Khnum (also known as Khnemu, Khenmu, Khenmew, and Chnum) was one of the oldest gods in Egypt, with worship that dates back to the Predynastic Period.
Ancient texts, such as the Pyramid Texts of King Unas, confirm that Khnum's worship was well-established early on in Egyptian history.
Even the Pharaoh Khufu was named "Khnum-Khufu," meaning "Khnum is his Protector."
However, it appears that the worship of the god Ra became dominant during that time, pushing Khnum's worship to the background as Khufu's descendants (Khafre and Menkaure) chose names honoring Ra.
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| Khnum: The Creator Deity in Egyptian Mythology |
Khnum as a Water God and Source of Fertility
Khnum was originally a god of water, believed to govern all bodies of water, including the rivers and lakes of the underworld.
He was associated with the source of the Nile and was responsible for ensuring that the annual flood deposited enough precious black silt onto the riverbanks to make them fertile.
This silt also provided the raw material for pottery, linking Khnum closely with the art of pottery.
According to one creation myth, Khnum molded everything on his potter’s wheel, including both people and other gods.
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| Khnum molded everything on his potter’s wheel |
Khnum's Role in Creation and the Birth of the Sun
In Iunyt (Esna, in Upper Egypt), it was believed that Khnum also created the "First Egg" from which the sun was born (as Nefertum, Atum, or Ra).
Besides creating the body and the "ka" (spirit) of each newborn child, he could also bless the child.
The Westcar Papyrus from the Second Intermediate Period includes the story of Khufu and the Magician, in which the births of three pharaohs are attended by the goddesses Isis, Nephthys, Meskhenet, Heqet, and Khnum.
After each child was born, Khnum bestowed the gift of "health" upon them. Pharaoh Hatshepsut also claimed that Khnum had formed her "ka" and granted her the blessing of health at the request of her "father," Amun-Ra.
Khnum as a Protector of the Dead
Khnum was also a protective deity of the dead.
Spells invoking Khnum’s assistance can be found in the Book of the Dead and on many of the heart-scarabs buried with the deceased, as it was believed that he would help the deceased obtain a favorable judgment in the Halls of Ma’at.
Khnum's Connection to Fertility
The ram was considered a very potent animal, and thus Khnum was associated with fertility. He is featured on the "Famine Stele" found on Sehel Island.
The stele (allegedly inscribed during the reign of Djoser) tells the story of a dream where the pharaoh saw that the god would end a terrible famine if a temple was built in his honor.
The pharaoh immediately consecrated a temple to Khnum, and as promised, the famine ended.
Khnum’s Contributions to Ra’s Nightly Journey
Khnum was one of the gods believed to assist Ra in his perilous nightly journey through the underworld.
It is also believed that Khnum created the boat that carried Ra and helped defend the sun god against the serpent Apep (Apophis).
Moreover, Khnum was sometimes considered the "ba" (soul) of Ra, because the word for "ram" in Egyptian also meant "ba".
When Khnum merged with Ra to form the composite deity Khnum-Ra, this deity became associated with Nun (who represented the primeval waters) and was given the epithet Hap-ur ("Great Nile" or "Nile of Heaven").
Centers of Khnum’s Worship and His Family
Khnum's cult was centered on the island of Abu (Elephantine in Upper Egypt), where he had been worshiped since the Early Dynastic Period.
During the New Kingdom, he was worshiped there as the head of a triad with his wife, Satet, and his daughter, Anuket.
He was also worshiped in Esna (Iunyt), where he was thought to be married to both Menhet and Nebtu (a local goddess), and was considered the father of Heka (the god of magic known as "He Who Activates the Ka").
He was also believed to be the husband of Neith at Esna. In Antinoe (Herwer), Khnum was married to Heqet, the frog goddess associated with childbirth and conception.
He was associated with Hershef at Herakleopolis Magna and was often linked to Osiris.
Occasionally, Khnum was associated with Isis to represent Upper Egypt, just as Ptah was associated with Nephthys in representing Lower Egypt.
The Symbolism and Depictions of Khnum
Khnum's name derives from the root "khnem," meaning "to join, to unite," and also "to build" .
Astronomically, the name refers to the "conjunction" of the sun and moon at specific seasons of the year.
Khnum was considered the "Father of Fathers and the Mother of Mothers" of the pharaohs. As a water god, he was sometimes called "KebH," meaning "purify."
Khnum was depicted either as a ram, a man with the head of a ram, or a man with ram horns.
He was very rarely depicted with the head of a hawk, indicating his solar connections.
He often wore the plumed white crown of Upper Egypt and was sometimes shown holding a jar with water flowing out of it, symbolizing his link with the source of the Nile.
During the early period, Khnum was depicted with the early type of domesticated ram (with long corkscrew horns growing horizontally outwards from his head), but in later times he was represented by the same type of ram as Amun (with horns curving inward).
Occasionally, he was depicted with four ram heads, representing the sun god Ra, the air god Shu, the earth god Geb, and the underworld god Osiris. In this form, he was known as "Sheft-hat."
For those who prefer visual content, you can watch the video below that covers the same topic in detail.
Khnum God of Creation and Water in Ancient Egyptian Mythology