Khnum

**Khnum** is the underworld aspect of Ra in the evening. He is the creator god who made man out of clay in his potter's wheel. When Ra stopped making his nightly journey through the Duat, he left Khnum at the gates of the Fourth House.

## History

He has several occupations, as the creator of children before they are born, and as the helper of Hapi, the god of the Nile River, to burst forth in the flood season. At Elephantine, he was worshipped alongside Satis, a personification of the Nile flood, and Anuket, another goddess of the Nile river. He is the 3rd Aspect of Ra. He was the first major obstacle the Kanes had to face. His symbols are a potter's wheel, the ram and an Ankh. He was the patron god of the potters. He was also thought to be the protector of the Dead.He was thought to be the ruler of all the waters, including the rivers and lakes of the underworld.

## *The Kane Chronicles*

### *The Throne of Fire*

Sadie almost called him "The Divine Pooter," instead of "The Divine Potter". Carter and Sadie came across Khnum on their trip through the Duat. In order for them to go, Khnum asked Carter and Sadie for his name, which he forgot after waiting for so long for his king, Ra. He was hoping that if he could remember his name, he would be able to go back with his king. They only had one shot, and If they had it wrong, Khnum was going to kill them. Carter remembered Khnum's name and told it to god. Luckily, Khnum asked if he was asking or saying. Before Carter could say anything, Sadie guessed that Khnum was really asking for his ren, not the name he is known for. Sadie then uses the Section 1 of The Book of Ra to return the ren of Khnum.

## Appearance

 File:Khnum.png  Khnum is often depicted as having the body of a man, and the head of a ram. His skin is deeply tanned, and is adorned with blue-and-gold jewelry. He carries a simple staff, and his neck is concealed by linen.

In the book, Khnum is described wearing a kilt, with a skirt that "could have supplied enough to fabric ten ships sails", according to Sadie. His body is humanoid and muscular, covered with man-fur. He has a head of a ram: a white snout with a brass ring in his nose and long curly horns hung with dozens of bronze bells. He haves eyes set far apart, with luminous red irises and vertical slits for pupils. He wears leather sandals. Sadie describes his foot with mud, and its toenails yellow, cracked and overgrown. They were like that because he have been standing in a rock in the gates of the Fourth House for thousands of years, since he no longer made the nightly journeys with Ra, the sun god left him there. Now that Ma'at is restored, he is probably making the nightly journeys in the barque with Ra again, and is probably in better conditions.

## Abilities

He spent years stuck in a rock when Ra left him at the gates of the Fourth House in the Duat, and eventually lost most of his memories, including his name, and most of his *powers* and identity. Now that Ma'at is restored, he is probably like his old self and he has his full powers. He has all the standard abilities of a god. Khnum has immense powers like Sobek. He can control water, being a water god. For being a river god, like Sobek or Nephthys, Khnum is completely unaffected by running water. Because he created man out of clay and is called the divine potter it is assumed he can do earth magic. It is possible that he has necromancy too because he was greatly associated with the underworld, being the Protector of the Dead. As an aspect of Ra, it can be assumed that he can manipulate fire and light.

## Trivia

* Khnum was originally depicted as the god of the Nile River.
* He can be associated with Prometheus from Greek mythology as they both created humans out of clay.
* His Greek equivalent seems to be Geras who represents the advent of old age like him.
* He made children in his potter's wheel and his wife Heket gave the breath of life and placed the baby at the mother's womb.
* He was worshipped alongside Anuket and Satis as the guardians of the source of the Nile.
* Khnum-Khufu (Khufu the pharaoh) meant "*the god Khnum protects me*".
* In order for Ra to be reborn, Carter and Sadie needed to give Khnum his *ren* that he had forgotten.
* According to myths, Khnum created the barque.
* It was believed that Khnum and the two other gods of Elephantine (Satis and Anuket) decided how much of Hapi's silt would be delivered during each year's annual flood.
* Even though he is an aspect of the solar deity Ra, he is not related to fire.
* He is associated with Underworld, being the god of all waters, including the waters in the Underworld.
* It is possible that he has power over the dead too, because he was greatly associated with the underworld, being the Protector of the Dead.