Exploring Sacred Numbers in Ancient Egypt: Chapter One, Part II

Book Serialisation

Continuing from Part 1.

In Part 1, we looked into

1.6 The Theban Creation Myth

The Theban creation myth is the most beautiful. It describes the world being activated when the call of a goose penetrated the silence of the uninhabited world and broke the stillness of the primaeval waters, causing the Ogdoad and Ennead to form. No one knows how old the myths associated with Amun are with any certainty. We know he appears in the oldest religious texts in Egypt, the Pyramid Texts, but his worship did not receive royal endorsement until the Middle Kingdom when Amun became the patron deity of Thebes, replacing the local god Montu during the 11th Dynasty in the 21st century BC. He represented the hidden or mysterious aspect of the primordial waters whose creator aspect was expressed as a fusion with the Sun god, Ra, as Amun-Ra (also spelt Amon-Ra or Amun-Re). On his own, he was worshipped as king of the gods because he was the principal cosmic creator god in a pantheon of 15 gods made up of Amun’s consort Mut, their child Khonshu, the local god Montu and his consort Tjenenyet, plus Thoth and the complete Ennead of Heliopolis.

Tjenenyet, also known as Tenenet or Tjenenet, the consort of Montu and a version of the god Horus, was a goddess of childbirth and was often depicted wearing a headdress shaped like a cow’s uterus. Known as “mother of mothers” and “divine mother who birthed the gods.”

The main pantheon was matched by 15 local gods, making the Theban pantheon one of thirty gods. The year remained Atum’s perfect 360-day year nested within Thoth’s imperfect 365-day year.

In another version of the same story, Amun is the divine goose that laid the cosmic egg from which the world and creation emerged. As a deity associated with hidden power and primordial creation, Amun, in his goose form, was thought to have existed in the pre-creation waters of Nun, where his cry initiated the first act of creation. The Leiden Hymns further emphasize this association, referring to Amun as an enigmatic, self-created deity, much like the mythical goose that existed before all things and brought forth the first light. Some scholars also link Amun’s goose form with the concept of the breath of life, as the sound of a cackling goose could have been metaphorically interpreted as the divine utterance that brought the cosmos into order.¹

At Karnak, the principal place of worship for gods of Thebes, Amum, Mut and Khonsu, the world began on a primordial mound where the creator god, Atum, emerged from the primaeval waters and begin the process of creation, making the temple site the very place where the world came into being.

The sacred precinct contains temples, shrines, obelisks, and colossal statues. Among its most remarkable features is the Great Hypostyle Hall, an architectural marvel consisting of 134 massive columns, some reaching 23 meters in height, symbolising the primordial swamp from which creation arose. This hall remains one of the most awe-inspiring structures of antiquity and was the centre of the New Kingdom Opet Festival, an annual religious event of renewal where statues of Amun, Mut and Khonsu were carried or floated down the river in a ceremonial procession from Karnak to the temple at Luxor.

1.7 The Memphite Creation Myth

The Memphite Theology, as recorded on the Shabaka Stone, is one of ancient Egypt's most significant religious texts. Unlike earlier cosmogonies from Heliopolis and Hermopolis that emphasised physical creation, this theology is said to be primarily intellectual and conceptual, placing Ptah, the patron god of Memphis, as the supreme creator.

The formal royal adoption of the Memphite Theology is credited to Pharaoh Shabaka (c. 716–702 BC), but the theological concepts themselves likely date back to the Old Kingdom. Shabaka’s efforts revived and solidified the doctrine, emphasising Ptah’s role as the ultimate creator and aligning Memphite religious traditions with the political aspirations of the 25th Dynasty.

