Everything about Iusas totally explained
Atum (alternatively spelled
Tem,
Temu,
Tum, and
Atem) is an important
deity in
Egyptian mythology, whose cult centred on the city of
Heliopolis. His name is thought to be derived from the word 'tem' which means to complete or finish. Thus he's been interpreted as being the 'complete one' and also the finisher of the world, which he returns to watery chaos at the end of the creative cycle. As creator he was seen as the underlying substance of the world, the deities and all things being made of his flesh or alternatively being his
kas.
Atum is one of the most important and frequently mentioned deities from earliest times, as evidenced by his prominence in the
Pyramid Texts, where he's portrayed as both a creator and father to the king. He is usually depicted as a man wearing either the royal head-cloth or the dual white and red crown of
Upper Egypt, and
Lower Egypt, reinforcing his connection with kingship. Sometimes he also is shown as a
serpent, the form which he returns to at the end of the creative cycle and also occasionally as a
mongoose,
lion,
bull,
lizard, or
ape.
In the Heliopolitan
Ennead cosmogony established in the
sixth dynasty, he was considered to be the first god, having created himself, sitting on a mound (
benben) (or identified with the mound itself), from the primordial waters (
Nu). Early myths state that Atum created the god
Shu and goddess
Tefnut from spitting or from his
semen by
masturbation in the city of
Annu (the Egyptian name for Heliopolis), a belief strongly associated with Atum's nature as an
hermaphrodite (hence his name meaning
completeness). Strictly, the myth states that Atum
ejaculated his semen into his mouth, impregnating himself, possibly indicating
autofellatio, which has led many to misinterpret (Via
euphemism or
Bowdlerization) the myth as indicating creation from
mucus.
Another belief held that Shu and Tefnut were created by Atum having
sexual intercourse with a goddess, referred to as
Iusaaset (also spelt
Juesaes,
Ausaas,
Iusas, and
Jusas, and in Greek as
Saosis), meaning
the great one who comes forth. She was described as his
shadow. Consequently, Iusaaset was seen as the mother and grandmother of the gods. The strength,
hardiness,
medical properties, and
edibility, led the
acacia tree to be considered the
tree of life, and thus the oldest, which was situated close to, and north of,
Heliopolis, was said to be the birthplace of the deities. Thus, as the mother and grandmother, of the deities, Iusaaset was said to own this tree.
In the
Old Kingdom the Egyptians believed that Atum lifted the dead king's soul from his pyramid to the starry heavens.. By the time of the New Kingdom, the Atum mythos, merged in the
Egyptian pantheon with that of
Ra, who was also the creator and a
solar deity, their two identities were joined into
Atum-Ra. But as Ra was the whole sun, and Atum became to be seen as the sun when it sets (depicted as an old man leaning on his staff), while
Khepera was seen as the sun when it was rising.
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