Nut (Nuit)
The Sky
Symbols: stars, the night sky, cows
Depiction: Depictions showed Nut as a woman wearing a vase of water on her head with her hands and feet touching the ground to form an arch. This arch or semi-circle represents the sky and heaven. Her father the god of air (Shu) holds Nut, the sky, above her husband, Geb, the earth. According to myth if Shu ever left his duty chaos would return.
Mythology: Nut was the goddess of the daytime sky and later the goddess of the entire sky and was the place where clouds formed. Her father and mother were Shu and Tefnut. Her husband was the earth god Geb, with whom she had four children, Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nephthys. Nut’s children were born on the five (5) epagomenal days of the Egyptian year as described in The Story of Re. Egyptians held celebrations each year on these five days. The day of Osiris was unlucky, as were the days of Nephthys and Seth. The day of Horus the Elder was both lucky and unlucky. The day of Isis was lucky. Given her position as the sky, Nut gave birth to the sun every day. Through the day he passes under Nut’s arched body, through her mouth and body and was reborn again the next day. Alternatively, the sun takes the boat Atet up Nut’s legs, changes boats at noon, and takes the boat Sektet over Nut’s body until sunset.
