Myths featuring Nut

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Ra Retiring to the Heavens on the Back of the Sky Cow Nut

🏺 Egyptian MythologyHeliopolis (Cairo), EgyptRa • Nut • Shu

As the sun god Ra aged, he faced a rebellion from humans who mocked his frailty, leading him to nearly destroy mankind using his 'Eye' in the form of Sekhmet. After sparing humanity with a clever trick involving red-dyed beer, a weary Ra decided to leave the earthly realm, ascending to the heavens on the back of the sky-goddess Nut in her form as a celestial cow. This myth explains the...

Isis Discovering Ra's True, Secret Name to Steal His Power

🏺 Egyptian MythologyHeliopolis, CairoRa • Isis • Horus

In the ancient city of Heliopolis, the goddess Isis sought to elevate her son Horus to the throne by obtaining the secret name of the sun god Ra. Knowing that Ra’s true name held the essence of his power, she used his own divine saliva to create a magical serpent that poisoned him. As Ra withered in pain, Isis offered a cure only in exchange for his hidden name, eventually forcing the king of...

Thoth Winning Five Extra Days in a Game of Senet Against Khonsu

🏺 Egyptian MythologyHermopolis (El Ashmunein), EgyptThoth • Khonsu • Nut

Ra cursed the goddess Nut so she could never give birth on any day of the year. Thoth, the god of wisdom, challenged the moon god Khonsu to a game of Senet to win a fraction of his light. Thoth won enough moonlight to create five extra days, allowing Nut to finally bear her five divine children.

Nut Giving Birth to Osiris on the First Intercalary Day

🏺 Egyptian MythologyThebes (Luxor), EgyptNut • Geb • Ra

When the sun god Ra cursed the sky goddess Nut so she could not give birth on any day of the year, the wise god Thoth intervened. By winning moonlight in a game of chance with the moon god Khonsu, Thoth created five extra days that existed outside the standard calendar. On the first of these intercalary days, Nut gave birth to Osiris, the god who would eventually become the lord of the...

Horus Coming of Age and Challenging Set Before the Ennead

🏺 Egyptian MythologyHeliopolis, CairoHorus • Set • Isis

After reaching adulthood, Horus, the son of Osiris, challenged his uncle Set for the throne of Egypt before the divine tribunal known as the Ennead. For eighty years, the two gods engaged in magical contests and legal battles while the gods of Heliopolis debated the rightful heir. Ultimately, with the intervention of Osiris from the underworld and the wisdom of Isis, Horus was crowned king,...

Hathor Transforming into the Bloodthirsty Lioness Sekhmet

🏺 Egyptian MythologyMemphis (Mit Rahina), EgyptRa • Hathor • Sekhmet

When the sun god Ra becomes aged and human subjects plot against his rule, he sends his daughter Hathor to punish them. Transforming into the terrifying lioness Sekhmet, she begins a slaughter so vast it threatens to extinguish all life, forcing Ra to use a clever trick involving dyed beer to pacify her.

Ra Bitten by the Invisible Snake, Suffering Agonizing, Incurable Pain

🏺 Egyptian MythologyHeliopolis (Ancient Egypt)Ra • Isis • Horus

The sun god Ra, having grown old and physically frail, is poisoned by a magical serpent created from his own saliva by the cunning goddess Isis. In order to be cured of the agonizing and incurable venom, Ra is forced to reveal his secret, true name to Isis, granting her and her lineage immense power over the cosmos.

Ra Plucking Out His Eye and Sending It as Hathor to Punish Humanity

🏺 Egyptian MythologyHeliopolis (Cairo), EgyptRa • Hathor • Sekhmet

As the sun god Ra grew old, humanity began to plot against him, leading Ra to send his Eye in the form of a goddess to punish them. The Eye's destructive rage nearly wiped out all of mankind until Ra devised a clever plan to pacify her with red-dyed beer. This myth explains the dual nature of the goddess as both a fierce protectress and a lady of joy, as well as the origins of the Nile's...

Set Tearing His Way Out of Nut's Womb

🏺 Egyptian MythologyOmbos (Naqada), EgyptSet • Nut • Geb

In the early ages of the Egyptian cosmos, the sky goddess Nut was forbidden from giving birth on any day of the year. Through Thoth's cunning, five extra days were created, during which Nut's children were born, including the chaotic god Set. Unlike his siblings, Set violently forced his way out of his mother's side, marking his arrival with turmoil and establishing his cult at Ombos.

Ra Growing Old and Humans Rebelling Against His Rule

🏺 Egyptian MythologyHeliopolis (Cairo), EgyptRa • Atum • Sekhmet

As the sun god Ra grew physically frail with age, his human subjects plotted a rebellion against his divine authority in the deserts. Ra responded by unleashing the terrifying lioness Sekhmet to punish them, but he eventually used a clever ruse involving red-dyed beer to save humanity from total extinction.