Tradition has it Memphis was founded around 2925 BC by Menes, the king who purportedly unified Upper and Lower Egypt and created what we now call Dynastic Egypt. Historians believe Menes could have been any one of the pre-dynastic kings buried at Abydos–Narmer, Scorpion or Aha. Ptah was the local god of Memphis and also the patron god of craftsmen, although, unlike the Greek Hephaestus, he was never seen with a blacksmith’s hammer in his hands. Rather, Ptah was presented in the form of a mummified green-skinned king, wrapped in a brilliant white shroud with a lapis blue cap on his head – all colours associated with the primordial waters of Nun. He holds a sceptre combining three powerful symbols of ancient Egyptian religion: the Was, Ankh, and Djed pillars representing power, breath or life, and the stability of the annual renewal cycle, respectively.

Much is made of the Shabaka Stone’s theology today because it is believed to have had profound implications on later Egyptian, Greek, and Judeo-Christian thought. The concept of creation by the divine word, particularly the idea that thought precedes material reality, is seen in Plato’s concept of forms and early Christian theology, and so is thought to be a huge step forward in ancient Egyptian thinking. Some scholars go so far as to argue that Memphite theology may have influenced the idea of "Logos" in Hellenistic thought.² However, almost no one mentions the fact that the gods of the Heliopolitan tradition were fully incorporated into the Memphite myths. The priests of Ptah claimed the god’s toes were the Ogodad of Hermopolis and his tongue and teeth the gods of Heliopolis.

Ptah, the Primal Waters, and Creation Myths in Ancient Egypt

Ptah, often depicted as a god of craftsmanship and intellect, was also deeply connected to the primal waters of Nun, a relationship that challenges the common perception of him as merely a deity of the mind. His blue cap and green skin symbolised his ties to regeneration, rebirth, and the life-giving forces of the cosmos, much like the gods of creation in Egyptian mythology. Additionally, Ptah incorporated elements of both the Hermopolitan and Heliopolitan theological systems, aligning him with the Ogdoad (the Eight Primordial Deities) of Hermopolis and the solar creation myths of Heliopolis. This synthesis of different religious traditions highlights his role as a unifying deity in Egyptian cosmogony.³

Another significant connection to the Ogdoad is that Ptah is linked to Tatjenen (Tatenen), the deity of the primordial mound that emerged from Nun. This form of Ptah, Ptah-Tatenen, represents the earth’s first emergence from the formless waters at the beginning of time, reinforcing his creative power beyond mere craftsmanship.⁴ At Thebes, Ptah was further syncretised with the moon god Khonsu, forming the composite deity Ptah-Tatenen-Khonsu, who played a vital role in cosmic procreation. In the Theban myth, Ptah-Tatenen-Khonsu directs his creative force—his semen—towards a womb in the sea, symbolising the union of divine essence with the primordial waters to generate existence.⁵ In the Khonsu-influenced variation, the moon god impregnates a feminine entity within Nun, leading to the birth of the primordial egg, a fundamental element in Egyptian cosmogony that echoes the "Great Cackler" myth of Hermopolis.⁶

So, we can see that far from being a complete departure from the existing traditions of ancient Egyptian religion, Ptah was fully integrated into the prevailing conception that life began with Nun. His creation method was by the ‘word and the mind of god, ’ from ideas that first developed within his heart that Thoth then named. Ptah then uttered those names with his tongue and lips, which were the tongue and lips of Atum. So, in the Memphite creation myth, the world came into existence through Atum and Thoth with the help of Ptah. Atum, who merged from the primordial waters, was part of Ptah, who emerged from the primordial mound.

The Wider Pantheon

Like the Patheon at Thebes, the Memphite pantheon included other gods. Traditionally, 8 to 10 major gods were considered central to the Memphis pantheon, including the triad of the earthy Ptah, the fiery Sekhmet, often depicted as a lion-headed woman wearing a red dress, symbolising blood and fire. Her fiery nature was an essential part of her identity, and she was associated with the burning sun, divine wrath, and the purging power of flames and their fiery child Nefertum, a child sun god who emerged from the river Nile as a blue lotus flower.

