Editing Shu (Egyptian god)

{{short description|Ancient Egyptian primordial god}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Egyptian
| name = Shu
| image = Shu with feather.svg
| alt = 
| caption = The ancient Egyptian god Shu is represented as a human with feathers on his head, as he is associated with dry and warm air. This feather serves as the hieroglyphic sign for his name. Shu could also be represented as a lion, or with a more elaborate feathered headdress.<ref>{{cite book |author=Wilkinson, Richard H. |title=The complete gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |location=London |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-500-05120-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/completegodsgodd00wilk_0 }}</ref> 
| hiero = <hiero>N37-H6-G43-A40</hiero>
| cult_center = [[Heliopolis (Ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]], [[Leontopolis]]
| symbol = the [[ostrich]] [[feather]]
| parents = [[Ra]] or [[Atum]] and [[Iusaaset]] or [[Menhit]]<ref>[https://archive.org/details/Budge.AnEgyptianHieroglyphicDictionary.vol.1/page/303/mode/2up "archive.org"]</ref>
| siblings = [[Tefnut]]<br/>[[Hathor]]<br/>[[Sekhmet]]<br/>[[Bastet]]
| consort = [[Tefnut]]
| offspring = [[Nut (goddess)|Nut]] and [[Geb]]
| Greek_equivalent = [[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]]<ref name="A-Z"/>
}}
'''Shu''' ([[Ancient Egyptian language|Egyptian]] ''šw'', "emptiness" or "he who rises up") was one of the primordial [[ancient Egyptian deities|Egyptian gods]], spouse and brother to the goddess [[Tefnut]], and one of the nine deities of the [[Ennead]] of the [[Heliopolis (Ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]] cosmogony.<ref>{{cite web|last1=van Dijk|first1=Jacobus|title=Myth and mythmaking in ancient Egypt|url=http://jacobusvandijk.nl/docs/Myth.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110313125634/http://www.jacobusvandijk.nl/docs/Myth.pdf |archive-date=2011-03-13 |url-status=live|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|access-date=23 May 2017}}</ref> He was the god of light, peace, lions, air, and wind.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

==Family==
In Heliopolitan theology, [[Atum]] created the first couple of the [[Ennead]], Shu and [[Tefnut]] by masturbating or by spitting. Shu was the father of [[Nut (goddess)|Nut]] and [[Geb]] and grandfather of [[Osiris]], [[Isis]], [[Set (mythology)|Set]], and [[Nephthys]]. His great-grandsons are [[Horus]] and [[Anubis]].

==Myths==
[[File:Tutankhamun headrest.jpg|left|alt=This is a sculpture of the kneeling god Shu holding a curved platform above his head, which can be interpreted as the sky. It also functions as a headrest, as the user would place their head atop the sky. There are also two lions, one at either side of Shu.|thumb|Headrest that depicts the god Shu holding up the sky]]
[[file:shu.svg|thumb|drawing of shu with a more elaborate feathered headdress similar to [[Onuris]].]]
As the air, Shu was considered to be a cooling, and thus calming, influence, and pacifier. Due to the association with dry air, calm, and thus [[Ma'at]]<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lazaridis|first1=Nikolaos|title=Ethics|journal=UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology|date=2008|url=http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz000s3mhn|access-date=22 May 2017}}</ref> ([[truth]], justice, order, and balance), Shu was depicted as the dry air/atmosphere between the Earth and sky, separating the two realms after the event of the First Occasion.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dunan|first1=Francoise|title=Gods and Men in Egypt|date=2004|publisher=[[Cornell University Press]]|location=Ithaca and London|isbn=978-0801488535|page=41|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Fe9yVzshx4C|access-date=23 May 2017}}</ref> Shu was also portrayed in art as wearing an [[ostrich]] [[feather]]. Shu was seen with between one and four feathers. The ostrich feather was symbolic of lightness and [[emptiness]]. [[Fog]] and [[cloud]]s were also Shu's elements and they were often called his [[bone]]s. Because of his position between the [[sky]] and [[Earth]], he was also known as the [[wind]].<ref name="Egyptian Symbols">{{cite book |last=Owusu|first=Heike|title=Egyptian Symbols|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v0bwmQZRTysC&q=shu+egyptian+god&pg=PA99|page=99|publisher=Sterling Publishing Co. Inc.|access-date=6 October 2014|isbn=9781402746239|year=2008}}</ref>

In a much later myth, representing a terrible weather disaster at the end of the [[Old Kingdom]], it's said that [[Tefnut]] and Shu once argued, and Tefnut left [[Egypt]] for [[Nubia]] (which was always more temperate). It was said that Shu quickly decided that he missed her, but she changed into a cat that destroyed any man or god that approached. [[Thoth]], disguised, eventually succeeded in convincing her to return.

