Bennu

Bennu /ˈbɛnuː/[1] is an ancient Egyptian deity linked with the Sun, creation, and rebirth. He may have been the original inspiration for the phoenix legends that developed in Greek mythology.

The deity, Bennu, wearing the Atef crown

Roles

According to Egyptian mythology, Bennu was a self-created being said to have played a role in the creation of the world. He was said to be the ba of Ra and to have enabled the creative actions of Atum.[2] The deity was said to have flown over the waters of Nun that existed before creation, landing on a rock and issuing a call that determined the nature of creation. He also was a symbol of rebirth and, therefore, was associated with Osiris.[3]

Some of the titles of Bennu were "He Who Came Into Being by Himself",[2] and "Lord of Jubilees"; the latter epithet referred to the belief that Bennu periodically renewed himself like the sun was thought to do.[3] His name is related to the Egyptian verb wbn, meaning "to rise in brilliance" or "to shine".[2]

Depiction

Bennu or heron
in hieroglyphs

The Pyramid Texts, which date to the Old Kingdom, refer to the yellow wagtail as a symbol of Atum, and it may have been the original form of Bennu.[2]

New Kingdom artwork shows Bennu as a huge grey heron with a long beak and a two-feathered crest. Sometimes Bennu is depicted as perched on a benben stone (representing Ra and the name of the top stone of a pyramid) or in a willow tree (representing Osiris). Because of the connection with Osiris, Bennu sometimes wears the Atef crown,[3] instead of the solar disk.

Possible animal model

In comparatively recent times, a large species of heron, now extinct, lived on the Arabian Peninsula. It shares many characteristics with Bennu. It may have been the animal after which Bennu was modeled by the ancient Egyptians during the New Kingdom.[4]

Worship

Ancient Egyptian depiction on papyrus of the deity Bennu wearing the sun disk

Like Atum and Ra, the Bennu was probably worshipped in their cult center at Heliopolis.[3] The deity also appears on funerary scarab amulets as a symbol of rebirth.[2]

Connection with the Greek phoenix

The Greek historian Herodotus, writing about Egyptian customs and traditions in the fifth century BC, wrote that the people at Heliopolis described the "phoenix" to him. They said it lived for 500 years before dying, resuscitating, building a funerary egg with myrrh for the paternal corpse, and carrying it to the temple of the Sun at Heliopolis.[5] His description of the phoenix likens it to an eagle with red and gold plumage, reminiscent of the sun.[3]

Long after Herodotus, the theme ultimately associated with the Greek phoenix, with the fire, pyre, and ashes of the dying bird developed in Greek traditions.

The name, "phoenix", could be derived from "Bennu" and its rebirth and connections with the sun resemble the beliefs about Bennu, however, Egyptian sources do not mention a death of the deity.[2]

Chosen as scientific name of the bird

Remains of a giant, human-sized heron species, thought to have gone extinct around 1500 BC, have been discovered in the United Arab Emirates.[6] That species may have been the animal model for the deity, Bennu, so archaeologist Dr. Ella Hoch from the Geological Museum at Copenhagen University named it the Bennu heron (Ardea bennuides).[7]

References

"Bennu". Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House.
Hart, George (2005). The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses (Second ed.). New York: Routledge. pp. 48–49. ISBN 0-415-34495-6.
Wilkinson, Richard H. (2003). The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. London: Thames & Hudson. p. 212. ISBN 0-500-05120-8.
Hoch, Ella (1977). "Reflections on prehistoric life at Umm An-Nar (Trucial Oman) based on faunal remains from the third millennium B.C.". In M. Taddei (ed.). South Asian Archaeology 1977. Fourth International Conference of the Association of South Asian Archaeologists in Western Europe. pp. 589–638.
Lecocq, Françoise (2009). "L'œuf du phénix. Myrrhe, encens et cannelle dans le mythe du phénix" (PDF). Schedae. 6 (1: L‘animal et le savoir, de l’Antiquité à la Renaissance): 73–106. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-09-13.
https://www.wondermondo.com/wonders-of-united-arab-emirates/. Retrieved 20 October 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
http://karlshuker.blogspot.com/2016/05/giant-birds-from-tombs-of-pharaohs.html, Retrieved, 20 October 2020

External links

Media related to Bennu at Wikimedia Commons

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[1] "Bennu". Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House.

[Hart-2] Hart, George (2005). The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses (Second ed.). New York: Routledge. pp. 48–49. ISBN 0-415-34495-6.

[Wilkinson-3] Wilkinson, Richard H. (2003). The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. London: Thames & Hudson. p. 212. ISBN 0-500-05120-8.

[4] Hoch, Ella (1977). "Reflections on prehistoric life at Umm An-Nar (Trucial Oman) based on faunal remains from the third millennium B.C.". In M. Taddei (ed.). South Asian Archaeology 1977. Fourth International Conference of the Association of South Asian Archaeologists in Western Europe. pp. 589–638.

[Lecocq-5] Lecocq, Françoise (2009). "L'œuf du phénix. Myrrhe, encens et cannelle dans le mythe du phénix" (PDF). Schedae. 6 (1: L‘animal et le savoir, de l’Antiquité à la Renaissance): 73–106. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-09-13.

[6] ttps://www.wondermondo.com/wonders-of-united-arab-emirates/. Retrieved 20 October 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)

[7] ttp://karlshuker.blogspot.com/2016/05/giant-birds-from-tombs-of-pharaohs.html, Retrieved, 20 October 2020