The fourth god of the pantheon was Apis (Hapi-ankh). Unusually, Apris took the form of a living bull and was regarded as the earthly manifestation of Ptah. The animal was kept for 25 years, then ritually sacrificed and buried in the Serapeum of Saqqara, where it became associated with Osiris. There was a temple dedicated to Hathor as the consort of Apis.

The gods of the primal mound, Tatenen and Tatjenen, whose names mean “The Rising Earth” or “The Emergent Land”, signified the moment the first land emerged from the waters of Nun at the beginning of time. Like Osiris in the Heliopolitan tradition, Tatenen embodied the fertile land, from which all life, plants, and minerals emerged. He was also the god of the underground realms of the dead and of mysterious forces of nature that lurked beneath men’s feet and deep beneath the earth’s surface.

The Osiris, Isis, and Horus triad was also worshipped at Memphis along with Thoth, the sun god Re and Atum.

The Memphite Year

The year remained the 360-day perfect year of Atum nested within the imperfect 365-day year of Thoth.

1.8 The Persistence of the Cosmic Rupture

Only the Heliopolitan creation myth deals with time. In it the year is made in two stages and consists of two separate parts - which we have called the 360-day year of Atum and the 365-day year created by Thoth.

Traditionally, Egyptologists call the 365-day year the ‘solar year’ upon which they say the ancient Egyptians based their ‘civil calendar’. It is said to be represented by the eternal repetition and the cycles of the cosmos, a process the ancient Egyptians called ‘neheh’. This included the daily rising and setting of the sun (R’s journey), the flooding of the Nile, and the changing of the seasons. It was predictable and reassuring, ensuring the stability of the universe.

The 360-day year of Atum, when it is mentioned, is called Djet and is described as the linear, unchanging and eternal time of the gods after creation and the permanent, timeless state of existence that pharaohs and gods sought after death. Djet time is considered to exist outside normal human experience and is often represented by the underworld, the Duat.

According to Egyptologists, these two concepts were interwoven—the pharaoh and the people lived within Neheh (cycles) but aimed to attain Djet (eternity) after death.

From a sacred number point of view, these two numbers are immensely significant. 360 is a super-abundant number capable of multiple division, whereas 365 is a deficient composite but interesting as a chain of squares. Of course, neither the 360-day year nor the 365-day year represents the actual solar (365.25 days) or lunar years (12×29.53 = 354.36 days). Later chapters will address the division of time and its sacred numbers.

If ma’at was the correct operation or flow of time as observed by the cycles of the sun and the moon, ma’at was well and truly broken and led the ancient Egyptians to believe their world was vulnerable to catastrophic breakdown at any time. They believed the sun and moon cycles had been irreparably damaged when Thoth created the five extra days, and judging by the observable fraction of a day that also existed, it could split further apart.

To prevent this impending catastrophe, the ancient Egyptians devised a plan. Their leader, or pharaoh, would assist the gods in maintaining the cosmic in two ways: on earth and in the heavens. On earth, he would lead his people in right and moral living and perform the rituals, sacrifices and offerings the gods required. In the heavens after death, he would take the form of a ‘living ghost’ or ‘transformed ak’ and join the crew of the sun god Re to assist and protect his boat as it passed through the treacherous land of the underworld during the hours of darkness then join Re’s day boat as it sailed across the sky from dawn til dusk.

1.9 The One, the All and the Many

The One and the Many concept is another numerical and mathematical conundrum that emerges from these creation myths. This problem is a fundamental issue in metaphysics and philosophy that explores how diversity and unity coexist in reality. It asks: How can many individual things be part of one greater reality? As in the Heliopolitan creation myth, where Atum represents the totality of everything that will ever exist, how do unity and multiplicity relate to each other? We are used to seeing problems discussed in pre-Socratic philosophy but rarely by Egyptologists.

