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Atum
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Atum
Atum Atum wearing the double crown, depicted on a fragment of cartonnage, 200 bce–200 ce; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

Atum

Egyptian god
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Last Updated: • Article History

Atum, in ancient Egyptian religion, one of the manifestations of the sun and creator god, perhaps originally a local deity of Heliopolis.

Atum’s myth merged with that of the great sun god Re, giving rise to the deity Re-Atum. When distinguished from Re, Atum was the creator’s original form, living inside Nun, the primordial waters of chaos. At creation he emerged to engender himself and the gods. He was identified with the setting sun and was shown as an aged figure who had to be regenerated during the night, to appear as Khepri at dawn and as Re at the sun’s zenith.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.