Iusaaset

Iusaaset, meaning, "the great one who comes forth" is the name of a primal goddess in Ancient Egyptian religion. She also is described as "the grandmother of all of the deities". This allusion is without any reference to a grandfather, so there might have been a very early, but now lost, myth with parthenogenesis as the means of the birth of the deities from the region where her cult arose near the delta of the Nile. Many alternative spellings of her name include, "Juesaes", "Ausaas", "Iusas", and "Jusas", as well as in Greek, "Saosis".

In Ancient Egyptian art, Iusaaset appears as a woman wearing the horned vulture crown with the uraeus and the solar disk in it, and she carries an ankh in one hand and a scepter in the other. The Egyptian vulture, most sacred to the ancient Egyptians and symbolizing Nekhbet, one of the Two Ladies protecting Egypt, was thought to reproduce though parthenogenesis also. This association might be the basis for the similar view about the motherhood of Iusaaset. The vultures also were considered extremely good mothers. The horns, the uraeus, and the solar disk make a religious connection to Bat and Hathor.

Once the two portions of Egypt united, the power that created the deities was envisioned as a concept, rather than an individual. It could be discussed in two aspects, however, that could be identified as female and male. Later when it began to be described as an individual during the New Kingdom, the female aspect was named, Iusaaset, and the male aspect was named, Atum. Eventually their unity was expressed by considering them as an individual and its shadow, an integral concept in the Egyptian language, where nothing existed without its shadow.

Eventually, they were described as separate deities and because documents to clarify the mysterious concepts and how they were differentiated have not been discovered, it is difficult to delineate the origins and changes in religious beliefs about Iusaaset and other deities closely associated with her through the three thousand years from the earliest known documents to the end of the civilization. Many of their religious concepts were kept very secret by the Egyptians, often merely alluded to, given other names, or described in euphemisms and complex titles.

Although her origins are unclear, Iusaaset seems to be attested quite early in the Egyptian pantheon, being associated with creation and the creation of the deities. Many myths relate that she was seen as the mother of the first deities and the grandmother of the following deities, having "watched over" the birth of the ones that were her grandchildren. She remains as a primary deity in the pantheon throughout all eras of the culture, even through the Persian, Hyksos, Greek, and Roman occupations, and regardless of changes in the specific myths.

Association with acacia tree

Iusaaset was associated with the acacia tree, considered the "tree of life", and thus with the oldest one known being situated just north of Heliopolis and, thereby, which became identified as the birthplace of the deities. Iusaaset was said to own this tree. The acacia tree was renown for its strength, hardiness, medical properties, and edibility. Many useful applications gave it a central importance in the culture.

Changes in myths

One belief held that Iusaaset and Atum were the parents of Shu and Tefnut, the first deities. In this myth she often was described as his shadow, sister, or wife. Later other goddesses also became associated with Atum and one variant even relates that "he" gave birth to the deities, although that variant seems to have been rejected by many cultural and religious centers.

During the Old Kingdom the Egyptians believed that Atum lifted the dead pharaoh's soul from the tomb to the starry heavens. [http://www.philae.nu/akhet/NetjeruA.html#Atum retrieved November 9, 2006] . By the time of the New Kingdom, the Atum myth had merged in the Egyptian pantheon with that of Ra, who later was described as a creator and a solar deity as his cult arose. Their two identities were joined into "Atum-Ra". After they were combined, Ra was seen as the whole sun and Atum came to be seen as the sun when it sets in the west (depicted as an old man leaning on his staff), while Khepera was seen as the sun when it was rising.

At these later times Iusaaset sometimes is described as the "eye of Ra", after the myth of Ra overtook that of Atum. This implies that her cult was very strong, since she survived as a deity associated with the new deity replacing the one with whom she had been paired during the New Kingdom pantheon.

An association with Isis may be found later. Isis became "known as the Source of all Life. Although she was called by a thousand names, one of her most sacred names was Iusaaset - Utterer of Words, Conceiver of Worlds. She gave birth to the Sun God, Horus. She brought the arts, language, medicine, weaving, all culture to her people". [http://www.geocities.com/sexmajick/isis.html]

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