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.
Ancient Egyptian religion spanned three millennia. There is no single 'official' version: Heliopolitan, Memphite, and Hermopolitan creation traditions coexisted and are presented in parallel, not merged into a genealogy that never existed.
This is ONE of several Egyptian creation traditions. We do not present it as 'the' Egyptian creation — we present all three [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
The Primordial Waters
Atum-Ra Rises
Shu and Tefnut
Geb and Nut
Variants of this story (2)
In Memphis, Ptah is the self-created creator who fashions the world 'in his heart and mouth' [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
In Hermopolis, creation begins with the Ogdoad (eight primeval deities), not a single self-created god [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.