A daughter to Shu and Tefnut and the wife of Geb, Nut always represented the earth as her favorite theme. She was also the goddess of the day and a place in the sky where the rain bearing clouds formed. However, with the advent of middle Ages, she started representing the entire sky instead of just cloudily ones. She carried a pail of water over her head and both her hands and feet touched the earthy ground to form a neat circle. Symbolically speaking, this posture represented the heavens and the sky. The god of the air, Shu (her father) holds her high in his arm, while her husband, Geb lies on the ground with one of his elbows reclining on the soil and the knees high in the air. This unusual posture symbolizes the high hills and deep valleys of Egypt.

Here is an interesting myth about the Goddess Nut:

  • Nut gives birth to the Sun deity almost on a daily basis
  • He starts to pass over her body, until he touches her mouth at sunset period.
  • Then, by night break he enters her mouth and the body
  • By next morning, he takes another birth to repeat the whole process again.

Nut gave birth to four beautiful children whose names are:

There is a detailed account of these children took their birth in a book called The Story of Re. These children took their birth on five epagomenal days of a particular year. These days of the year were the holiest of all days in year and the Egyptians had separate meanings for them:

  • Osiris, the day that is very unlucky
  • Horus the Elder, the day that is both lucky as well as unlucky.
  • Seth, the day that is considered an unlucky day
  • Isis, which is extremely lucky day called “a beautiful and a great festival of heaven and earth”
  • Nephthys, the day that is unlucky

Quote

Nut was the goddess of the sky and all heavenly bodies, a symbol of protecting the dead when they enter the after life. According to the Egyptians, during the day, the heavenly bodies—such as the sun and moon—would make their way across her body…

Quote Source: Wikipedia

Nut Image By A. Parrot (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons

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