Egyptian Creation Myth

According to Egyptian mythology, the Sun god Ra had four children. In this painting his son Shu stands on another son, Geb, who became the Earth. Shu, god of the air, raises up Ra’s daughter Nut, who became the sky.

According to the Egyptian account of creation, only the ocean existed at first. Then Ra, the Sun, came out of an egg (a flower, in some versions) that appeared on the surface of the water.

Ra brought forth four children, the gods Shu and Geb and the goddesses Tefnut and Nut. Shu and Tefnut became the atmosphere.

They stood on Geb, who became the Earth, and raised up Nut, who became the sky. Ra ruled over all. Geb and Nut later had two sons, Set and Osiris, and two daughters, Isis and Nephthys.

Osiris succeeded Ra as king of the Earth, helped by Isis, his sister-wife. Set, however, hated his brother and killed him.

Isis then embalmed her husband’s body with the help of the god Anubis, who thus became the god of embalming.

The powerful charms of Isis resurrected Osiris, who became king of the netherworld, the land of the dead.

Horus, who was the son of Osiris and Isis, later defeated Set in a great battle and became king of the Earth.