Encyclopedia of African Religion

In theBook of the Coming Forth by Day, there

is an account of Ra, the sun god of Innou

(Heliopolis), who became the national deity of

Egypt. At one point, Ra was combined with the

deity Amen as Amen-Ra, but even so as the cre-

ator deity the combined deity was able to bring

into existence, according to the Book of the

Coming Forth by Day, Shu and Tefnut, air and

moisture. This is the pattern throughout the his-

tory of ancient Egypt.

Because theBook of the Coming Forth by Day

is about what happens when a soul travels though

the underworld, it is interesting that the deceased

is said to pray that his mouth will be opened by the

iron knife that Shu holds in his hands for opening

the mouths of the gods. Shu is given a prominent

place as one who possesses power over the serpents

in the underworld and as one who can make the

deceased stand erect by the ladder to Heaven upon

which the deceased will then climb from the Earth

to the gates of Heaven. In fact, the four pillars hold-

ing up the four cardinal points of the sky were

named the “pillars of Shu,” who was the breath of

the Almighty God Ra. Thus, as one of the primor-

dial gods, the personification of atmosphere, breath,

and air, Shu is one of the deities of the second

618 Shu

The air god Shu separating the sky goddess Nut from the earth god Geb, assisted by two ram-headed gods. Detail from coffin of

Nespawershepi, chief scribe ofTemple of Amun. 21st dynasty, c. 984 BC.

Source:Werner Forman/Art Resource, New York.