Thursday, January 9, 2014

Khnum - Ancient Egyptian Kiln God


KhnumI told ya to watch out for a follow up to my Kiln God/Goddess post!!  I have always been fascinated with Egyptian culture, specifically the Ancient Egyptian culture and religion(s).  So while doing some research into the origin of the kiln god/goddess, you can imagine my excitement to see that the Egyptians were one of the first civilizations to adopt one!  Khnum was one of the first/most ancient of all the deities that were worshiped.  There are references to Khnum that date back to the  Predynastic Periods!  How awesome!  See...I knew potters/ceramic artists were special folk.. ;)

Khnum at Esna copyright John Campana"Khnum was originally a water god who was thought to rule over all water, including the rivers and lakes of the underworld. He was associated with the source of the Nile, and ensured that the inundation deposited enough precious black silt onto the river banks to make them fertile. The silt also formed the clay, the raw material required to make pottery. As a result he was closely associated with the art of pottery. According to one creation myth, Khnum moulded everything on his potters wheel, including both the people and the other gods. In Iunyt (Esna, in the 3rd Nome of Upper Egypt) it was proposed that he also created the "First Egg" from which the sun was born (as Nefertum, Atum or Ra)" - Ancient Egypt Online

 Well...I think that settles it.  My kiln god shall be made in the likeness of Khnum.  I mean HELLO....He created people AND the other gods!  hehe  :-D  What a force to be reckoned with!  Perhaps having a kiln god to watch over my firings will make the pinholes go away that I've been experiencing in one particular glaze on my speckled stoneware clay...

After reading my last post..did you take it upon yourself to do any research into other kiln god/goddess myths?  This is all I've done thus far.. but it's due mostly to my personal interest in this ancient culture...just something about it I find fascinating!

Do you have a kiln god/goddess?  Is he/she based on anything in particular, or is it a complete figment of your imagination?




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