KHNUM NETJER OF THE ITERU & THE YEBU TRIAD

Heru
Jan 31
4 min read

Khnum, also spelled Khnemu, is an ancient Kemetic Netjer (deity) of fertility, associated with water and procreation. Khnum was worshipped from pre-Dynastic time and was represented as a ram with horizontal twisting horns or as a man with a ram’s head. Khnum was believed to have created humankind by molding them from the rich black soil of the Iteru (Nile) river like a potter; this scene, with him using a potter’s wheel, was depicted in later times. He was the Netjer of the island of Yebu (Elephantine), near Swenett which is present-day Aswān, and was known as the lord of the surrounding First Cataract in the southern most regions of the land. At Yebu he formed a triad of deities with the goddesses Satis and Anuket. Khnum also had an important cult at Ta-Senat (Esna), south of Waset (Thebes).

Khnum was thought to control the Nile inundation, and he embodied the dangerous but life-giving power of this annual flood. As a creator deity, he shaped people and animals on his potter's wheel and put life and health into their bodies. He was also one of the chief deities of the First Cataract.

In an inscribed stele found on one of the small islands Khnum is described as the only god that has power to unbolt the doors and release the flood from the caverns. Her name meant, "Pourer" or "Shooter" and was originally written with the hieroglyph for a linen garment's shoulder knot; this was later replaced by Anuket's animal hide pierced by an arrow. She was also known by epithets, such as "Mistress of Elephantine" and "She Who Runs Like an Arrow", thought to refer to the flowing river current.

His consort, Lady of Yebu, Satis, was shown as a mature woman wearing a version of the crown of Upper Kemet decorated with antelope horns. As a war goddess, Satis protected Kemet's southern border. Her daughter or maybe junior consort to the male god, Lady of Nehesy, Anuket, was shown as a young woman wearing a feather headdress. Her sacred animal was the gazelle, a creature admired by the Kemetyu for its delicate beauty.

Both goddesses are called daughters of Ra and in the myth of the return of the Distant Goddess, the Eye of Ra, the older goddess represents the ferocious aspect of this goddess whereas the younger goddess represents the pacified form of the Eye goddess. The older goddess was the warrior while the younger was one of the foster mothers of every Kemtian king, her breast milk nourished and healed.

Anuket was the goddess of the Nile River. Her name means to “embrace”, much like the fields near the river which were embraced by the waters. She was a personification of the Nile as "Nourisher of the Fields" and was generally depicted as a woman wearing a tall headdress made either of reeds or of ostrich feathers, often holding a scepter and the ankh symbol, but was occasionally shown in the form of a gazelle. She was also a goddess of the hunt and was worshipped as a protective deity during childbirth. The two tributaries of the Nile also stretched out like two arms, adding to the meaning behind Anuket’s moniker. She was thought to be the daughter of Khnum, the god of the source of the Nile and Satis, the goddess of fertility. Together, these three water deities were known as the Yebu Triad and believed to control and preside over the yearly inundation of the Iteru (Nile River).

Anuket was associated with the lower cataracts (near Aswan) and has her origins in Ta-Seti, Land of the Bow. Specifically, she was associated with Setet Island (Sehel island) and Yebu (Elephantine) 1st nome of Upper Egypt, and was goddess of everything south of the Egyptian border. She was widely worshipped in Nubia, and given the title "Mistress of Nubia". In Nubia, Khnum merged with the ram-headed Amun, so Anuket and Satet (Satis) in some places also appear as wives of Amun.