Definition: The Ennead of Heliopolis was the group of gods who created the world, according to Egyptian mythology centered in Heliopolis (near Memphis, in the Nile Delta of lower Egypt). The Ogdoad of Hermopolis is a contrasting grouping of 8 creating Heliopolitan gods. A third cosmogony is the Memphis Theology, which is centered on the god Ptah.
In the theology of the Ennead of Heliopolis, there is recognition of a time before there was anything. It was thought there was a creative potential in the primeval water, which was personified as the self-generated Nun. From the waters emerged Atum, the source of all creation, often depicted as the sun god Re-Atum who produced Shu and Tefnut when he masturbated or spat.
Ennead means a group of 9, but often the list is larger, including wives, offspring, and a splitting up of Atum-Re into two separate deities. Here are the basic 9.
- Atum (the spirit that lived inside Nun before creation)
- Shu (male created by Atum-Re)
- Tefnut (sister of Shu)
- Geb (Earth god - Shu and Tefnut's male offspring)
- Nut (Sky goddess - Shu and Tefnut's female offspring)
- Osiris (god of the dead - son of Geb and Nut)
- Seth (evil brother of Osiris - son of Geb and Nut)
- Isis (wife/sister of Osiris and mother of Horus)
- Nephthys (goddess of the dead - wife/sister of Seth)
Also Known As: Heliopolitan Ennead
Examples:
Connected with the Ennead of Heliopolis, Shu and Tefnut became separated from Atum-Re and lost in the primeval waters. Their father shed tears of joy when they were re-united. The tears became mankind.
References:
- Vincent Arieh Tobin, J. Gwyn Griffiths, Olaf E. Kaper "Myths" The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt (2001).
- David Leeming. "Ennead" The Oxford Companion to World Mythology (2004).
