Heliopolis Creation Story

At first, there was nothing in the world but a vast ocean of chaos, which was named Nu. There was nothing in the world except Nu. There was no sky, no land, no up, no down, nothing. Using his pure thoughts and force of his will, Atum came to be. Atum was the first of the primordial Egyptian gods. He created a hill because there was nowhere he could stand. Now there was only Nu and Atum in the world. Atum was lonely, so he joined with his shadow to produce a son and daughter. He named his son Shu and made him the god of the air. He named his daughter Tefnut and made her the goddess of mist and moisture. Shu and Tefnut married and gave birth to Geb and Nut.

At first, they were tangled together, so Shu pushed Nut up into the heavens. Nut became the sky goddess and Geb the earth god. They were destined to be together, but they had to be separate to fulfill their functions as the earth and sky. Nut and Geb gave birth to Isis, Hathor, Osiris, Set, Thoth, and Nephthys. One day Shu and Tefnut got lost in the waters of Nu. At this time Atum had only one eye. He sent it to search for Shu and Tefnut. While the eye was out looking for his children, Atum fashioned himself a new eye. When the eye returned with his kids, Atum wept tears of joy. When the tears hit the ground, they became the first men.

Worship and Pharaohs

The Egyptians believed that they should worship the gods. They offered sacrifices, pleasing the gods. Sometimes, they would offer sacrifices for things like keeping their temples and pyramids safe. The pharaohs (the rulers of a part of Egypt) were said to have divine powers, so citizens worshipped the gods and the pharaohs.

Around 3000 BC, a man named Narmer united the upper and lower halves of Egypt. He became a ruler of all of a\Ancient Egypt, the first true pharaoh.

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