💧

Tefnut

AlsoTefnut

The Lion Goddess of Moisture and Rain

The Beginning of Chaos and Order · Primordial Creators

MoistureRain and DewLion-Headed

Who they are

Tefnut is the first goddess Atum made, goddess of moisture and water, often shown as a lion-headed woman or a lioness. Joined with her brother Shu, she bore Geb and Nut — the first parents of the ordered world. A famous myth tells how, after quarreling with her father Atum-Ra, she stormed off in a rage, took the form of a lioness, and fled to the deserts of Nubia; the world went dry for the loss of moisture, and the gods contrived to coax her back, her return bringing rain and life again. This motif of the "raging goddess who departs and is appeased into returning" recurs throughout Egyptian myth (as with Hathor-Sekhmet), answering to the waxing and waning of the Nile and the seasons.

Key stories

The Lioness Who Departed

After quarreling with her father Ra, Tefnut became a fierce lioness and left Egypt, ranging far into the deserts of Nubia to hunt at will. With her gone, moisture left too, and the land cracked with drought. Ra sent the wisdom god Thoth, who coaxed the furious lioness the whole way with stories, flattery, and reasoning, and drew her back to Egypt. The moment she crossed the border she became the blessing goddess again, and rain and green returned with her — drought and abundance, to the Egyptians, were one goddess's rage and joy.