KHNUM

Name:  Khnum, Khnemu, Chnum

Features:  Strong human male with the head of a ram 

Source:  Egyptian Mythology

Habitat:  Ancient Egypt

This mythical hybrid and ancient Egyptian deity was one of the very first mentioned in early Egyptian Mythology.

He had the body of a healthy human male and the head of a ram which represented fertility.  He sometimes is shown with just having the horns of a ram.  He was also described or depicted with having the head of a large crocodile.

In ancient Egypt he first was depicted as the god of water and later, he was also regarded as the creator of life.  He was said to be the source of the river Nile and with its annual flooding brought life to all the land surrounding it.

The water and nutrients from the silt after each flood brought life to the vegetation on the river banks and transformed the area into an oasis, filling the region with life and beauty.

The yearly flooding of the river Nile also left deposits of silt formed into clay.  He was said to use this clay to create all children from by using a simple potter’s wheel.  He would then bless each child with the gift of health and place the clay child inside a mother’s womb.

He was also said to have created other deities using the clay left by the water of the river Nile and using a potter’s wheel.  This earned him the title of “The Divine Potter” and further established him as a creator of living beings.

Many ancient stone carvings show him simply sitting at a potter’s wheel, busy creating children from clay.

Early Egyptians worshipped this deity at two main riverside sites.  Elephantine Island was where he was worshipped alongside his wife Satet and his daughter Anuket.  At the second site Esna, he was worshipped alongside his other wife Neith.

He had many wives and was part of many stories that form early Egyptian beliefs and religious history.

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