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In Egyptian mythology,
Khnum (also spelt Chnum) was one of the earliest Egyptian
gods, originally the god of the source of the Nile River.
Since the annual flooding of the Nile brought with it silt
and clay, and its water brought life to its surrounds, he
was thought to be the creator of human children, which he
made at a potter's wheel, from clay, and places them in their
mothers' uteruses. Indeed, before the cult of Ra
gained prominence, he was said by those who worshipped him
to have moulded the other Gods, and he had the titles Divine
Potter and Lord of created things from himself.
In certain locations, such as Elephantine, since Khnum was
thought of as a god pouring out the nile, he was regarded
as the husband of Satis (who did much the same), and the father
of Anuket, who represented the Nile itself. In other locations,
such as Antinoe, as the moulder and creator of the human body,
he was sometimes regarded as the consort of Heget, since it
was her responsible for breathing life into his creations.
Alternatively, in places such as Esna, due to his aspect as
creator of the body, they viewed him as the father of Heka,
who activated the Ka, and consequently as the husband of Menhit.
Originally one of the most important gods, when other areas
arose to greater prominence, it was the secondary function,
as potter, that became his whole realm of authority, and the
nile was considered the god Hapi, who was the nile god in
the more powerful areas, instead. His name derives from this
secondary association - it means builder. However, Khnum's
earlier position as moulder of the other gods, lead to him
being identified as Ra, or more particularly as the Ba of
Ra. Since Ba is also the word for a Ram, he became thought
of as having a Ram's head.
In art, he was usually depicted as a Ram headed man at a
potter's wheel, with recently created children standing on
the wheel, although he also appeared in his earlier guise
as a water-god, holding a jar from which flowed a stream of
water. However, he occasionally appeared in a compound image,
depicting the elements, in which he, representing water, was
shown as one of four heads of a man, with the others being
Geb representing earth, Sha representing
the air, and Osiris representing death. Some think this is
a depiction which may have had an influence on Ezekiel and
Revelations, as Khnum had a Ram's head, Sha sometimes appeared
with a Lion's head, Osiris was a man, and Geb had a goose
on his head.
The worship of Khnum centred on two principal riverside sites,
Elephantine Island and Esna, which were regarded as sacred
sites. At Elephantine, he was worshipped alongside Anuket
and Satis as the guardian of the sources of the River Nile.
His significance lead to early theophoric names of him for
children, such as Khnum-khufu – Khnum is Protector, the
full name of Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid. Due to his
importance, as an aspect of the life-giving nile, and also
the creator, Khnum was still worshipped in some semi-Christian
sects in the 2nd or 3rd Centuries.
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