Tefnut, meaning moisture like rain, dew and clouds, was according to myth created by the primeval god Atum of the Ennead in Heliopolis together with her brother Shu, air. With them duality started and the sexual cycle was begun. When Atum later was assimilated by Re, they were considered children of Re, the sungod. In the beginning Tefnut was regarded as the lunar eye, but in myth she developed into the solar eye and later the uraeus. She then aquired the name "lady of flame" and "the uraeus on the heads of all the gods".

In Buto, she and Shu were worshipped as the flamingo-like "children of the Lower Egyptian king", a mythical image for the sun and the moon. In Leontopolis they were identified with the lion worship there. She can be depicted both as a lioness and as a woman with a lionīs head like Sekhmet whose ears are rounded while Tefnutīs are pointed.

Main center of worship:

Mainly connected to the Ennead at IunuHeliopolis/Cairo, 13th N, Lower Egypt.

Nay-ta-hut/Leontopolis/Tell el-Muqdam,
11th Nome, Lower Egypt

Festivals: (exact dates not historically verified)

30th August - 13th Paopi - Day of Satisfying the Hearts of the Ennead

29th October - 13th Koiak - Day of Going Forth of Het-Hert and the Ennead

15th November - 30th Koiak - The Ennead feast in the House of Ra, Heru and Wasir

Article by Mirjam
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keions@telia.com

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