Shu

After Atum withdrew, Shu succeeded him as ruler of the gods. Shu had been the immediate agent of Atum’s creation and had set the world in motion. He was associated with air, emptiness, light, and divine intelligence. In some accounts, he appeared as a man wearing a feather or four tall plumes. He could also take the form of a lion or a column of air.

Shu and his sister-wife, Tefnut, produced Geb, the earth god, and Nut, the sky goddess. Geb and Nut embraced so closely that nothing could exist between them. Nut had conceived children but could not give birth while they remained joined. Shu therefore separated them. He lifted Nut above him and set Geb beneath his feet. In this form, Shu became a cosmic giant whose stride reached across the sky. The eight Heh gods, whom Shu created from his bodily fluids, helped him support Nut.

Geb later challenged Shu’s leadership. In one account, he took Tefnut as his chief queen. In another, he raped his mother. This separated Shu from Tefnut, just as Shu had separated Geb from Nut. Geb then tried to take his father’s headdress. Its guardian serpent breathed venom over him, killing his attendants and burning him. Geb was afflicted with fever, and no medicine could cure him.

Shu withdrew from the world after Geb’s challenge. Geb was eventually accepted as ruler. Some accounts describe him as the third divine king, after he had ousted Shu. After storms and darkness lasting nine days, the sky cleared and Geb’s rule was acknowledged. In other traditions, Ra or Atum handed the throne directly to Geb. The succession from Shu to Geb therefore follows the usual account, but the divine king lists were not fixed.