminders that his original form was a serpent.


 * Feast and Holy Days:**

September 23rd (Honors to Atum)

March 15th (Offerings to Atum)


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

Hymns of Atum


 * Egyptian Names Honoring This Deity:**

Si-Atum ("Chosen of Atum")

Egyptian Deities - A