Which god was the self-created creator god of Heliopolis? Atum was the self-created creator god of Heliopolis.
In the Heliopolitan creation tradition, Atum emerged from Nu, the primeval watery abyss, and appeared on the first mound of creation, often associated with the benben. Because he arose without parents, he became the source of the gods and the ordered world.
Atum produced Shu, god of air, and Tefnut, goddess of moisture. They became the first pair in the Heliopolitan Ennead and eventually the ancestors of Geb, Nut, Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nephthys. Different texts describe Atum’s creative act through images of spitting, sneezing, bodily generation, or the power of his hand.
Atum is often confused with Ra because the two were merged as Ra-Atum. Atum was especially linked with the evening sun, while Ra represented the solar power more broadly. Ptah was the creator god of Memphis, but not the canonical creator of Heliopolis.