| In Egyptian
mythology, Khnum (also spelt Chnum)
was one of the earliest Egyptian
gods, originally the god of the
source of the Nile River. Since the
annual flooding of the Nile brought
with it silt and clay, and its water
brought life to its surrounds, he
was thought to be the creator of human
children, which he made at a potter's
wheel, from clay, and places them
in their mothers' uteruses. Indeed,
before the cult of Ra
gained prominence, he was said by
those who worshipped him to have moulded
the other Gods, and he had the titles
Divine Potter and Lord of created
things from himself. |
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In certain locations, such as Elephantine, since Khnum was
thought of as a god pouring out the nile, he was regarded
as the husband of Satis (who did much the same), and the father
of Anuket, who represented the Nile itself. In other locations,
such as Antinoe, as the moulder and creator of the human body,
he was sometimes regarded as the consort of Heget, since it
was her responsible for breathing life into his creations.
Alternatively, in places such as Esna, due to his aspect as
creator of the body, they viewed him as the father of Heka,
who activated the Ka, and consequently as the husband of Menhit.
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Originally one of the most important
gods, when other areas arose to greater
prominence, it was the secondary function,
as potter, that became his whole realm
of authority, and the nile was considered
the god Hapi,
who was the nile god in the more powerful
areas, instead. His name derives from
this secondary association - it means
builder. However, Khnum's earlier
position as moulder of the other gods,
lead to him being identified as Ra,
or more particularly as the Ba of
Ra. Since Ba
is also the word for a Ram, he became
thought of as having a Ram's head. |
In art, he was usually depicted as a Ram headed man at a
potter's wheel, with recently created children standing on
the wheel, although he also appeared in his earlier guise
as a water-god, holding a jar from which flowed a stream of
water. However, he occasionally appeared in a compound image,
depicting the elements, in which he, representing water, was
shown as one of four heads of a man, with the others being
Geb representing earth, Sha representing
the air, and Osiris representing death. Some think this is
a depiction which may have had an influence on Ezekiel and
Revelations, as Khnum had a Ram's head, Sha sometimes appeared
with a Lion's head, Osiris was a man, and Geb had a goose
on his head.
| The worship of Khnum centred on
two principal riverside sites, Elephantine
Island and Esna, which were regarded
as sacred sites. At Elephantine, he
was worshipped alongside Anuket
and Satis
as the guardian of the sources of
the River Nile. His significance lead
to early theophoric names of him for
children, such as Khnum-khufu –
Khnum is Protector, the full name
of Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid.
Due to his importance, as an aspect
of the life-giving nile, and also
the creator, Khnum was still worshipped
in some semi-Christian sects in the
2nd or 3rd Centuries. |
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