Tefnut
From The Book of THoTH (Leaves of Wisdom)
| Tefnut in hieroglyphs |
| <hiero>t:f-n:t-I13</hiero> |
In Egyptian mythology, Tefnut is a goddess of water and fertility, indeed her name means moist waters (i.e. rain). She was created by Atum (who later was thought to be the same as Ra) from the semen which resulted from his primordial act of masturbation or autofellatio, or from his mucus, a mythology that may be related to the alternative translation of her name - spat waters. There is a ledgend relating to this which states that Atum sneezed once and Tefnut's brother Shu was born and when he coughed to clear his throat Tefnut was born. With her brother, Shu, she was the mother of Geb and Nuit.
In a myth describing the terrible weather disaster at the end of the Old Kingdom (which was responsible for the end of the Old Kingdom), it was said that Tefnut (moisture) and Shu once argued, and she left Egypt. The myth states that Shu quickly decided he missed her, but she fled to Nubia (somewhere much more temperate), and changed into a cat (symbolic of war), destroying any man or god that approached. Thoth, disguised, eventually succeeds in convincing her to return. Tefnut is sometimes depicted as a cat in reflection of this tale.
| Places: Nile | Upper and Lower Egypt | Abu Simbel | Abydos/Abdju | Alexandria | Al Fayyum/Atef-Pehu | Amarna/Akhetaten | Dahshur | Edfu | Elephantine/Abu/Yebu | Giza | Heliopolis/Annu/Iunu | Karnak | Luxor | Memphis/Ineb Hedj | Philae/Pilak | Qift/Coptos | Rosetta | Saqqara | Tanis/Djanet | Thebes/Niwt/Waset | Valley of the Kings | Valley of the Queens | ||||
| Great Ennead of Heliopolis: Atum | Shu | Tefnut| Geb | Nut (Nuit) | Osiris | Isis | Set | Nephthys | ||||
| Other Major Deities: Amun | Anubis | Apep | Apis | Aten | Bast | Djehuty | Hathor | Horus | Khepri | Chons | Maàt | Min | Neith | Ptah | Ra | Sekhmet | Sobek | Wepwawet | Heryshaf | ||||
| Ogdoad of Heliopolis: Amun/Amunet | Huh/Hauhet | Kuk/Kauket | Nun/Naunet | ||||
| War Deities: Anhur | Bast | Maahes | Pakhet | Sekhmet | ||||
| Deified Concepts: Chons | Hapy | Maàt | Min | Renenutet | Shai | Hu | Saa | ||||
| Other Deities: Bes | Chnum | Seker | Seshat | Tawaret | ||||
| Death: Mummy | Four sons of Horus | Canopic jars | Ankh | Book of the Dead | KV | Mortuary temple | Ushabti | ||||
| Buildings: Pyramids | Karnak Temple | Sphinx | Great Lighthouse | Great Library | Deir el-Bahri | Colossi of Memnon | Ramesseum | Abu Simbel | ||||
| Writing: Egyptian hieroglyphs | Egyptian numerals | Transliteration of ancient Egyptian | Demotic | Hieratic | ||||
| Chronology: Ancient Egypt | Ptolemaic Egypt | Roman Egypt | ||||
| Lists: List of Egyptian Dynasties | List of Pharaohs | ||||
| Science and Culture: Medicine | Architecture | Cats in Ancient Egypt | ||||
ca:Tefnut da:Tefnut de:Tefnut (Ägyptische Mythologie) es:Tefnut fi:Tefnut fr:Tefnout it:Tefnut lt:Tefnut nl:Tefnut pl:Tefnut ro:Tefnut scn:Tefnut sv:Tefnut zh:泰芙努特
Categories: Egyptian goddesses | Fertility goddesses | Sea and river goddesses
