some form, union with his own shadow, and so begot offspring, who
proceeded from his body under the forms of the gods Shu and Tefnut.
According to a tradition preserved in the Pyramid Texts[FN#4] this
event took place at On (Heliopolis), and the old form of the legend
ascribes the production of Shu and Tefnut to an act of masturbation.
Originally these gods were the personifications of air and dryness, and
liquids respectively; thus with their creation the materials for the
construction of the atmosphere and sky came into being. Shu and Tefnut
were united, and their offspring were Keb, the Earth-god, and Nut, the
Sky-goddess. We have now five gods in existence; Khepera, the creative
principle, Shu, the atmosphere, Tefnut, the waters above the heavens,
Nut, the Sky-goddess, and Keb, the Earth-god. Presumably about this
time the sun first rose out of the watery abyss of Nu, and shone upon
the world and produced day. In early times the sun, or his light, was
regarded as a form of Shu. The gods Keb and Nut were united in an
embrace, and the effect of the coming of light was to separate them. As
long as the sun shone, i.e., as long as it was day, Nut, the Sky-
goddess, remained in her place above the earth, being supported by Shu;
but as soon as the sun set she left the sky and gradually descended
until she rested on the body of the Earth-god, Keb.



[FN#4] Pepi I., l. 466.



The embraces of Keb caused Nut to bring forth five gods at a birth,
namely, Osiris, Horus, Set, Isis, and Nephthys. Osiris and Isis
married before their birth, and Isis brought forth a son called Horus;