ATÙM

ATÙM. — In ancient Egyptian: jtm. Usually vocalized as ‘atôm’, for now without an etymology, he was the primitive god of Heliopolis: the “Heliopolitan.” His temple was called “the castle of the official.” In the Heliopolitan ennead he is regarded as the creator of the universe. Perhaps he was a king of the gods, who was later identified with the sun-god RĒ‘ (Atûm-RĒ‘) or also RĒ‘-HARAKHTE-ATÛM, a trinomial in which RĒ‘ is the sun in general, HARAKHTE the rising sun, and ATÛM the setting sun. His cult lasted a long time and is also found in the Ethiopian period.