Welcome to Iunu, the city of the Sun!
As the center of rule and administration, as well as religion, Iunu was a major city in ancient Egypt, before Thebes and Memphis. The Greeks called it Heliopolis and the Coptic/Biblical, On. The name in Greek translates to "City of the Sun" as it was the cult centre for worship of the sun-gods Atum and Re-Horakhty. Today, what little remains of this ancient city can be found in the area of Tell Hisn on the northwestern outskirts Cairo.
Early in Egyptian history, Iunu was the capital of the 13th Lower Egyptian Sepat. During the time of the Old Kingdom, the city became a center of astronomy. This is evidenced by the name of its high priest, "Chief of Observers" (wr-m3w) or "Greatest of Seers". The infamous Imhotep held this title during the reign of King Djoser Netjerikhet in the 3rd Dynasty.
The ancient Egyptian name, Iunu (iwnw), means pillar. This fitted well with the city as one of the most symbolic icons (as in the main image to the left), was the obelisk This was the prototype (in the Old Kingdom) for the pyramid. The standing stone, pointed at its apex, was known as the benben (from the verb weben meaning “to rise”). It was thought to be the primordial mound upon which the legendary Benu Bird (phoenix) was said to have perched.
The main God of ancient Egypt was Re, in Heliopolis Re-Horakhty (“Horus of the Horizon”). Re was the sun-god at his noon-day strength and often depicted as falcon-headed, whereas Horus was associated more with the rising sun. However, it was in his form, Atum, which he was mostly worshipped in Iunu.
Atum was the primeval sun-god of Iunu. He was called "The All" and is mostly associated with the dying, or setting sun. As head of the Ennead (or nine gods), Atum held the title "Lord to the Limits of the Sky". He also starred in his own creation.
Before creation, Atum existed in the primeval waters (Nu). Egyptian texts describe this as Atum "floating...inert...alone with Nu". Then the sun-god evolved from this motionless and lonely state into the array of the created world. First, a dry space within the waters, or a void, was created. The void then created a space with the earth and sky as its limits. These in turn made possible life in all its assortment, concluded in, as well as started by, the first sunrise in the new world.
The process of Atum's evolution is described in concrete metaphors. He begins by fathering his first children via self-progenation. These children are part of the Nine Gods, or Ennead. They are created in a precise order. Shu (meaning void), the atmosphere and Tefnut, his female counterpart are created by the lonely Atum first. Next, the newly formed pair produce Geb (the earth) an Nut (the sky) who lie in a close embrace until they are separated by Shu. Geb and Nut in turn give birth to the two divine couples: Osiris and Isis, Seth and Nephthys. These last four gods in the creation embody the forces of life, birth and sexuality. All nine of these gods are collectively called the Ennead.
The Ennead are not always numbered at nine, for often Horus (the son of Osiris and Isis) or even Re is added as the tenth god. This shows that the ancient Egyptians often considered the Ennead as a collective designation for their major gods, rather than a specific group. In fact, the term "Ennead" can be written using the hieroglyph for "god", repeated in three groups of three. Only one group of three is a common way to write "gods", indicating that the Ennead were considered more the "plural of a plural", rather than a strict nine.
**~** For more information about this intriguing city of Ancient Egypt, please see the links and articles below.
Sources:
"Ancient Egypt" by David P. Silverman, General Editor
"Ancient Egypt: An illustrated reference to the myths, religions, pyramids and temples of the land of the pharaohs" by Lorna Oakes and Lucia Gahlin
"The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead" by R.O. Faulkner
Heliopolis, Egypt's Iunu by By Marie Parsons
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