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In the Ennead mythology, Nuit (alternatively spelt Nut) was
the sky goddess, in contrast to most other mythologies, which
usually have a sky father. Nuit is a daughter of Shu, god of
the air, and Tefnut, goddess of moistness. Her husband was Geb,
the earth, with whom she had 4 children: Ausare (Osiris), Aset
(Isis), Set, and Nebet Het (Nephthys). In myth, she originally
lay eternally having sex with Geb, but Shu (the air) later separated
them, and it was said that if she ever returned to that position,
chaos would reign (because the world was the bit that existed
between the two).
Originally she was the goddess of the daytime sky, but in
later times became the sky in general. The sun god, at this
point Ra, was thought, on his nightly voyage, to enter her
mouth after the sun set, and be reborn from her vulva when
the sun rises. She also swallowed and re-birthed the stars,
and thus was regarded as an eternal mother, and also goddess
of resurrection.
In art, Nuit was usually depicted as a naked woman with her
back arched over the heavens, facing Geb, who lay with his
phallus pointed toward her. Often, this image was painted
on the inside lid of sarcophagi as a reminder of resurrection.
When depicted standing up separately from Geb, she appeared
with a water pot on her head (which happened to be the hieroglyph
for nuit), and with the colour indigo, representative of the
night sky. Sometimes she appeared in the form of a cow whose
great body formed the sky and heavens, a sycamore tree, or
as a giant sow, suckling many piglets, which represent the
stars.
Gods
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