Raising the sun beyond humanity
After the crisis of human rebellion in the Book of the Heavenly Cow, Ra withdraws from close association with humanity. Nut takes the form of a cow and carries him upward. She becomes afraid at the height, so supports are established and Shu is ordered to sustain her. The scene explains an arrangement of the world through bodily positions and assistance: the sky bears the sun, but the sky herself needs support. It continues the destruction narrative without simply repeating the episode of red beer. Saving humanity and establishing a greater distance from the aging sun god are connected changes.
Source: Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations · Chapter II, Heavenly Cow, sections II–III, Nut’s ascent and Shu’s support
Making days for a forbidden birth
Plutarch offers another story using Greek names. Rhea, identified in this Egyptian setting with Nut, is forbidden by Helios to give birth within the existing year. Hermes wins portions of lunar time in a game and combines them into five additional days. The births can then occur outside the original 360-day arrangement. Osiris, the elder Horus, Typhon, Isis, and Nephthys receive separate birthdays. Plutarch’s account also supplies varying parentage and another explanation of the elder Horus; it should not be cleaned into a perfectly consistent Egyptian family tree. The source view therefore concentrates on the calendar device and the births.
Source: On Isis and Osiris, sections 12–20 and 35–39 · On Isis and Osiris 12, ban, lunar game, five added days, and birth sequence
Different questions, different relationships
The first composition is concerned with the sun’s elevation and the supported structure of the heavens. The second explains divine birthdays through a chronological loophole. Our diagrams consequently change the actions as well as the participants: carrying and supporting become forbidding, winning time, and giving birth. They compare selected presentations, not mutually exclusive creeds held by every Egyptian. Plutarch wrote long after the New Kingdom and explained Egyptian material through Greek divine names and philosophical interests. Keeping that historical difference visible lets Nut’s maternal and spatial roles be explored without pretending the two sources form chapters of one continuous book.
Sources: Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations; On Isis and Osiris, sections 12–20 and 35–39 · Heavenly Cow II–III; On Isis and Osiris 12
One story, different sources
Choose a textual witness. The summary, diagram, and cited connections below change together. This is a selective map of claims, not a complete family tree.
Heavenly Cow: elevation and support
Nut becomes a cow and carries Ra away from humanity. Her fear at the height leads to additional supports and Shu’s sustaining task. The relationships concern the spatial arrangement and maintenance of the sky.
Source: Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations · Chapter II, Heavenly Cow, sections II–III
Cited connections 4
Nut as heavenly cow carries upward Ra
Source: Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations · Heavenly Cow II, Ra on Nut’s back
Ra establishes supports Supports of heaven
Source: Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations · Heavenly Cow III, Nut trembles at the height
Ra orders sustaining task Shu
Source: Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations · Heavenly Cow III, command to Shu
Shu supports from below Nut as heavenly cow
Source: Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations · Heavenly Cow III, Shu beneath Nut
Plutarch: time for the divine births
Using Greek names, Plutarch describes a prohibition on Rhea/Nut’s delivery and Hermes/Thoth’s acquisition of extra days from the Moon. Five divine birthdays follow. This later Greek presentation is not merged with the New Kingdom elevation scene.
Source: On Isis and Osiris, sections 12–20 and 35–39 · On Isis and Osiris 12
Cited connections 5
Helios / sun forbids birth within the year Rhea / Nut
Source: On Isis and Osiris, sections 12–20 and 35–39 · On Isis and Osiris 12, opening prohibition
Hermes / Thoth wins portions of lunar time Selene / Moon
Source: On Isis and Osiris, sections 12–20 and 35–39 · On Isis and Osiris 12, game with Selene
Hermes / Thoth combines winnings into days Five additional days
Source: On Isis and Osiris, sections 12–20 and 35–39 · On Isis and Osiris 12, addition to 360 days
Five additional days allow births outside prior calendar Five divine birthdays
Source: On Isis and Osiris, sections 12–20 and 35–39 · On Isis and Osiris 12, epagomenal days
Rhea / Nut mother in the birth sequence Five divine birthdays
Source: On Isis and Osiris, sections 12–20 and 35–39 · On Isis and Osiris 12, births of five gods
See what differs across the witnesses
Heavenly Cow: elevation and support
Nut becomes a cow and carries Ra away from humanity. Her fear at the height leads to additional supports and Shu’s sustaining task. The relationships concern the spatial arrangement and maintenance of the sky.
Source: Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations · Chapter II, Heavenly Cow, sections II–III
Plutarch: time for the divine births
Using Greek names, Plutarch describes a prohibition on Rhea/Nut’s delivery and Hermes/Thoth’s acquisition of extra days from the Moon. Five divine birthdays follow. This later Greek presentation is not merged with the New Kingdom elevation scene.
Source: On Isis and Osiris, sections 12–20 and 35–39 · On Isis and Osiris 12
- Period / witness
- Book of the Heavenly Cow in New Kingdom royal witnesses; Plutarch around late first–early second century CE.
- Recording context
- Royal funerary copies of the Heavenly Cow; Plutarch’s Greek On Isis and Osiris, section 12, transmitted through later manuscripts.
A recording location is not necessarily a story’s origin. Dates of texts, copies, and translations answer different questions.
Explore time & place →Read the sources
These references support the explanation above. Rights and edition notes are recorded individually.
Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations ↗
E. A. Wallis Budge (1857–1934) · 1912; digital edition updated 2021
Edition & rights noteOn Isis and Osiris, sections 12–20 and 35–39 ↗
Plutarch; historical English version in E. A. Wallis Budge · Plutarch: approximately early second century CE; edition 1912
Edition & rights note