Tefnut, She of Moisture

Tefnut was the goddess of moisture, The name of Tefnut translates to,"She of the mist". The name "TF" is the root of the words for 'spit' and 'moist'. Her name translates to something like 'She of Moisture', and is written using the symbols for a loaf of bread ("T" sound) and horned viper "F" sound). The second syllable,"NT", contains a pot symbolizing water for the "N" and another loaf for the second.

It's hard to imagine how important the moister or rain must have been in ancient Egypt, but the fact that the rain goddess was one of the first three gives us some idea. Tefnut is always shown with a scepter, the symbol of power, and an ankh, the symbol of life. She wears the sun disk as a headdress and generally depicted either as a lioness-headed woman or in fully leonine form, reminding us of how powerful the rain can be. She also occasionally took the form of a cobra. the Egyptians knew that without her, Egypt would descend into chaos. It is no wonder that they equated her with the goddess Ma'at.

Tefnut looks like Sekhmet, however, Tefnut's ears are routinely pointed, whereas Sekhmet's are rounded Tefnut does indeed usually appear in company with her brother Shu. Their link was so close that in the Roman period they became the Twins in the zodiac. As early as the Pyramid Texts from the Old Kingdom, Shu and Tefnut are mentioned as a lion pair. In the latter case usually back-to-back with Shu in similarly leonine form; when depicted like this Shu and Tefnut are known as Ruty, "the Two Lions".

One of her Mesopotamian nicknames was Nin-ti, meaning “Lady Life”, or “The Lady (Who Makes) Live.” Ti is also the Sumerian word for “rib”, therefore Nin-ti could variously be interpreted as “the Lady of the Rib”. In the Bible, Eve is of course formed from the rib of Adam.

Tefnut was strongly associated with both the moon and the sun. She was known as both the left (moon) and the right (sun) "Eyes of Ra" and represented both moisture (as a lunar goddess) and dryness (or the absence of moisture, as a solar goddess). She was the lunar goddess of moisture, humidity and water who was also a solar goddess connected with the sun and dryness (more specifically, the absence of moisture).

Tefnut was one of the original deities - one of the Ennead. She was the daughter of the creator god, Of the Ennead deities, she is the first one to be attached to a female nature. She was the first mother. She is the mother of the twin sky and the earth deities. Together the four members of this cosmic family, made up the quartet of major elements of the universe: earth, air, sky and waterwater

Tefnut was originally considered to be the lunar "Eye of Ra" linking her to the night sky as well as to dew, rain and mist. However, she also took on the aspect of the sun as the solar "Eye of Ra", the protector of the sun god (also known as the "Lady of the Flame" and the "Uraeus on the Head of all the Gods"). She shared this role with a number of other goddesses including Sekhmet, Hathor, Mut, Bast, Isis, Wadjet andNekhbet.

Her family background is fairly complex. She was also associated with a god called Tefen. The Pyramid Texts inscribed in the tomb of Unas suggest that Tefnut and Tefen were closely involved in the weighing of the heart of the deceased by Ma´at. The text states; "Tefen and Tefnut have weighed Unas and Ma´at has listened, and Shu has born witness". Tefnut became connected to Ma'at, and as such this goddess is sometimes seen assisting Shu in his task of holding Nut above Geb. More often he is alone in the task

According to myth, Shu and Tefnut went out into the waters of Nun (chaos). Their father, Ra, thought that he had lost them and sent his eye to find them. When they returned Ra was so happy that he wept, and his tears formed the first human beings.

Another myth states that Tefnut fell out with her father, Atum, while he lived on earth as the Pharaoh of Egypt. She left Egypt for Nubia taking all of the water and moisture with her. The fertile land soon dried up and the people suffered. Meanwhile, Tefnut was rampaging through Nubia in her leonine form. Atum eventually sent Thoth and Shu to get her back. When she returned (bringing the inundation with her) she visited each town in Egypt and there was much celebration and rejoicing throughout the land.