February's Love Stories: Mother's Love

 February is the month that I am writing about love and sex in the ancient world. The first story is about mother's love for her children .

"I am Nut, and I have come so that I may enfold and protect you from all things evil."


The ancient Egyptians celebrated this time of year as the Feast of the Goddess Nut, whose birthday falls on February 2 (Gregorian calendar). According to the Book of the Dead, Nut was seen as a mother-figure to the sun god Ra, who at sunrise was known as Khepera and took the form of a scarab beetle.

Nut also spelled Nuit or Newet) was the Goddess of the Sky in the Ennead of Egyptian mythology. The Goddess Nut protected the earth, which she and Geb encompassed, against the chaos and darkness above her. Nut was married to Ra,  the God of the Sun and Ruler of the Gods. The Goddess Nut is widely known for her magnificent beauty and incredible kindness. Nut's loving and giving nature was obviously extensive. It led into having affairs with Thoth, the God of Divine words and Knowledge, and Geb, the God of the Earth, her twin brother.
  
When Re discovered the Goddess Nut's infidelity,  he was furious with her.  Ra was a strong ruler but he feared anyone taking his throne of Egypt. In his anger he pronounced a curse that Nut, who was pregnant at the time, would not give birth in any month of any year!

Desolate and despairing that she would never be a mother (not to mention that the endless pregnancy), Nut turned to her lover Thoth for words of comfort.

What man can stand to see a woman cry? Not Thoth. He quickly soothed her by promising to find a solution to Nut's dilemma.  And this he did! With his divine powers of persuasion, Thoth “persuaded” Khonsu, God of the Moon, to gamble with him.

The stakes were high. It was agreed that for each round that Thoth won,  he would be rewarded with a bit of the Moon's light. The games continued for months on end, and, eventually,  Thoth had managed to win enough light to create five entire new days. . Since these days were not part of the year, Nut could have her children.

Nut wasted not a precious moment of those blessed days, giving birth to a different child on each of the five days. Hence, Nut came to be  called  the  "Mother of the Gods".

First born was a son she named Osiris. He was the son of Re and later became the god who was to rule all of the earth. After she had given birth to Osiris, she asked Thoth and Wadjet, a snake goddess whose sister is Nekbet, to protect him from Ra's wrath.


Second born was Seth, God of the Desert and Chaos. His father was Geb.

The Egyptian Goddess Isis, Goddess of Life, was born on the third day. Her father was Thoth.

Fourth born was Horus the Elder: Son of Ra

Last to be born was Nephthys, Goddess of Death and Darkness: Her father was Thoth

When Ra found out, he was furious. He separated Nut from her new husband Geb for all eternity. Her father, Shu, was to keep them apart. Shu lifted Nut up, separating her from her brother, at least during the daytime. Still, Nut did not regret her decision.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

History of Homosexual: Ancient Greece

Image
How we from being happily accept in society to being hate and have to fight for equality? Let start begin in the ancient world work our way to the source of the problem. The Ancient Greece "The noble lover of beauty engages in love wherever he sees excellence and splendid natural endowment without regard for any difference in physiological detail." - Plutarch The ancient Greeks are widely known for their gay exploits. Many people are aware of Greek homosexual love poetry, the same-sex relations of Greek gods and heroes, and the gay relationship between Alexander the Great and Hephaestion. It is important in the beginning to define our vocabulary. The term ’homosexuality’ as it is used and understood today is not mainly applicable to Greek of ancient times for three reasons: First of all, most Greeks were bisexual. Second, homosexuality and 'gay' as sexual identities are recent developments. They were emerged only in the 2Oth Century (our idea of what i...
Please read more »

Seven Wonders of the World: Colossus of Rhodes

Image
Travelers to the New York City harbor see a marvelous sight. Standing on a small island in the harbor is an immense statue of a robed woman, holding a book and lifting a torch to the sky. It is sometimes referred to as the "Modern Colossus," but more often called the Statue of Liberty. This awe-inspiring statue was a gift from France to America and is easily recognized by people around the world. What many visitors to this shrine to freedom don't know is that the statue, the "Modern Colossus," is the echo of another statue, the original colossus, which stood over two thousand years ago at the entrance to another busy harbor on the Island of Rhodes. In the late 4th century BC, Rhodes, allied with Ptolemy I of Egypt, prevented a massive invasion staged by their common enemy, Antigonus I Monophthalmus and his son Demetrius. In 304 BC a relief force of ships sent by Ptolemy arrived, and Antigonus's army abandoned the siege, leaving most of their siege equi...
Please read more »

Daily life of Roman life: Slavery

Image
Slavery had a long history in the ancient world and was practiced in Ancient Egypt and Greece, as well as Rome. Most slaves during the Roman Empire were foreigners and, unlike in modern times, Roman slavery was not based on race. Slaves were considered property under Roman law and had no legal personhood. Unlike Roman citizens, they could be subjected to corporal punishment, sexual exploitation (prostitutes were often slaves), torture, and summary execution. The testimony of a slave could not be accepted in a court of law unless the slave was tortured—a practice based on the belief that slaves in a position to be privy to their masters' affairs would be too virtuously loyal to reveal damaging evidence unless coerced (yeah right). Over time, however, slaves gained increased legal protection, including the right to file complaints against their masters. How did people become Roman Slaves? People became slaves among the Romans by the following ways: Prisoners of war Sailors ...
Please read more »