Naunet- Egyptian PrimordialPrimordial"Lady of the Primordial Waters"
Also known as: Nwn.t, Nunet, and Nunt
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Description
Serpent-headed, older than the sun, older than the earth. Paired with Nun in the Hermopolitan Ogdoad, Naunet was the feminine half of the primordial waters from which creation rose, the same waters that return each year when the Nile floods the land.
Mythology & Lore
The Water Before the World
Before the sun, before the earth, before light or space or direction, there was water. The Hermopolitan Ogdoad named eight forces that existed in that darkness: four pairs, male and female, each with a serpent-headed goddess and a frog-headed god. Naunet and Nun were the water itself. From these eight forces, the primeval mound rose, or the cosmic egg hatched, and the sun god emerged into the first dawn. The Egyptians called their cult center Khemenu, "City of the Eight."
Naunet had no myths, no temple, no priesthood. She was the abyss before form.
The Waters That Remain
The primordial waters did not vanish when creation began. The ordered earth floated on Nun's waters. The sky was water. The underworld was water. Each year, when the Nile rose and flooded the land, the Egyptians saw the primordial waters returning. The waters renewed the soil with the same force that had produced the world.
Moisture seeped through the stone floors of temples. The priests walked on it. The abyss was still there, beneath their feet.
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