The religion of Ancient Egypt was a complex and diverse system that brought together different beliefs and practices, from diverse origins. Each region had its own creation myth, in which different gods were involved, although in all of them the world (or more specifically Egypt) had arisen in similar ways.
Among the common elements shared by these myths of the origin of the world is the belief that it arose from the waters of chaos called Nu , and also that the first thing that appeared was a pyramid-shaped mound called benben .
From this initial mound the sun was born, personified in the gods Ra or Khepri.
Each of the four major cities of Egypt (Hermopolis, Heliopolis, Memphis, and Thebes) was associated with the worship of a different god. In Heliopolis (present-day ’Ain Schams, a northeastern suburb of Cairo) the god in question was Atum, the creator who would have generated himself from the benben mound.
In fact in the Pyramid Texts the Atum itself is referred to as a mound and it is said that it became a small pyramid, inside which he lived. This small sacred stone was kept in the Sun Temple of Ra in Heliopolis, and is believed to have been the model for obelisks and pyramids. The stones that top the pyramids, called pyramidion , they are also called benben stones because its form derives from the original benben.
This original stone was lost at some point in history, without knowing exactly what dimensions it had. Its shape, which originally could have been conical or rounded, evolved due to architectural needs until it became a small pyramid with a quadrangular base and covered in gold, symbolizing the place where the first rays of the rising sun shone.
But there is more because the benben stone is also associated with the myth of the Bennu bird, which symbolized creation and renewal. This bird was represented as a man with the head of a heron, perched on the benben stone.
He had created himself from the fire burning a sacred tree in the temple of Ra, and had the ability to be reborn from its ashes. Indeed, the Greeks would call it Phoenix .
In the Pyramid Texts (line 600, § 1652) it says:
Some scholars believe that the original benben stone may have been a meteorite. Others interpret the obelisks as fossilized sunbeams , and the pyramids as stairs to the sun , a way to symbolize his relationship with Atum and the solar cult.