God of the Earth, God in the Eenead
Geb, Keb, Kebb, Seb, Gebb,
Geb is most often and commonly portrayed as a man, with either a
normal or green skin tone, wearing a white crown of the North or
sometimes of the South. In other instances Geb is also identified by
a goose, an animal that he is thought to have regarded as sacred;
hence why he is known as the “Great Cackler.”
In other references, it is possible that he is represented by a
bull, a ram, or even a crocodile. Many mythological sources call him
the "father of Snakes" as the God of the Earth. Most visual
depictions of Geb show him lying close to the ground, with an arm
extended toward the heavens.
In one famous representation, he is shown reclining beneath the sky
goddess Nut. In this picture he is seen leaning on one elbow and a
knee pointing toward the sky. Egyptologists believe this represents
the mountains and valleys of the earth.
Geb is the son of earlier primordial elements Tefnut and Shu,
created by the one god Atum (or Ra) as a member of the Heliopolitan
Ennead (group of nine gods). Geb is the husband of Nut, the goddess
of the sky, the visible daytime and the cloaking nighttime. Nut is
also Geb's twin sister, created with the Ennead. With Nut, Geb is
said to have fathered four lesser gods; Osiris, Seth, Isis, and
Nephthys.
The Phakussa Stele tells the story of Geb’s insatiable desire for
his mother, Tefnut (known also as Nut). He traveled through Egypt to
bide his time, lusting, until his father Shu passed on. Then he
arrived at his deceased father's temple in Memphis to track down and
violently rape Tefnut. The tale does not punish the crime but
instead gives Geb the throne, where he was revered by a vast
majority of his Egyptian subordinates. He received the title of
"Heir of the Gods," measuring his significance and power over other
Egyptian deities.
Predominately, Geb is known as the God of the Earth. It is said that
he and his wife Nut created the Great Egg in their home of
Heliopolis. It is represented and described much as a Phoenix egg,
from which the Sun-God is born and the sky becomes home to the solar
body. Geb represents one of the few polytheistic religions where the
God of Earth symbolizes a man instead of a woman (Gaia, Mother
Earth, etc.) As the ground deity, it was a very common belief that
earthquakes were loud booms of Geb's laughter.
Even though he is closely associated with the mortal habitat of the earth, he helps guide dead souls to heaven, granting them meat and drink for their voyage. In this role, he also watched as the hearts of the deceased person(s) were weighed in the Judgment Hall of Osiris. Those who were deemed good and pure souls, provided they had possession of the necessary words of power, were allowed freedom from the binding earth so they could continue their journey to heaven. The wicked and impure were bound to the earth by Geb himself and not allowed to escape. For this reason, he plays a large role in the Book of the Dead.
Geb's home of Heliopolis is the sight of creation, where the heavy process began when the Sun God was hatched and appeared in the sky, an event that is directly accredited to Geb and his wife Nut. This hatching of the Great Egg made the egg as a symbol of renewal and change for the Ancient Egyptians.
