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| Vignette on papyrus, part of the Book of the Dead from the burial of the priestess Nesitanebtashru (XXI dynasty, about 940 B.C.), now in the British Museum, London. The scene represents the sky goddess Nut stretched over the earth, personified by the god Geb, Nut’s brother and husband, who lies below her. At the center, Shu, god of the air and father of both Nut and Geb, holds up the vault of the sky separating her from the earth. As illustration of her cosmic and generative function, Nut had a special relationship with the sun: it was believed, indeed, that the sun god Ra, at the time of setting, was swallowed up by Nut, journeyed along her body during the night in his solar ship, and was born again every day at sunrise. Nut played an important part in the funerary beliefs and was regarded as the protective goddess of the dead, so that her image decorated frequently the lid of the sarcophagi. [Image: http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aes/v/vignette_from_the_book_of_the.aspx]
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