Bennu

The Bennu is a mythological bird associated with the sun, creation, and rebirth, typically depicted as a grey heron (Ardea cinerea) or a yellow wagtail with a long beak and a two-feathered crest. In Egyptian cosmogony, the Bennu was believed to have been the first living creature to appear on the primeval mound (benben) that emerged from the waters of Nun at the beginning of creation, and its cry was the first sound to break the silence of the primordial void.

The Bennu is closely associated with Ra and Osiris, embodying the solar cycle of death and rebirth. It was said to determine the periods of time, linking it to the concept of cyclical renewal. The Bennu is the Egyptian precursor to the Greek phoenix, and the transmission of this concept represents one of the most famous examples of Egyptian mythological influence on classical culture. The Greek historian Herodotus describes the phoenix visiting Heliopolis every 500 years, carrying its dead father in an egg of myrrh, a transformed version of the Egyptian original.

In the Pyramid Texts, the Bennu is associated with the Heliopolitan benben stone and the cult of Ra. The "Book of the Dead" Chapter 83, "Spell for being transformed into a Bennu bird," allows the deceased to identify with the Bennu and thus partake of its powers of self-renewal and eternal return. The bird's association with the willow tree at Heliopolis connects it to the Osirian mythology of death and regeneration, and vignettes in funerary papyri frequently depict the Bennu perched upon a willow tree or standing on the benben stone, bridging the solar and Osirian theologies of rebirth.