Real, but the surviving record is thin or comes from one period only. Arrives with the Book of the Dead.
Renen-sbau
the one who sets the stars in their places
Part of the Akhemu-seku.
Overview
Renen-sbau has the best job in the register.
Budge's caption: "The god who is in this picture setteth the stars in their places (literally, towns), and he goeth on his way with the great god" [budge-1905-gates].
Literally, towns. Budge is careful enough to flag the word he softened, and the literal sense is far better than the translation. The stars do not have places in the sky. They have towns — settlements, addresses, somewhere they live — and this god is the one who puts each of them in its own.
Attestation history
The register. In the lower register of the tenth division, Budge lists [budge-1905-gates]:
1. Twelve male beings, each carrying a paddle — "gods who never diminish" 2. Twelve female beings, each grasping a rope, a star above each head — "the hours who tow along the boat of Ra" 3. Banti, cynocephalus-ape-headed, holding a sceptre 4. Seshsha, man-headed, a star above him, holding a sceptre 5. Ka-Amenti, bull-headed, holding a sceptre 6. Renen-sbau, man-headed, a star above him, holding a sceptre 7. A monkey with a star over his head, called "the god of Rethenu" 8. A bracket, on which rests the Utchat 9. Her-nest-f, holding a sceptre
Budge assigns the four descriptions by position, noting the remaining figures "remain without descriptions" [budge-1905-gates]. The attribution is his inference, preserved here as such.
What the texts say
Stars live in towns. This is the sharpest piece of language recovered from the tenth division, and it is worth not flattening. The Egyptian word Budge renders "places" is the word for a settlement. The night sky, in this text, is a populated map — and the god drawn with a star above his own head is the one assigning residences.
Which fits what the register is for. The Akhemu-seku are the stars that never set, and the twelve towing goddesses each carry a star. Almost everything in the lower register of the tenth division is a celestial body doing a job. Renen-sbau is the one who decides where each of them stands.
The name carries the star in it. Sba is the ordinary word for star, so the god who places the stars is named with the word for the thing he places — the same pattern as Tefnut, named for the spitting that produced her, or Khonsu, named for the travelling he does. The first element, renen, is not established here; see open threads.
Iconography
Man-headed, with a star above him, holding a sceptre [budge-1905-gates].
Cult and practice
None.
The record
Every claim above traces to a row here. Source, exact place in that source, and what it actually supports.
| Source | Locus | Attests |
|---|---|---|
[budge-1905-gates] | *Book of Gates* II, tenth division, lower register | Renen-sbau, man-headed, star above him, holding a sceptre |
[budge-1905-gates] | *Book of Gates* II, tenth division, fourth of four descriptions | "setteth the stars in their places (literally, towns)" — attribution is Budge's inference |
Sources
[budge-1905-gates]— Budge, The Egyptian Heaven and Hell / The Book of Gates (1905), vol. II, tenth division of the Tuat, pp. 273–278. Public domain, archived insources-texts/. Budge caveat applies (04-BIBLIOGRAPHY.md); this is scene description and translated caption, his most reliable register.[budge-1904]— Budge, The Gods of the Egyptians (1904), vol. I, on the beings of Sekhet-Aaru. Public domain, archived insources-texts/.[wilkinson-2003]— Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses. In copyright; cited only.
Open questions
- Establish the first element of the name. Sba is secure; renen is not. It may relate to renen, "to nurse or rear," which paired with "star" would give something like "nurse of the stars" — attractive, unverified, and not asserted in the entry.
- Get the literal word behind "towns." Budge flags his own softening; the underlying word would be worth quoting exactly, because it is the best thing in this register.
- Confirm Budge's positional attribution of the four descriptions.
- Check whether Renen-sbau appears in the Amduat's corresponding hour or only in the Book of Gates.
Cite this entry
Research grade: ◐partial — Genuinely attested, but the record is thin or single-period.
"Renen-sbau", The Egyptian God Corpus,
graded partial, retrieved 2026-08-10.