Khnum of the Potter's Wheel
Khnum 'high of plumes, sharp of horns', ram-headed god, creator of life on the potter's wheel, had primarily an association with the Nile cataract. He controls the annual inundation of the river from the caverns of Hapy, the god personifying the flood itself. In his supervision over the cataract region he is assisted by the goddeses Satet and Anuket. He was also regared in this aspect as 'lord of the cataract' as the 'Ba' of the sun-god, hence his name becomes Khnum-Ra. Abu (modern-day Elephantine, near Aswan) was said to be "the Seat of the First Time" the place of creation.
Khnum title 'lord of the crocodiles', shows a strong connection to the river and the goddess Nit, mother of the crocodile-god Sobek. The deities Nit and Khnum are both described as the sole creator of the world, combining both male and female capacities, each of them is "the father of the fathers and the mother of the mothers." Nit is the mother of the sun-god Ra, who is later reborn as Khnum-Ra. Khnum's aspect as creator of life on the potter's wheel is venerated in his main cult center north of the first cataract at Esna. The Great Hymn to Khnum at the Temple of Esna, depicts Khnum-Ra as the creator who fashioned gods and men, birds as well as fishes on the potter's wheel.
Great Hymn to Khnum
Another hymn to Khnum-Ra,
God of the potter's wheel,
Who settled the land by his handiwork;
Who joins in secret,
Who builds soundly,
Who nourishes the nestlings by the breath of his mouth;
Who drenches this land with Nun,
While round sea and great ocean surround him.
He has fashioned gods and men,
He has formed flocks and herds;
Hemade birds as well as fishes,
He created bulls, and engendered cows.
He knotted the flow of blood to the bones,
Formed in his workshop as his handiwork,
So the breath of life is within everything,
Blood bound with semen in the bones,
To knit the bones from the start.
He makes women give birth when the womb is ready,
So as to open as he wishes;
He soothes suffering by his will,
Relieves throats, lets everyone breathe,
To give life to the young in the womb.
He made hair sprout and tresses grow,
Fastened the skin over the limbs;
He built the skull, formed the cheeks,
To furnish shape to the image.
He opened the eyes, hollowed the ears,
He made the body inhale air;
He formed the mouth for eating,
Made the gorge for swallowing.
He also formed the tongue to speak,
the jaws to open, the gullet to drink,
The throat to swallow and spit.
The spine to give support,
The testicles to move.
The arm to act with vigor,
The rear to perform its task.
The gullet to devor,
Hands and their fingers to do their work,
The head to lead.
The loins to support the phallus,
In the act of begetting.
The frontal organs to consume things,
The rear to aerate the entrails,
Likewise to sit at ease,
And sustain the entrails at night.
The made member to begat,
The womb to conceive,
And increase generations in Egypt.
The bladder to made water,
The virile member to eject,
When it swells between the thighs.
The shins to step,
The legs to tread,
Their bones doing their task,
By the will of his heart.
Sources:
Ancient Egyptian Literature: The late period by Miriam Lichtheim
The Routledge dictionary of Egyptian gods and goddesses by George Hart
Encyclopedia of the archaeology of ancient Egypt By Kathryn A. Bard, Steven Blake Shubert
Hekenu Khafre
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Khnum of the Potter's Wheel
Hypostyle Hall
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Creation of the World
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