Tefnut

In Heliopolitan creation variants Tefnut is among the first generated beings produced by the creator god (Atum/Ra). In several mythic texts Atum creates the first pair Shu and Tefnut by an act of expectoration (spitting or sneezing); late writings even write her name with a mouth/spitting sign, and the Pyramid Texts record related creation language. These accounts place her at the cosmogonic first generation as the emanation of moisture from the creator.

Tefnut is frequently depicted as a lioness or as a woman with a lioness head; she may also appear fully anthropomorphic wearing a wig topped by a uraeus and often a solar disk. On some monuments she is shown with a diadem, a flame emblem (indicating a 'mistress of the flame' or Eye aspect), or a low flat headdress with sprouting plants in later periods. Her visage is sometimes paired symbolically with Shu in paired imagery; occasional texts and depictions describe rare variants such as lion‑headed serpent iconography.

Tefnut embodies moisture — moist air, dew, and rain — and is recorded in ritual and funerary texts as producing water in mythic terms (for example, passages in the Pyramid Texts). She also functions as one of the leonine Eye of Ra goddesses: a solar, fiery protectress who can display wrath and destructive force against enemies. Mythic narratives represent her as capable of fleeing in anger (a famous episode records her escape to Nubia) and returning only after being placated or honored (for instance, receiving the title 'honorable' from Thoth). In temple practice she is invoked in purification rites and in liturgies connected to royal well-being.