Thanks very much for your very informative response, Katherine.   
      
   Jim   
      
      
   On Fri, 29 Oct 2004 07:50:00 +0100, Katherine Griffis-Greenberg   
    wrote:   
      
   >On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 13:07:06 -0400, Jim Lyons   in   
   >alt.mythology, wrote the following:   
   >   
   >>Does anyone one know of an Egyptian myth in which Khnum, rather than   
   >>Atum or Ra, loses his eye and sends Tefnut to find it?   
   >   
   >Sounds like a confusion of the Demotic myth of the "Wandering of the Eye   
   >of Ra," IMO.   
   >   
   >For one, Tefnut (or Sekhmet in some variations - in either case, both   
   >considered facets of Hathor) IS the Eye which is "lost," which is a   
   >literary means of saying his Eye goddess [protective deity, called an   
   >/ir.t/ goddess] abandoned the god when the goddess became jealous of his   
   >favour being given to another goddess in her place (likely another "Eye   
   >goddess;" there are several).  In all variations of the myth, the /ir.t/   
   >goddess goes to Nubia, away from Egypt.   
   >   
   >When the Eye goddess disappears, the floods will not come to Egypt, the   
   >legend goes, so Ra sent out Thoth (or Baba, a demigod in the Egyptian   
   >pantheon) to cajole the wandering goddess to return to Egypt.  To do   
   >this, the god so dispatched has to bring supplications from Ra begging   
   >her forgiveness, humour her up into a good mood, and then lead her back   
   >to Egypt before Ra.   
   >   
   >In the variations of the myth of which I am aware, I do not recall Khnum   
   >as being either the one who lost the Eye goddess (which wouldn't make   
   >sense, as "Eye goddesses" represent the burning heat of the Sun, and   
   >Khnum is not syncretized with Ra throughout Egyptian pharaonic history   
   >O'Rourke 2000: 232), or Khnum being the one who goes to cajole the Eye   
   >goddess to return; it's always Thoth or Baba. (Griffiths 2000: 479)   
   >   
   >I suppose it's always possible there was local variation of the myth,   
   >but I am not aware of any written version of such.  The known versions   
   >of the myth are as outlined above.   
   >   
   >See:   
   >   
   >Griffiths, J. G. 2000. Myths: Solar Cycle. In Redford, D. B., Ed., _The   
   >Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, II_:476-480.  Oxford: Oxford   
   >University Press.   
   >   
   >O'Rourke, P. F. 2000. Khnum.  In Redford, D. B., Ed., _The Oxford   
   >Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, II_:231-232.  Oxford: Oxford University   
   >Press.   
   >   
   >HTH.   
   >   
   >Regards --   
      
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