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.[1]
Shu (Egyptianšw, "emptiness" or "he who rises up") was one of the primordialEgyptian gods, spouse and brother to the goddessTefnut, and one of the nine deities of theEnnead of theHeliopolis cosmogony.[4] He was the god of light, peace, lions, air, and wind.[citation needed]
In Heliopolitan theology,Atum created the first couple of theEnnead, Shu andTefnut, by masturbating or by spitting. Shu was the father ofNut andGeb and grandfather ofOsiris,Isis,Set, andNephthys. His great-grandsons areHorus andAnubis.
Headrest that depicts the god Shu holding up the skydrawing of shu with a more elaborate feathered headdress similar toOnuris.
As the air, Shu was considered to be a cooling, and thus a calming influence and pacifier. Due to the association with dry air, calm, and thusMa'at[5] (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.[6] Shu was also portrayed in art as wearing anostrichfeather. Shu was seen with between one and four feathers. The ostrich feather was symbolic of lightness andemptiness.Fog andclouds were also Shu's elements and they were often called hisbones. Because of his position between thesky andEarth, he was also known as thewind.[7]
In a much later myth, representing a terrible weather disaster at the end of theOld Kingdom, it's said thatTefnut and Shu once argued, and Tefnut leftEgypt forNubia (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.
According to the Heliopolitan cosmology, Shu andTefnut, the first pair of cosmic elements, created thesky goddess,Nut, and theEarth 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 godsIsis,Osiris,Nephthys (Horus) andSet.[7] The Egyptians believed that if Shu did not holdNut (sky) andGeb (Earth) apart there would be no way for physically-manifest life to exist.
Shu is mostly represented as aman. Only in his function as a fighter and defender as thesun god and he sometimes receives alion's head. He carries anankh, thesymbol oflife.
Used as a counterweight for an ancient Egyptianmenat
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 sisterTefnut, goddess of moisture (leftmost head). Tefnut is rendered as a lioness with a mane wearing auraeus, wig, andsun disk. Shu is shown dressed in a false beard, shorter wig, and a crown that includes amodius, tall feathers, and auraeus. Together, it was believed that these two deities would protect the wearer from worldly dangers. Two serpents flank the counterweight near the bottom where anoxyrhynchus fish can also be seen.[8]
