Africa, Spirituality

Archetypes of Adam And Eve, Are Geb and Nut

Geb Nut

Genesis 2:4-6 says, “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. Before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground, but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.” 

The text above represents the second of two creation stories told in Genesis. And, although the two stories have stark differences, the second provides context for this essay. 

The second story begins at Genesis 2:4 with the phrase, “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth.” Gary Greenberg; Myths of the Bible, tells us:

The first five words are a textual formula used on ten occasions in Genesis, and only once outside of Genesis (Ruth 4:18). In all instances outside of Genesis 2:4, the formula serves to introduce stories about particular families, as, for example, “These are the generations of Isaac,” or, “These are the generations of Jacob.” In each such instance, what follows are stories about the parents and their children and the events in their lives. There is no logical reason to think that any different interpretation attaches to Genesis 2:4.”

Therefore, it is reasonable to assert that the opening phrase in Genesis 2:4, opens with a reference to the family of heaven and the earth and their children. The source material that the Genesis writers used in their creation story was derived from Kemet, and the creation mythology of the ancient Kemites. 

Kemite mythology predates the Old Testament by thousands of years, and Moses who is believed to have written the first five books of the OT; it is said of him, “And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians (Kemites), and was mighty in words and deeds.”

And so, where Genesis 4:2 says, “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens;” the only possible source for this verse and the story being told leads us directly Kemite mythology.

In Kemite mythology the neteru (gods and goddesses), symbolize principles of creation, or an awaking of Divine consciousness. The Mind of the Supreme Being gave rise to Nu, Ra, and gods and goddess; not as separate, individual entities, but as emanations of his/her Supreme Being. 

The Kemites identified the gods and goddesses who rose from the Primeval Ocean (Mind of the Supreme Being) as the Ennead. The members of the Ennead were: “Ra-Atum, Shu, Tfnut, Geb, Nut, Asar, Aset, Set, and Nephthys.”

The gods and goddesses of the Ennead embody the birth of Creation, which includes the universe, planets, human beings, and other phenomena, things we know about, and things unknown to us. 

And,  because the Kemites realized the need to preserve their Creation story, they carved it in stone; it is a story that has survived to the present day in just as it was written thousands of years ago. 

When we study ancient Kemite mythology, we find indisputable elements of the creation story, as told in the Old Testament. 

Kemite Methology’s Presence In The Book of Genesis

Kemite theology begins by asserting that there was a time when there were no gods or goddesses; there was no sky, planets, earth, sun, or people. There was only the primeval ocean (Supreme Being), which was without form. 

From the primeval ocean, there emerged the first and highest of the gods who the Kemites called Ra; he was lifted up from the depth of the primeval ocean by Nu. The Primeval Ocean, Nu, and Ra are expressions of the Supreme Being, which is important to understand as all the subsequent gods and goddesses emanated from Ra. 

As a potter molds clay into statues, boxes, cups, etc.; clay remains the base of the various creations. So it is with Ra, the gods, and goddesses; they are Divine principles, which are emanations of the Supreme Being who participate in the creation of the universe and human beings.

Shu (air and space/ether) and Tefnut (water, moisture) were among the gods of the Ennead. Shu was masculine and Tefnut was feminine, wherein we recognize the principles of correspondence and gender involved in laying the foundation of Creation.

Shu and Tefnut gave birth to Geb (earth; masculine) and Nut (sky; feminine). Geb and Nut gave birth to two sets of twins; Asar (Osiris) and Aset (Isis), and Set and Nephthys. Asar and Aset gave birth to Heru. 

Dr. Muata Ashby, tells us: “The primeval waters never changed into creation. Creation is the primeval waters itself and is continuously changing according to the winds of Cosmic vibration as prescribed by the Cosmic Mind (God). Therefore, creation is a continuous process which occurs at every moment by God’s consciousness, i.e., God’s very presence.”

I quoted Dr. Ashby as one source among many that have concluded that the Kemites understood and held that there was only one androgynous God, who was and is the Creator. The neteru (gods and goddesses), were emanations of the Supreme Being. 

Wallis Budge, Egyptian Book Of The Dead, tells us that Dr. Brugsch collected a number of passages from Kemite text which summarize their belief in One Infinite eternal God. The following passages have been selected from his collection:

“God is one and alone, and none other existeth with Him—God is the One, the One who hath made all things—God is a spirit, a hidden spirit, the spirit of spirits, the great spirit of the Kemites, the divine spirit—God is from the beginning, and He hath been from the beginning, He hath existed from old and was when nothing else had being. He existed when nothing else existed, and what existeth He created after He had come into being. He is the Father of beginnings—God is the eternal One, He is eternal and infinite and endureth forever and aye—God is hidden and no man knoweth His form. God is life and through Him only man liveth. He giveth life to man, He breatheth the breath of life into his nostrils—God is father and mother, the father of fathers, and the mothers of mothers. He begetteth, but was never begotten; He produceth, but was never produced; He begat himself and produced himself.”