In the 6th century BC, the Greek Parmenides argued that reality is "One" and that change and plurality are illusions. He believed in an unchanging, indivisible whole, rejecting the existence of "the many."Taking the opposing view, his compatriot Heraclitus argued that opposites were unified, meaning that "the One" was found in the constant transformation of the Many. His view suggested that the world is both One (as a process) and Many (as individual changes).

Of course, Plato’s answer to the one and the many was his theory of form. Plato proposed a single, eternal Form (One) exists behind multiple instances (Many). For example, The idea of "beauty" exists as a universal Form, while beautiful things are its manifestations. He tried to solve the problem by distinguishing between the world of Forms (unity) and the physical world (multiplicity).

Aristotle rejected Plato’s two-world theory and proposed that unity and multiplicity coexist in individual things. He developed hylomorphism, where every being consists of Matter (Many – what it is made of) and Form (One – what gives it identity). This was a middle-ground approach, where the One and Many exist together in reality.

To the ancient Egyptians, the great chain of life unleashed at the beginning of time was a hierarchy of beings that connected everything in existence to the creator gods, whether that god was Atum in the theology of Heliopolis, Amun in the Theban theology or Ptah in the Memphite theology. In the Egyptian mind, the creator god, using the unlimited and unformed prima material of the Nun, was the source of all and, therefore, was the totality. As the imminent German Egyptologist Erik Horung points out in ‘Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt: The One and The Many, ’ their concept of god was not monolithic but rather a complex interplay of many gods representing different aspects of existence. The creation narrative reflects this through a process where the divine essence divides infinitely, leading to many deities, each with their own unique roles and attributes.

1.10 Material versus Immaterial

The divide between the material and the immaterial world is also a key question raised in the creation myths. According to Jan Assmann (The Search for God in Ancient Egypt, 2001), Egyptian gods were characterised by a dual existence; that is, they were immanent or present in the physical world where they were manifest in nature, kingship, animals, and sacred objects and at the same time transcendent or beyond the material realm existing in a higher metaphysical plane, beyond ordinary perception. Unlike the Western notion of a separate divine realm, Assmann argues that Egyptian gods were not distant entities but were constantly interacting with and shaping the physical world. However, Erik Hornung (Idea of the God in Ancient Egypt, 1982) concludes the gods were not static personalities but fluid forces that could merge, divide, and take on different forms depending on context. This is evident in how gods were combined into syncretic forms (e.g., Amun-Re) or how divine attributes were interchangeable.

We will revisit the nature of the gods in later chapters, but for now, we will assume the gods, who were deemed to be metaphysical beings and, therefore, immaterial, were the creators and set the material world in motion. As such, they were able to inhabit materiality and control it. As for the spirits of the divine dead, who were also immaterial, they were deemed to inhabit the liminal space of the Duat or the Underworld, where they would dwell until the end of time, the day Atum reduced the created world to rubble and ashes, and everything that ever existed was returned to the primordial waters of Nun. However, until that fateful day, as far we know, there was no philosophical division between the material and spiritual or metaphysical because the living cosmos and everything that would ever exist was part of the creator god. There was, however, a practical division. The metaphysical and material worlds are, of course, separate. The ancient Egyptians believed only the gods and the dead could pass between these two worlds, and their means of transportation was a combination of metaphysical and material bridges in the form of rituals, the use of sacred objects and the creation of sacred places using words, numbers and geometry.

1. Gahlin, The Egyptian World, 2007.

2. Griffiths, J.G. (1996). The Memphite Theology as a Source of Ancient Egyptian Theocosmogony. Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde.

3. Hornung, E. (1999). The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife. Cornell University Press.

4. Assmann, J. (2001). The Mind of Egypt: History and Meaning in the Time of the Pharaohs. Harvard University Press.

5. Finnestad, R.B. (1985). Ptah, Creation, and the Egyptian Cosmos. Acta Orientalia.

6. Sauneron, S. (2000). The Priests of Ancient Egypt. Cornell University Press