Nut was the goddess of the sky but had many other purposes as well. She had three other names: Nuit, Newet, and Nueth. Nut was known as the mother of all gods, including Ra (her grandfather) because she swallowed him up every night and gave birth to him again in the morning. She was also the mother of heavenly bodies, whose laughter was thunder and tears were rain. She often carried the sun across the sky. She played a part in funeral beliefs and was sometimes drawn on the tops of sarcophagi. Nut was one of the nine major gods. She was the personification of the sky and the heavens. Egyptians called her "the mother of the sky". Nut was one of the oldest deities among history.