Mythical Egyptian Bennu Bird And Deity

According to Egyptian mythology, the Bennu was a self-created being. The Egyptian meaning of the Bennu is ‘palm tree‘ and also ‘purple heron’. This bird is clearly associated with the Phoenix and its legend is associated with the Bennu. The Bennu bird has red and golden plumage and is the sacred bird of Heliopolis, >one of the oldest cities of ancient Egypt.

Sacred Bennu has been also interpreted as the reincarnation of the Gods Ra and Osiris.
Heliopolis is referred to as the City of the Sun and is known as one of the oldest Egyptian cities. The ancient Egyptians believed the Bennu created itself from a fire that burned upon a holy tree in the temple of Ra and yet others believed that it exploded from the heart of Osiris.

See also: Unraveling The Mystery Of The Phoenix: The Bird Of Immortality

Some of the titles of the Bennu bird were “He Who Came Into Being by Himself”, and “Lord of Jubilees”; the latter epithet referred to the belief that the Bennu periodically renewed itself like the sun. Its name is related to the Egyptian verb wbn, meaning “to rise in brilliance” or “to shine”.

The Pyramid Texts refer to the yellow wagtail as a symbol of Atum, and it may have been the original form of the Bennu bird. New Kingdom artwork shows the Bennu as a grey heron with a long beak and a two-feathered crest, sometimes perched on a benben stone (representing Ra) or in a willow tree (representing Osiris). Because of its connection with Osiris, it sometimes wears the atef crown.

A large species of heron, currently extinct, lived on the Arabian Peninsula in comparatively recent times; it may have been the ultimate inspiration for the Bennu. Reflecting this, the species was described as the Bennu heron (Ardea bennuides). Like Atum and Ra, the Bennu was probably worshipped in their cult center at Heliopolis. It also appears on funerary scarab amulets as a symbol of rebirth.

According to the Greek historian Herodotus, who wrote about Egypt in the fifth century BC, the priests at Heliopolis described the phoenix to him. They said it lived for 500 years before building its own funerary pyre and setting it alight.

The newborn offspring of the previous phoenix rose from the ashes of this fire and carried them to Heliopolis, depositing them on the temple’s altar. Greek descriptions of the phoenix liken it to an eagle with red and gold plumage, reminiscent of the sun or of flames.

The name of the phoenix could be derived from “Bennu”, and its rebirth and connections with the sun resemble those of the Bennu bird, although Egyptian sources do not mention the bird’s death.

Written by – A. Sutherland  – MessageToEagle.com Senior Staff Writer