| In Egyptian
mythology, Mut (mother) was originally
a title of the primordial waters of
the cosmos, Naunet, in the Ogdoad
cosmogeny. However, the distinction
between motherhood, and cosmic water,
lead to the seperation of these identities,
and Mut gained aspects of a creator
goddess, since she was the mother
from which the cosmos emerged. In
the Middle Kingdom, when Thebes grew
in importance, its patron, Amun
also became more significant, and
so his wife Amaunet, who was simply
a female version of Amun,
was replaced with a more substantial
mother-goddess, namely Mut. |
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The hieroglyph for her name, and indeed for mother was that
of a vulture, which the Egyptians believed were very maternal
creatures. Indeed, since Egyptian vultures have no significant
differing markings between female and male of the species,
the Egyptians believed there were no males, and so they did
not reproduce but were conceived by the wind itself. Consequently,
it was held that Mut had no parents, but was created from
nothing, and that she could not have children, and so adopted
one instead.
Originally, it was said that Mut had adopted Menthu, god
of war, making up a complete triad of gods for the pantheon
of Thebes. This choice of completion for the triad should
have proved popular, but, because the sacred lake outside
Mut's temple, at Thebes, was the shape of a crescent moon,
Menthu was eventually replaced as Mut's adopted son, by Chons,
the moon god.
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Lower and upper Egypt both already
had a patron deity – Wadjet
and Nekhbet
respectively, indeed they also had
lioness protector deities – Bast
and Sekhmet
respectively, and consequently, as
Thebes rose to even greater prominence,
so these goddesses were absorbed by
Mut in turn. First, Mut became Mut-Wadjet-Bast,
then Mut-Sekhmet-Bast (Wadjet
having merged into Bast),
then Mut also assimilated Menhit,
who was also a lioness goddess, and
her adopted son's wife, becoming Mut-Sekhmet-Bast-Menhit,
and finally becoming Mut-Nekhbet. |
The authority of Thebes later waned, and Amun was assimilated
into Ra, Mut, the doting virgin mother, was assimilated into
Ra's wife, Hathor, the lusty cow-goddess and mother of Horus.
Subsequently, when Ra assimilated Atum, the Ennead was absorbed
as well, and so Mut-Hathor became identified as Isis (either
as Isis-Hathor or Mut-Isis-Nekhbet), the most important of
the females in the Ennead, and the patron of the queen. The
Ennead proved to be a much more successful identity, and so
it was that the compound of Mut, Hathor, and Isis, became
known as Isis alone.
| In Art, Mut was pictured as a woman
with the wings of a vulture, holding
an ankh, wearing
the united crown of Upper and Lower
Egypt and also a dress of bright red/blue,
with the feather of Maat
at her feet. Alternatively, as a result
of her assimilations, she is sometimes
depicted as a cobra, a cat, a cow,
or as a lioness. Some of Mut's titles
included World-Mother, Eye of Ra,
Queen of the Goddesses, Lady of Heaven,
Mother of the Gods, and She Who Gives
Birth, But Was Herself Not Born of
Any. |
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