Ancient Egyptian Religion · deity
Tefnut
Tefnut
deitymoisturerainthe first divine pair (with Shu)
Goddess of moisture and rain, sister and consort of Shu; together they are the first divine pair.
The account
Who they are
Tefnut is the goddess of moisture, rain, and the cool air, the sister and consort of Shu [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic. She is the first divine pair with Shu, and their children are Geb and Nut [S1]S1 · Pyramid Textsc. 2400–2300 BCEtextOpen source ↗[S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic. Tefnut is also associated with the 'Eye of Ra' — in one myth she is the angry eye that Ra sent out to punish humanity, and who became Sekhmet (or was calmed and became Hathor) [S3]S3 · Plutarch, On Isis and Osirisc. 79 CEtextOpen source ↗[S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
Worth knowing
- Goddess of moisture and rain [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
- The first divine pair with Shu [S1]S1 · Pyramid Textsc. 2400–2300 BCEtextOpen source ↗[S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
- Associated with the 'Eye of Ra' myth [S3]S3 · Plutarch, On Isis and Osirisc. 79 CEtextOpen source ↗[S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
Uncertainties & variants
- Tefnut's identification with the 'Eye of Ra' is one of several identifications; the Eye is a fluid concept in Egyptian thought [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
Relationships (5)
Connections
Family & kinship
Partners
PARTNER_OFShu — Shu and Tefnut are the first divine couple.[S1] [S4]
Creation
CREATEDAtum-Ra (the primordial waters' first god) — Atum-Ra created Tefnut.[S1] [S4]
Local graph
Their corner of the divine world
Viewhierarchical — generations top → bottom, partners side by side
Overlays
FocusTefnutEgyptian
- parentage
- marriage ♥
far = primordials · medium = all · close = detail — scroll/pan, click a deity to focus
1 story
The Heliopolitan Creation (Atum-Ra)
In the Heliopolitan tradition, the self-created god Atum-Ra rose from the primordial waters (Nun) — sometimes on a mound of earth (the benben). From his own body he created Shu (air) and Tefnut (moisture), the first divine pair. Their children were Geb (earth) and Nut (sky). This is the genealogy behind the Osiris cycle [S1]S1 · Pyramid Textsc. 2400–2300 BCEtextOpen source ↗[S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
Depictions
