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The Creation Myths

[6]The Ennead of Heliopolis, part I - [7]The Ennead of Heliopolis,
part II - [8]Amun, Creator at Thebes"
[9]Ptah of Memphis - [10]The Ogdoad of Hermopolis - [11]Khmun and the
Potter's Wheel - [12]Nit - Creatrix

Khunum and the Potter's Wheel

_Khnum - Creator of Humans_

The only cosmogony where humans are taken into account is the one
which places Khnum as the Creator. While the others concern themselves
only with cosmic events, this one brings a link from the god going
directly to humans.

_Khnum, Master of the Inundation_

Khnum was a ram-headed deity, called 'high of plumes, sharp of horns'.
His origin was the cataract of the Nile around the area of
Elephantine. According to the myth, he controlled the caverns of Hapy,
the personification of the Nile, and therefore he also controlled the
inundation. In this capacity he was a deity who brought prosperity to
the land, a benefactor the the people.

He was also worshipped in the form of a ram, in fact, his name Khnum
could mean just that. Rams were sacred to him and have been found
mummified with gilded head-pieces at Elephantine.

One of the earliest traces of Khnum is on a stela erected at Seheil
island overlooking the cataract. It is from Ptolemaic times and is
believed to be a copy of an original inscription from the time of King
Djoser (3rd Dyn), who promises the renovation of the temple of Khnum
if the god returns prosperity to Egypt after years of famine.

_The Potter's Wheel_

But though traces of Khnum at Elephantine go back to the early
dynastic period, it is from the New Kingdom and Graeco-Roman
inscriptions at Esna which we get the picture of Khnum as creator god.
Not only Egyptians but also foreigners and their different languages,
and all kinds of animals were created by him, which indicates Khnum as
a universal creator god. He created humans on his potterīs wheel,
often commissioned to do so by other deities. He placed the seed in
their mothers' wombs and together with Heket, the goddess of
childbirth, he assisted at the deliverance. At the same time as he
formed the child, Khnum also formed the 'ka' of the child, a concept
which is hard to translate, 'spirit' is not really correct, but the
best we can do here.

A detailed description of how he went about creating humans is found
at the temple at Esna. It describes how he goes about ordering the
bloodstream to cover the bones, and how he made the skin enclose the
body. He then made the respiratory system and the food digestion. It
was all cited on the Festival of the Potterīs Wheel.

In his capacity of creator god, Khnum was called 'father of the
fathers, mother ot the mothers'. Not only that, but in the south of
Egypt he was embodying the whole world, so that the sun and heaven,
the air, the netherworld and the earth in the form of Re, Shu, Osiris
and Geb were united in him, and he could therefore be depicted with
four heads.

He has connections with the deities Satet and Anuket, together with
these the Triad of Elephantine is formed. They assist him in
supervising the cataract area. Also Nit (Neith), who is the foremost
deity visiting his temple, has an associciation with him in his name
of 'lord of the crocodiles', as in the Pyramid Period she was called
the mother of the crocodile deity Sobek.

_Khnum and the Theban Theogony_

The myth of Khnum creating the child on his potterīs wheel was used by
rulers to legalize their claim to the throne, which can be seen at
reliefs from both the time of Hatshepsut (at Deir el-Bahri) and the
time of Amunhotep III (1391-1353 B.C) at Thebes.

On a series of reliefs where Amun in the form of Thutmosis IV is
visiting the queen Mut-em-Wiya, we see how Khnum is delegated to
create the product of the union. The reliefs show how Amun approaches
Khnum, both are holding sceptres and ankhs. Next, we see Khnum sitting
on a throne, in front of him are two children on a potterīs wheel.
This is the future king Amenhotep III and his ka. The goddess Het-Hert
(Hathor) sits by the wheel, holding up the sign of life, the ankh.
After that the reliefs show the queen Mut-em-Wiya assisted by two
midwifes giving birth to the future king.

These mythical events were used as a means to secure the king as
descendant of the king of the gods, Amun. By the intervention of Amun
the queen became a momentary spouse of the god himself, and with the
help of Khnum, the next king was created. The queen was in no way
breaking any mundane marital laws, and of course neither did the High
God. On the other hand, myth was directly impinging on reality as a
means to put the Divine Kingship into direct line to the realm of the
Gods.

Sources:
Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt by R.T. Rundle Clark, Thames &
Hudson, pbk 1993.
Egyptian Myths by George Hart, British Museum Press, 1997.
A dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses by George Hart, 1986
The Ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts, transl: R.O. Faulkner, Aris &
Phillips 1973
The Book of Going Forth by Day, transl: George Allen, Univ. of Chicago
Press 1974
The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, transl: R.O. Faulkner, Clarendon
Press, 1969
Egyptian Religion by Siegfried Morenz, Cornell University Press 1992