B\u00fct\u00fcnl\u00fc\u011f\u00fcn efendisi Atum, son derece g\u00fc\u00e7l\u00fc ve tehlikeli bir \u00e7ift do\u011faya sahip bir varl\u0131kt\u0131r. Her \u015feyi yaratma yetisine sahiptir; ancak yarat\u0131m\u0131n\u0131 tamamlad\u0131\u011f\u0131 anda, ayn\u0131 zamanda onu sona erdiren ki\u015fidir. Hem Yukar\u0131 hem de A\u015fa\u011f\u0131 M\u0131s\u0131r\u2019\u0131 yaratmas\u0131 ve y\u00f6netmesi nedeniyle, genellikle \u00e7ifte ta\u00e7 giymi\u015f insan formunda betimlenir. K\u0131v\u0131rc\u0131k sakal\u0131, onun bir tanr\u0131 oldu\u011funu insan kral olmad\u0131\u011f\u0131n\u0131 g\u00f6sterir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Atum, ayn\u0131 zamanda y\u0131lan, bok b\u00f6ce\u011fi (skarabe), ko\u00e7 ba\u015fl\u0131 adam, ve nadiren de olsa firavun faresi (ichneumon), aslan, bo\u011fa, kertenkele, maymun ya da bizzat yarat\u0131l\u0131\u015f t\u00fcmse\u011fi \u015feklinde tasvir edilebilir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eski Krall\u0131k’\u0131n ba\u015flar\u0131na gelindi\u011finde bile, Atum \u00e7ok \u00f6nemli bir tanr\u0131yd\u0131 ve Piramit Metinleri, \u00f6len kral\u0131n g\u00fcne\u015f tanr\u0131s\u0131yla bir olma m\u00fccadelesini detayland\u0131r\u0131r. Zamanla bu metinler terk edilse ve k\u00fclt\u00fc Re’nin mitolojisi i\u00e7inde erise de, Atum hanedanl\u0131k \u00e7a\u011f\u0131n\u0131n sonuna kadar etkili bir varl\u0131k olarak kalacakt\u0131r.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Atum\u2019un yeni d\u00fcnyas\u0131 i\u00e7in ayr\u0131ca bir g\u00fcne\u015f yaratmas\u0131na gerek yoktu; \u00e7\u00fcnk\u00fc kendisi zaten \u0131\u015f\u0131k ta\u015f\u0131yan bir g\u00fcne\u015f tanr\u0131s\u0131yd\u0131. Miti anlatan sonraki versiyonlarda bu a\u00e7\u0131k\u00e7a belirtilir: Re (\u201cg\u00fcne\u015f\u201d) ya da birle\u015fik formuyla Re-Atum, yarat\u0131l\u0131\u015f t\u00fcmse\u011finin \u00fczerinden y\u00fckselir. Re, g\u00fc\u00e7l\u00fc \u00f6\u011fle g\u00fcne\u015fi olarak kutlan\u0131rken; Atum, ya\u015fl\u0131 ve \u00f6len ak\u015fam g\u00fcne\u015fi ile \u00f6zde\u015fle\u015fmi\u015ftir bu da onun \u00f6l\u00fcm ve \u00f6teki d\u00fcnya ile olan ba\u011f\u0131n\u0131 vurgular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bu arada, skarabe b\u00f6ce\u011fi Khepri, \u201cvarl\u0131\u011fa gelen\u201d olarak yenido\u011fan sabah g\u00fcne\u015fi \u015feklinde sayg\u0131 g\u00f6r\u00fcrd\u00fc. B\u00f6ylece, g\u00fcne\u015fin \u00fc\u00e7 y\u00f6n\u00fc\u2014hareketli Khepri (sabah), kudretli Re (\u00f6\u011fle), ve yorgun Atum (ak\u015fam)\u2014M\u0131s\u0131r g\u00fcn\u00fcn\u00fcn \u00fc\u00e7 b\u00f6l\u00fcm\u00fcn\u00fc simgeler hale geldi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Khepri, genellikle bir bok b\u00f6ce\u011fi olarak tasvir edilir; ancak bazen b\u00f6cek ba\u015fl\u0131 bir adam ya da b\u00f6cek ba\u015fl\u0131 bir \u015fahingil olarak da g\u00f6sterilebilir. O, al\u00e7akg\u00f6n\u00fcll\u00fc skarabe (bok b\u00f6ce\u011fi) b\u00f6ce\u011finin tanr\u0131sal bir versiyonudur. Bu b\u00f6ce\u011fin b\u00fcy\u00fck ve bi\u00e7imsiz bir d\u0131\u015fk\u0131 topunu itme al\u0131\u015fkanl\u0131\u011f\u0131, insanlara g\u00f6ky\u00fcz\u00fcnde dev bir kozmik b\u00f6ce\u011fin g\u00fcne\u015fi yuvarlayarak hareket ettirdi\u011fi fikrini \u00e7a\u011fr\u0131\u015ft\u0131rm\u0131\u015ft\u0131r.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
