Editing Nut (goddess) (section)

==Role==
[[File:Nut1.JPG|thumb|left|The sky goddess Nut depicted as a [[cow]]]]
[[File:Goddess Nut.png|thumb|right|Nut depicted as a naked woman with stars on her body forming an arc]]
Nut was the goddess of the sky and all [[Astronomical object|heavenly bodies]], a symbol of protecting the dead when they enter the afterlife. According to the [[Egyptians]], during the day, the heavenly bodies—such as the [[Sun]] and [[Moon]]—would make their way across her body. Then, at dusk, they would be swallowed, pass through her belly during the night, and be reborn at dawn.<ref>Hart, George ''Routledge dictionary of Egyptian gods and goddesses'' Routledge; 2 edition (15 March 2005) {{ISBN|978-0-415-34495-1}} p.111 [https://books.google.com/books?id=bMtbUplsCNwC&dq=egyptian+goddess+nut+chaos&pg=PA110 Books.google.co.uk]</ref>

Nut is also the barrier separating the forces of [[Chaos (cosmogony)|chaos]] from the ordered [[cosmos]] in the world. She was pictured as a woman arched on her toes and fingertips over the Earth; her body portrayed as a star-filled sky. Nut's fingers and toes were believed to touch the four [[cardinal points]] or directions of north, south, east, and west.

Because of her role in saving Osiris, Nut was seen as a friend and protector of the dead, who appealed to her as a child appeals to its mother: "O my Mother Nut, stretch Yourself over me, that I may be placed among the imperishable stars which are in You, and that I may not die." Nut was thought to draw the dead into her star-filled sky, and refresh them with [[food]] and [[wine]]: "I am Nut, and I have come so that I may enfold and protect you from all things evil."<ref name="Ani page 57">"Papyrus of Ani: Egyptian Book of the Dead", Sir Wallis Budge, NuVision Publications, page 57, 2007, {{ISBN|1-59547-914-7}}</ref>

[[File:Shu separating Geb and Nut.svg|thumb|Nut, goddess of sky supported by Shu the god of air, while the earth god [[Geb]] reclines beneath.]]
She was often painted on the inside lid of the [[sarcophagus]], protecting the deceased. The [[Burial vault (tomb)|vaults]] of [[tomb]]s were often painted dark [[blue]] with many stars as a representation of Nut.
The [[Book of the Dead]] says, "Hail, thou Sycamore Tree of the Goddess Nut! Give me of the [[water]] and of the [[air]] which is in thee. I embrace that throne which is in Unu, and I keep guard over the Egg of Nekek-ur. It flourisheth, and I flourish; it liveth, and I live; it snuffeth the air, and I snuff the air, I the Osiris Ani, whose word is truth, in peace.<nowiki>''</nowiki>

=== Book of Nut ===
''The [[Book of Nut]]'' is a modern title of what was known in ancient times as ''The Fundamentals of the Course of the Stars''. This is an important collection of ancient Egyptian astronomical texts, perhaps the earliest of several other such texts, going back at least to 2,000 BC. Nut, being the sky goddess, plays the primary role in the ''Book of Nut''. The text also tells about various other sky and Earth deities, such as the star deities and the [[decans]] deities. The cycles of the stars and planets, as well as time keeping are also covered in the book.<ref>Alexandra von Lieven: ''Grundriss des Laufes der Sterne. Das sogenannte Nutbuch''. The Carsten Niebuhr Institute of Ancient Eastern Studies, Kopenhagen 2007.</ref>