Source recordAncient text

Coffin Texts

Various Egyptian priests · c. 2100-1650 BCE · Egyptian

Ancient text

Coffin Texts

Various Egyptian priests

c. 2100-1650 BCE

Funerary spells painted inside Middle Kingdom coffins, drawing on the Pyramid Texts and leading into the Book of the Dead; they include Atum's creation of Shu and Tefnut.

About this work

Funerary spells painted inside Middle Kingdom coffins, drawing on the Pyramid Texts and leading into the Book of the Dead; they include Atum's creation of Shu and Tefnut.

Stories drawn from it

Retellings in the atlas that quote or cite this work.

The Heliopolitan Creation MythcreationIn the beginning was the primordial waters of Nun, dark and chaotic. From these waters arose the primeval mound, and upon it stood Atum (later identified with Ra), the self-created god.

About this record

By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. About the author. Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.

Dates and authorship follow standard scholarly references; for many ancient works both are approximate or disputed.