D\u0131\u015fk\u0131 topunun i\u00e7inde, zamanla \u00e7atlay\u0131p d\u0131\u015far\u0131 \u00e7\u0131kan b\u00f6cek yumurtalar\u0131 gizlidir; bu da g\u00f6zlemcilerin, skarabelerin t\u0131pk\u0131 Atum gibi kendili\u011finden do\u011fabilen, erke\u011fe \u00f6zg\u00fc varl\u0131klar oldu\u011funa inanmas\u0131na yol a\u00e7m\u0131\u015ft\u0131r.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Antik yazar Plutarkhos, M\u0131s\u0131r\u2019\u0131n hayvan tanr\u0131lar\u0131n\u0131 ele ald\u0131\u011f\u0131 eserinde bu yayg\u0131n inanca \u015f\u00f6yle yer verir:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
> \u201cBok b\u00f6ceklerinin t\u00fcr\u00fc di\u015fisizdir; erkekler, spermalar\u0131n\u0131 yuvarlak bir topa b\u0131rak\u0131r ve bu topu ters taraftan iterler. Bu, t\u0131pk\u0131 g\u00fcne\u015fin kendi y\u00f6n\u00fcne z\u0131t bi\u00e7imde g\u00f6\u011f\u00fc d\u00f6nd\u00fcr\u00fcyormu\u015f gibi g\u00f6r\u00fcnmesine benzer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Khepri her gece \u00f6l\u00fcr, par\u00e7alan\u0131r ve g\u00f6m\u00fcl\u00fcr; her sabah ise yepyeni bir \u015fekilde yeniden do\u011fard\u0131. Bu etkileyici yeniden do\u011fma yetisi, onu hem ya\u015fayanlar hem de \u00f6l\u00fcler i\u00e7in Birinci Ara D\u00f6nem’den itibaren en \u00e7ok tercih edilen t\u0131ls\u0131mlardan biri haline getirmi\u015ftir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ya\u015fayanlar, d\u00fcz tabanl\u0131 skarabeleri m\u00fch\u00fcr olarak da kullanm\u0131\u015flard\u0131r. \u00d6te yandan, III. Amenhotep, dev boyutlardaki skarabeleri \u201chaber ta\u015f\u0131y\u0131c\u0131s\u0131\u201d olarak kullanm\u0131\u015ft\u0131r: alt y\u00fczeylerine kaz\u0131nan k\u0131sa propaganda metinleri, iyi haberleri imparatorlu\u011fu boyunca yaymak i\u00e7in haz\u0131rlanm\u0131\u015ft\u0131r.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Khepri\u2019nin adanm\u0131\u015f bir tap\u0131na\u011f\u0131 olmamakla birlikte, ba\u015fka tanr\u0131lar\u0131n tap\u0131nak komplekslerinde devasa ta\u015f skarabeler yer alm\u0131\u015ft\u0131r. En bilinen \u00f6rnek, bug\u00fcn h\u00e2l\u00e2 Karnak\u2019taki Amen-Re tap\u0131na\u011f\u0131n\u0131n kutsal g\u00f6leti yan\u0131nda duran dev ta\u015f b\u00f6cektir. Modern g\u00f6zle bak\u0131ld\u0131\u011f\u0131nda olduk\u00e7a etkileyici ve tuhaf g\u00f6r\u00fcnen bu heykel, zamanla kendi mitolojisini yaratm\u0131\u015f ve g\u00fcn\u00fcm\u00fczde dilekleri ger\u00e7ekle\u015ftirdi\u011fine ve k\u0131s\u0131r kad\u0131nlara \u00e7ocuk verdi\u011fine inan\u0131lmaktad\u0131r.<\/p>\n\n\n\n