Image: Wikimedia Commons

Atum

Ancient Egyptian creator deity

Instance of: Ancient Egyptian deity
Part of: Egyptian mythology

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Atum, sometimes rendered as Atem, Temu, or Tem, is the primordial God in Egyptian mythology from whom all else arose. He created himself and is the father of Shu and Tefnut, the divine couple, who are the ancestors of the other Egyptian deities. Atum is also closely associated with the evening sun. As a primordial god and as the evening sun, Atum has chthonic and underworld connections. Atum was relevant to the ancient Egyptians throughout most of Egypt's history. He is believed to have been present in ideology as early as predynastic times, becoming even more prevalent during the Old Kingdom and continuing to be worshiped through the Middle and New Kingdom, though he becomes overshadowed by Ra around this time.

Overview

All data

29 statements · 7% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Sex or gender: male
Worshipped by: religion of ancient Egypt
Father: Nun
Child: Shu
Tefnut
Name in hiero markup: t:tm-A40

Data quality

statements

externally sourced

Source last edited October 4, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

Suggest a fact or correction

Links

Use this data

curl https://aidb.si/api/v1/entities/Q170569

API docs, limits & keys

Cite this page

AIDB. (2026). Atum (Q170569). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/atum-Q170569