There are a number of passages in all periods of Kemite mythology that affirm that the Kemites identified Ra as the Sun, so that, God made himself known in Kemite mythology as the Sun-God-Ra. 

My point here is that the gods and goddesses were likened to the rays of the sun. The sun’s rays touch the earth, yet one cannot extract the sun from its rays. Ocean waves crash the beach, and rise from the ocean, yet one cannot extract the ocean from the waves.

The editors of the Old Testament needed only to humanize the Kemite gods and goddesses, and cast them in a historical context. In doing so, they could not omit the many similarities that can exist between Kemite mythology and the Old Testament creation story in the book of Genesis. 

Take for example; Geb (earth) and Nut (sky, heaven) had three sons — Asar, Set, and Heru, and two daughters. 

The similarities between Geb and Nut and Adam and Eve are undeniable. So much so, that it is evident that the Genesis Creation Story is a plagiarized version of Kemite mythology, which uses Geb and Nut as the Archetypes of Adam and Eve. 

In one account, Geb and Nut disobeyed Ra and he punished Nut with difficulties in childbirth. Another story tells how Geb and Nut were in an embrace so tight that they were one. Then, Shu (space, ether) separated or pulled Nut from Geb’s body, separating heaven and earth. 

There is still another account where one brother (Set) killed one of his other brothers (Asar), and how the third brother (Heru) founded the line of heirs to the Kemite throne. 

The three accounts above correspond to the Adam and Eve story. God separated Eve from the body of Adam, the two of them disobeyed God’s order; God punished Eve with difficulties in childbirth. Adam and Eve had three sons; Cain, Able, and Seth—one of whom (Cain) murdered one of the others (Able), and the third (Seth) went on to establish the line of heirs from Adam to Abraham.

Talking About Geb and Nut

There is a lot we can glean from the role Geb and Nut played in Kemite mythology. Even though the story could be 6000 to 50,000 years old, it bears the fruit of the inception of the universe and human beings.

The goddess Nut (sky, heaven) and the god Geb (earth) were said to be locked in a loving embrace, i.e., they hugged one another so tight that nothing could exist between them. Thus, the story of Creation entails the separation of heaven (Nut) and earth (Geb), as Ra inserted Shu(space, ether) between them, pulling them apart. 

Thus, we see the formation of heaven and earth; Tefnut represents the power of nature, which relates to the presence of water, moisture, moisture which tempered the heat of the sun. She was also said to provide water to the deceased. 

It was said of Shu, that when separating Nut and Geb, he rose from the earth with the sun disk on his shoulders. Likewise, representing the power of nature, it is said he typified light as he raised up the sky and held it in place each day. 

Nut and Geb, representing the manifestation of the earth, sky, and nature, gave birth to children, or the gods known as Asar, Aset, Set, and Nephthys. Geb was the god of the earth, who later became “a god of the dead as representing the earth wherein the deceased was laid.”

Nut was the feminine principle; having emanated from the primeval ocean as the personified the sky, she was also active in the creation of the universe. Nut was seen as the mother of the gods and all living things, “and she and her husband Geb were considered  to be the givers of food, not only to the living but also to the dead.”

Conclusion

Kemite mythology preserves thoughts and beliefs about life and death that contain timeless knowledge and understanding. It overflows with depictions of gods and goddesses that symbolized oneness and unity as the universe and human being materialized.

The oneness that existed among the gods and goddesses; that same oneness lives within each one of us. The gods and goddesses of Kemet lived in the hearts of the Kemites, and they live within those of us who live upon the earth today.

The first trinity includes mother, father, and child; an emanation of oneness. It is a oneness of heart and mind, the oneness that gives human beings the ability to care for one another in the same way the Supreme Being cares for all of Creation. 

Every human being is an emanation of the Supreme Being; i.e., human beings are manifestations of Divine energy, manifestations of the Creator. The Soul of every individual and the Supreme Being are one and the same.

Therefore, human beings are eternal souls who need only remember who they are and why they incarnated into the physical realm of life. The path of remembrance will lead to spiritual enlightenment, which is unity with Creation and the Creator. 

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