Renenutet

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Renenutet

In Egyptian mythology

Egyptian mythology

Ancient Egyptian religion encompasses the various religious beliefs and rituals practiced in ancient Egypt over at least 3,000 years, from the Predynastic Egypt until the adoption of Coptic Christianity in the early centuries Common Era....
, Renenutet (also transliteration as Ernutet, and Renenet) was the anthropomorphic

Anthropomorphism

Anthropomorphism is the attribution of uniquely human characteristics to non-human creatures and beings, natural and supernatural phenomena, material states and objects or abstract concepts....
deification of the act of gaining a true name, an aspect of the soul

Egyptian soul

The Ancient Egyptians believed that a human soul was made up of five parts: the Ren, the Ba, the Ka, the Sheut, and the Ib. In addition to these components of the soul there was the human body ....
, during birth. Her name simply meaning, (she who) gives Ren, with Ren being the Egyptian word for this true name. Indeed, it was said that newborns had Renenutet upon their shoulder from their first day, and she was referred to as (she who) rears, and Lady of the robes (referring to birth-robes).

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Renenutet'

Start a new discussion about 'Renenutet'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

In Egyptian mythology

Egyptian mythology

Anthropomorphism

Egyptian soul

Terenuthis

Terenuthis is a Catholic titular see. The original diocese was in Egypt, a suffragan of Antino? in Thebais Prima.Tarrana in the Province of Beherah replaces Terenuthis, now known as Kom Abu Billo, the ruins of which lie about a mile and a quarter to the west....
.

Her name also could be interpreted in an alternate way, as renen-utet, rather than ren-nutet, consequently having the more esoteric meaning - nourishment snake. As a nourishment snake, Renenutet was envisioned

Depiction

Depiction is meaning conveyed through pictures. Basically, a picture maps an object to a two-dimensional scheme or picture plane. Pictures are made with various materials and techniques, such as painting, drawing, or prints mosaics, tapestries, stained glass, and collages of unusual and disparate elements....
, particularly in art

Art

Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music and literature....
, as a cobra

Cobra

A cobra is a snake and usually a venomous member of the family Elapidae . The name is short for cobra de capello , which is Portuguese language for "snake with hood," or "hood-snake." When disturbed, most of these snakes can rear up and spread their neck in a characteristic threat display....
, or as a woman with the head of a cobra. Snakes are another animal without sexual dimorphism

Sexual dimorphism

Sexual dimorphism is the systematic difference in form between individuals of different sex in the same species. Examples include color , size, and the presence or absence of parts of the body used in courtship displays or fights, such as ornamental feathers, horns, antlers or tusks....
and seeming only to be female to the Ancient Egyptians so there was only a goddess. This secondary meaning also led to her being considered the source of nourishment, thus a goddess of the harvest

Harvest

In agriculture, the harvest is the process of gathering mature crop from the field s. Reaping is the cutting of grain or Pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper....
; gaining titles such as Lady of granaries
Granary

A granary is a storehouse for threshed cereal or animal feed. In ancient or primitive granaries, pottery is the most common use of storage in these buildings....
, and Lady of fertile fields. The importance of the harvest caused people to make many offerings to Renenutet during harvest time, leading to her being seen as a goddess of riches and good fortune.

Sometimes, as the goddess of nourishment, Renenutet was seen as having a husband, Sobek

Sobek

Sobek was the deification of crocodiles, as crocodiles were deeply feared in the nation so dependent on the Nile River. Egyptians who worked or travelled on the Nile hoped that if they prayed to Sobek, the crocodile god, he would protect them from being attacked by crocodiles....
. He was represented as the Nile River, the annual flooding of which deposited the fertile silt that enabled abundant harvests. However, more usually, Renenutet was seen as the mother of Nehebkau

Nehebkau

In Egyptian mythology, Nehebkau was originally the explanation of the cause of binding of Egyptian soul after death. Thus his name, which means brings together Ka....
, who was the deification of another important change concerning parts of the soul - the binding of Ka
Ka

Ka may refer to:* IATA code of Dragonair*Ka , Egyptian ruler*Ka River, in Nigeria* Titled expressive works:** K? , stage show** Ka, video game a.k.a....
and Ba, who occasionally was represented as a snake also. When considered the mother of Nehebkau, Renenutet was seen as having a husband, Geb

Geb

Geb was the egyptian mythology god of the Earth and a member of the Ennead of Heliopolis . The name was pronounced as such from the Greek period onward, ...
, who represented the Earth, since it was from the ground that snakes appear to arise.

Later, as a snake-goddess worshiped over the whole of Lower Egypt

Lower Egypt

Lower Egypt is the northern-most section of Egypt. It refers to the Fertile Crescent Nile Delta region, which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet Dahshur, south of modern-day Cairo, and the Mediterranean Sea....
, Renenutet was increasingly confused with Wadjet

Wadjet

In Egyptian mythology, Wadjet, or the Green One , was originally the ancient local goddess of the city of Dep, which became part of the city that the Egyptians named Per-Wadjet, House of Wadjet, and the Greeks called Buto, a city that was an important site in the Predynastic era of Ancient Egypt and the cultural developmen...
, Lower Egypt's powerful protector and another snake goddess represented as a cobra. Eventually Renenutet was identified as an alternate form of Wadjet, whose gaze was said to slaughter enemies. Wadjet is the cobra on the crown of the pharaohs.

The Hymn of Renenutet says:

I will make the Nile swell for you,

without there being a year of lack and exhaustion in the whole land,

so the plants will flourish, bending under their fruit.

The land of Egypt is beginning to stir again,

the shores are shining wonderfully,

and wealth and well-being dwell with them,

as it had been before.