Geb
28519
225975199
2008-07-16T08:01:44Z
Valentina, gospodarica neba
7468897
{{Unreferenced|date=June 2008}}
{{Hiero|Geb|<hiero>G39-b-A40</hiero>|align=right|era=egypt}}
{{Template:Ancient Egyptian religion}}
'''Geb''' (formerly erroneously read as '''Seb''') or '''[[K]]eb''' (meaning probably: 'weak one', perhaps:'lame one' (spelled with either initial -g- or -k-point, the latter initial root consonant occurs once in the Coffin Texts as well as much later in a text from the tomb of Petosiris at Tuna el-Gebel) was the Egyptian god of the earth and a member the [[Ennead]] of [[Heliopolis (ancient)|Heliopolis]]. The oldest representation (in a fragmentary relief) of the god was anthropomorphic being accompanied by his name (dating from king Djoser's reign, IIIth Dynasty) and was found in Heliopolis, In later times he could also be depicted as a ram, a bull or a crocodile. In mythology he often occurs as a primeval ruler/king of Egypt. Geb was sometimes seen as earth containing the dead, or imprisoning those not worthy to go to the heavenly Field of [[Aaru-]]-reeds.
In the Heliopolitan Ennead, he is the husband of [[Nut (goddess)|Nut]], the sky or visible firmament, the son of the primordial elements [[Tefnut]] ('orphaness', later also moisture ('tef')) and [[Shu (Egyptian deity)|Shu]] ('emptiness'), and the father to the four lesser gods of the system - [[Osiris]], [[Set (mythology)|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 Shu, god of the air. Consequently, in early depictions Geb was shown reclining, with his [[phallus]] pointed towards the sky goddess Nut.
As time progressed, the deity became more associated with the habitable land of Egypt and also as one of its early godly rulers. As a chtonic deity he (like e.g. Osiris and Min) became associated with vegetation, with [[barley]] being said to grow upon his [[rib]]s, and was depicted with plants and other green patches on his body.
Some Egyptologists stated, that Geb was associated with a mythological creator-goose who had laid a cosmic egg from which the sun and/or the world had sprung. This is certainly wrong and brought about by a regular spelling of the name Geb with the help of an image of a Whitefronted Goose (Anser albifrons), also called originally gb(b))'lame one, stumbler' (cf. C.Wolterman, "On the Names of Birds and Hieroglyphic Sign-List G 22, G 35 and H 3" in: "Jaarbericht van het Vooraziatisch-Egyptisch genootschap Ex Oriente Lux" no.32 (1991-1992)(Leiden, 1993), p.122, note 8. Another name for this same goose species was trp meaning equally 'walk like a drunk, stumbler'. It is beyond any doubt, that said creator goose, called mythologically 'the Great (or Oldest) Honker', appeared [[solely]] in the shape of a Nile Goose (=Egyptian Goose = Fox Goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus), both within texts and vignets. Geb himself was never depicted as a Nile goose, as later was the great god Amun, called on some New Kingdom stelae:'Amun, the beautiful smn-goose (Nile goose'. The only clear pictorial confusion between the hieroglyphs of a Whitefronted Goose(in the normal hieroglyphic spelling of the name Geb, often followed by the b-sign) and a Nile goose in the spelling of the name Geb occurs in the rock cut tomb of the provincial governor Sarenput II (12th Dynasty, Middle Kingdom) on the Qubba el-Hawa desert-ridge (opposite Aswan), namely on the left (=southern) wall near the open doorway, in the first line of the brightly painted funerary offering formula. (text: drs. Carles Wolterman, Amstelveen, Holland)
[[Image:Geb end Nut01.jpg|left|thumb|170 px|Sky godess Nut and Geb with the head of snake.]]
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 snake god associated with the underworld, who was on the same occasions said to be his son by her. He is also equated by classical authors as the Greek titan Kronos.
[[Category:Earth gods]]
[[als:Geb]]
[[bn:গেব]]
[[bs:Geb]]
[[br:Geb]]
[[bg:Геб]]
[[ca:Llista de personatges de la Mitologia Egípcia#G]]
[[cs:Geb]]
[[da:Geb]]
[[de:Geb (Ägyptische Mythologie)]]
[[et:Geb]]
[[el:Γκεμπ]]
[[es:Geb]]
[[fr:Geb]]
[[hr:Geb]]
[[it:Geb]]
[[he:גב (אל)]]
[[lt:Gebas]]
[[hu:Geb]]
[[nl:Geb]]
[[ja:ゲブ]]
[[no:Geb]]
[[oc:Geb]]
[[pl:Geb]]
[[pt:Geb]]
[[ro:Geb]]
[[ru:Геб]]
[[scn:Geb]]
[[simple:Geb]]
[[sk:Geb]]
[[sl:Geb]]
[[sr:Геб]]
[[fi:Geb]]
[[sv:Geb]]
[[tr:Geb]]
[[uk:Ґеб]]
[[zh:盖布]]