Atum

Atum (alternatively spelled Tem, Temu, Tum, and Atem) is an early deity in Egyptian mythology, whose cult centred on the Ennead of Heliopolis. <etymology>

Atum in an Egyptian Context

Atum in hieroglyphs

As an Egyptian deity, Atum belonged to a complex religious, mythological and cosmological belief system developed in the Nile river basin from earliest prehistory to 525 B.C.E. Indeed, it was during this relatively late period in Egyptian cultural development, a time when they first felt their beliefs threatened by foreigners, that many of their myths, legends and religious beliefs were first recorded. The cults within this framework, whose beliefs comprise the myths we have before us, were generally fairly localized phenomena, with different deities having the place of honor in different communities. Despite this apparently unlimited diversity, however, the gods (unlike those in many other pantheons) were relatively ill-defined. As Frankfort notes, “the Egyptian gods are imperfect as individuals. If we compare two of them … we find, not two personages, but two sets of functions and emblems. … The hymns and prayers addressed to these gods differ only in the epithets and attributes used. There is no hint that the hymns were addressed to individuals differing in character.” One reason for this was the undeniable fact that the Egyptian gods were seen as utterly immanental—they represented (and were continuous with) particular, discrete elements of the natural world. Thus, those who did develop characters and mythologies were generally quite portable, as they could retain their discrete forms without interfering with the various cults already in practice elsewhere. Also, this flexibility was what permitted the development of multipartite cults (i.e. the cult of Amun-Re, which unified the domains of Amun and Re), as the spheres of influence of these various deities were often complimentary.

The worldview engendered by ancient Egyptian religion was uniquely appropriate to (and defined by) the geographical and calendrical realities of its believer’s lives. Unlike the beliefs of the Hebrews, Mesopotamians and others within their cultural sphere, the Egyptians viewed both history and cosmology as being well ordered, cyclical and dependable. As a result, all changes were interpreted as either inconsequential deviations from the cosmic plan or cyclical transformations required by it. The major result of this perspective, in terms of the religious imagination, was to reduce the relevance of the present, as the entirety of history (when conceived of cyclically) was ultimately defined during the creation of the cosmos. The only other aporia in such an understanding is death, which seems to present a radical break with continuity. To maintain the integrity of this worldview, an intricate system of practices and beliefs (including the extensive mythic geographies of the afterlife, texts providing moral guidance (for this life and the next) and rituals designed to facilitate the transportation into the afterlife) was developed, whose primary purpose was to emphasize the unending continuation of existence. Given these two cultural foci, it is understandable that the tales recorded within this mythological corpus tended to be either creation accounts or depictions of the world of the dead, with a particular focus on the relationship between the gods and their human constituents.

Mythological Accounts

In the archaic Egyptian pantheon, Atum was the chief god in the Ennead of Heliopolis (the capital of the Lower Kingdom). This place of primacy in early religious thought is attested to in the Pyramid Texts, where he receives more attention than many other gods combined. In spite of his early prominence, the various roles originally filled by Atum were eventually assumed by other gods, including Horus (who eventually came to be seen as the preeminent god of kings), and Ra/Amun (both of whom inherited his solar and creative aspects). Despite the waning of his influence, Atum remained a vibrant part of Egyptian myth and religious observance throughout the dynastic history and into the Common Era.

Creator

In an early version of the Enneadic cosmogony, Atum was seen as the solitary, primordial living being, having arisen by his own force from the chaotic waters of Nun. Once he emerged onto the primordial mound (benben), he took it upon himself to create the cosmos (personalized as Shu (air) and Tefnut (moisture), and their children Geb (earth) and Nut (sky)). To accomplish this feat, the monadic deity proceeded to loose his vital fluids (either spittle, mucus, or semen) upon the waiting earth, from which sprang up the second generation of divinities. Two early versions of the creation tale are found in the Pyramid Texts. In the first, creation occurs through masturbation; in the second, it happens through expectoration.

Pyramid Texts (Utterance 527)

To say: Atum created by his masturbation in Heliopolis.

He put his phallus in his fist,

to excite desire thereby.

The twins were born, Shu and Tefnut.

 

Pyramid Texts (Utterance 600)

To say: O Atum-Khepri, when thou didst mount as a hill,

and didst shine as bnw of the ben (or, benben) in the temple of the "phoenix" in Heliopolis,

and didst spew out as Shu, and did spit out as Tefnut,

(then) thou didst put thine arms about them, as the arm(s) of a ka, that thy ka might be in them.

An important religious theme, addressed for the first time in this text, is the idea that the actual substance (in this case, the soul or ka) of the creator is passed onto and possessed by His creation. Such a monistic/monotheistic notion, which achieved fruition under Akhenaten, was already implied by the etymological connection between the Atum's name and the notion of "completion" (described above).

a belief strongly associated with Atum's nature as an hermaphrodite (his name meaning completeness). Strictly, the myth states that Atum ejaculated his Semen into his mouth, impregnating himself, possibly indicating autofellatio, which has lead many to misinterpret (euphemistically) the myth as indicating creation from mucus.

Later belief held that Shu and Tefnut were created by Atum having sex with his shadow, which was referred to as Iusaaset (also spelt Juesaes, Ausaas, Iusas, and Jusas, and in Greek as Saosis), meaning (the) great (one who) comes forth. Consequently, Iusaaset was seen as the mother and grandmother of the gods. The strength, hardiness, medical properties, and edibility, lead the acacia tree to be considered the tree of life, and thus the oldest, which was situated close to, and north of, Heliopolis, was said to be the birthplace of the gods. Thus, as the mother, and grandmother, of the gods, Iusaaset was said to own this tree.

Solar Deity

Originally associated with the earth, Atum gradually became considered to be the sun, as it passes the horizon. The separateness of the two instances per day that this occurs, led to the aspect of Atum that was young, namely the rising sun, becoming considered a separate god, named Nefertum (literally meaning young Atum), and consequently Atum became mainly understood as the setting sun.

In later years, the Ennead mythos, and an alternative mythos, that of the Ogdoad, merged, and since Ra, from the Ogdoad, was also the creator (in that system), and a solar deity, their two identities merged, into Atum-Ra. But as Ra was the whole sun, and Atum just the sun when it sets, it was Atum who was thought of as an aspect of Ra, and eventually subsumed into him. When this happened, his shadow, Iusaaset, was described as Rat, which is simply the feminine form of Ra. As both the cosmogony associated with Ra and that of Atum said that the origin of each was the primordial waters, when, in later years, Neith came to embody these waters, Iusaaset became considered an aspect of Neith rather than Atum-Ra.

Atum and the Pharaohs

At one point Egyptians believed that Atum lifted the dead king's soul from his pyramid to the starry heavens.

Iconography

In art, Atum was always considered as a man, enthroned, or sometimes standing, and depicted wearing both the crown of Upper Egypt, and that of Lower Egypt. In his later form as the setting sun, as opposed to Nefertum, Atum was depicted in the same manner but as an aged man. However, it was sometimes said that Atum was originally a serpent, a form to which he was said to be destined to return when the world ends, only changing into a human during its existence.

Atum was represented as scarab.

References

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This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

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