Egyptian Mythology Geb
Amongst the group who believed in the Ennead, a form of Egyptian mythology
centred in Heliopolis, Geb (also spelt Seb, and Keb) was the personification of
the earth, and indeed this is what his name means - earth, and thus it was said
that when he laughed, it caused earthquakes. Since the Egyptians held that their
underworld was literally that, under the earth, Geb was sometimes seen as
containing the dead, or imprisoning those not worthy to go to Aaru.
In the Ennead, he is the husband of Nut, the sky, the son of the primordial
elements Tefnut (moisture) and Shu (dryness), and the father to the four lesser
gods of the system - Osiris, Set, Isis, and Nephthys. In this context, Geb was
said to have originally been engaged in eternal sex with Nut, and had to be
separated from her by Tefnut. Consequently, in early depictions he was shown
reclining, with his phallus pointed towards Nut.
As time progressed, the hieroglyph used in his name became more associated with
the habitable land of Egypt, and so thus vegetation. Likewise, since it was used
as his name, he too became associated with vegetation, with barley being said to
grow upon his ribs, and was depicted with plants and other green patches on his
body. Gradually, vegetation began to be thought of as something that ought to be
fat, and plump, and so the hieroglyph was used in these words too.
Because of this association with fatness, and vegetation, and so forth, the
individual glyph became used as the word for goose. Indeed, the accession of a
new pharaoh was announced by releasing four wild geese, to the four corners of
the sky, to bless his reign with prosperity. This lead to Geb's name also taking
the meaning goose, and so, it was for this reason that Geb became called the
Great Cackler, and subsequently represented as a black goose, where black
represented the fertile soil. When the Ennead and Ogdoad later merged, it was
thus Geb who was considered the goose who laid the egg from which Ra emerged.
His association with vegetation, and sometimes with the underworld, also brought
him the occasional interpretation that he was the husband of Renenutet, a minor
goddess of the harvest, who was the mother of Nehebkau, a god associated with
the underworld, who was on the same occasions said to be his son by her. He is
also the predecessor of the Greek titan Kronos.
The Hymn of Geb says:
Behold, I rejoice on my standard, on my seat.
I am the creator of darkness,
making his place in the limits of the sky,
the ruler of infinity.
I rejoice in the lord of the palace.
My nest is unseen; I have broken the egg.
I am the lord of millions of years.
I have made my nest in the limits of the sky,
and descended to the earth as the Goose,
who drives out all sins.