The [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]] associated Shu with [[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]], the primordial [[Titan (mythology)|Titan]] who held up the [[celestial spheres]], as they are both depicted holding up the [[sky]].<ref name="A-Z">{{cite book |last=Remler|first=Pat|title=''Egyptian Mythology, A to Z''|publisher=[[Infobase Publishing]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wLUjtPDyu-IC|page=24|year=2010|access-date=6 October 2014|isbn=9781438131801}}</ref>

According to the Heliopolitan cosmology, Shu and [[Tefnut]], the first pair of cosmic elements, created the [[sky goddess]], [[Nut (goddess)|Nut]], and the [[Earth god]], [[Geb]]. Shu separated Nut from Geb as they were in the act of love, creating duality in the manifest world: above and below, light and dark, [[good and evil]]. Prior to their separation, however, Nut had given birth to the gods [[Isis]], [[Osiris]], [[Nephthys]] (Horus) and [[Set (Egyptian religion)|Set]].<ref name="Egyptian Symbols" /> The Egyptians believed that if Shu did not hold [[Nut (goddess)|Nut]] (sky) and [[Geb]] (Earth) apart there would be no way for physically-manifest life to exist.

Shu is mostly represented as a [[man]]. Only in his function as a fighter and defender as the [[sun god]] and he sometimes receives a [[Lion|lion's]] head. He carries an [[ankh]], the [[symbol]] of [[life]].

== Art ==
[[File:Egyptian - Menat with the Heads of the Deities Shu and Tefnut - Walters 541515.jpg|left|thumb|Used as a counterweight for an ancient Egyptian [[menat]]|alt=This is a menat counterweight made of bronze. It depicts the heads of Shu (rightmost head) alongside his sister Tefnut, goddess of moisture (leftmost head). Tefnut is rendered as a lioness with a mane wearing a uraeus, wig, and sun disk. Shu is shown dressed in a false beard, shorter wig, and a crown that includes a modius, tall feathers, and a uraeus. Two serpents flank the counterweight near the bottom where an oxyrhynchus fish can also be seen.]]
[[Menat]] counterweights ensured that these intricate beaded necklaces stayed in place as the wearer moved around. This counterweight (left image) is a bronze adornment from 722-332 BCE. It depicts the heads of Shu (rightmost head) alongside his sister [[Tefnut]], goddess of moisture (leftmost head). Tefnut is rendered as a lioness with a mane wearing a [[uraeus]], wig, and [[sun disk]]. Shu is shown dressed in a false beard, shorter wig, and a crown that includes a [[Modius (headdress)|modius]], tall feathers, and a [[uraeus]]. Together, it was believed that these two deities would protect the wearer from worldly dangers. Two serpents flank the counterweight near the bottom where an [[oxyrhynchus]] fish can also be seen. <ref>{{Cite book |url=https://carlos.emory.edu/publications/LifeAndTheAfterlife/catalog/sacred-life/33/ |title=Life and the Afterlife |date=2022-11-30 |isbn=978-1-957454-88-7 |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Anhur#Sky bearer|Anhur-Shu]]
* [[Sopdu]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Hans Bonnet: ''Lexikon der ägyptischen Religionsgeschichte'', Berlin 2000, {{ISBN|3-937872-08-6}}, S. 685-689 → Shu
* [[Adolf Erman]]: ''Die Aegyptische Religion'', Verlag Georg Reimer, Berlin 1909
* [[Wolfgang Helck]]: ''Kleines Lexikon der Ägyptologie'', 1999 {{ISBN|3-447-04027-0}}, S. 269f. → Shu
* [[Francoise Dunand]] and Christiane Zivie-Coche: "Gods and Men in Egypt 3000 BCE to 395 CE", Cornell University Press 2005, {{ISBN|0-8014-8853-2}}
* [[Jacobus Van Dijk]], ''Myth and Mythmaking in Ancient Egypt'', ed. [[J.M. Sasson]], New York, Simon & Schuster, 1995.

{{Ancient Egyptian religion footer|collapsed}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Egyptian gods]]
[[Category:Wind gods]]
[[Category:Sky supporters]]
[[Category:Lion gods]]
[[Category:Personifications]]