According to the Heliopolitan creation myth, Atum, the first god, having created himself, decided to do something about being surrounded by complete nothingness. Now, when home alone, men find the need to… ‘take advantage’ of the situation. In this case, Atum started masturbating, and from his seed came two gods, Shu and Tefnut. Atum is described as saying:

‘I had union with my hand, and I embraced my shadow in a love embrace; I poured seed into my own mouth and I sent forth from myself issue in the form of the gods Shu and Tefnut.’

The ‘seed into my own mouth’ has also been interpreted as spitting, but from statues of Atum it is clear to see that he has his hand firmly around his member. Building upon this, it was believed that the flow of the Nile was related to how many times Atum ejaculated, meaning that the flow of the Nile relied heavily on the power of masturbating. This idea that masturbation created life was extended to the pharaohs, who would ceremonially jack off into the Nile to ensure prosperity during the feast of Nim.