Khnum, << KUH noom, >> is a god of creation in the mythology of ancient Egypt. Khnum is one of the most ancient Egyptian gods. Egyptians believed he controlled the Nile River and was thus the sustainer of human life. Khnum had large centers of worship in Esna and on the island of Elephantine in the upper Nile region.
Khnum is usually pictured as a man with the head of a ram. He was sometimes shown with a jar from which the life-giving water of the Nile flowed. At his worship sites, he is often pictured working at a potter’s wheel with newly created human children in view. Egyptians believed that Khnum made the bodies of children from clay. He then placed them in their mothers’ wombs.
Khnum is similar to Ptah, a creator god worshiped in Memphis. Ptah created the material universe, while Khnum fashioned the bodies of men and all animals. Khnum’s wife, the frog-headed goddess Heket, often helped Khnum breathe life into his creations. At least one myth holds that Khnum fashioned the bodies of the gods as well.
Like most of Egypt’s oldest deities, Khnum waned in importance as the sun god Re grew to prominence. By the end of the Old Kingdom, around 2000 B.C., Khnum had been largely absorbed as an aspect of Re. Egyptian myths tell of the daily birth, death, and resurrection of the sun in an eternal struggle against chaos and darkness. Re merged with other gods at each stage. In some versions of Re’s daily cycle, he merged with Khnum at sunset. In these accounts, Re assumed Khnum’s ram form when riding through the underworld in preparation for his resurrection at dawn.
