Ancient Egyptian creation myths

Ancient Egyptian creation myths are the ancient Egyptian accounts of the creation
of the world. The Pyramid Texts, tomb wall decorations and writings, dating back to
the Old Kingdom (2780 – 2250 B.C.E) have given us most of our information
regarding early Egyptian creation myths.[1] These myths also form the earliest
religious compilations in the world.[2] The ancient Egyptians had many creator gods
and associated legends. Thus the world or more specifically Egypt was created in
diverse ways according to different parts of the country.[3]

In all of these myths, the world was said to have emerged from an infinite, lifeless The sun rises over the circular
sea when the sun rose for the first time, in a distant period known as zp tpj mound of creation as goddesses
(sometimes transcribed as Zep Tepi), "the first occasion".[4] Different myths pour out the primeval waters around
it
attributed the creation to different gods: the set of eight primordial deities called the
Ogdoad, the self-engendered god Atum and his offspring, the contemplative deity
Ptah, and the mysterious, transcendent god Amun. While these differing cosmogonies competed to some extent, in other ways they
were complementary, as different aspects of the Egyptian understanding of creation.

Contents
Common elements
Cosmogonies
Hermopolis
Heliopolis
Memphis
Thebes
References

Common elements
The different creation myths have some elements in common. They all held that the world had arisen out of the lifeless waters of
chaos, called Nu. They also included a pyramid-shaped mound, called the benben, which was the first thing to emerge from the
waters. These elements were likely inspired by the flooding of the Nile River each year; the receding floodwaters left fertile soil in
their wake, and the Egyptians may have equated this with the emergence of life from the primeval chaos. The imagery of the
ging as the river receded.[5]
pyramidal mound derived from the highest mounds of earth emer

The sun was also closely associated with creation, and it was said to have first risen from the mound, as the general sun-god Ra or as
the god Khepri, who represented the newly-risen sun.[6] There were many versions of the sun's emergence, and it was said to have
emerged directly from the mound or from a lotus flower that grew from the mound, in the form of a heron, falcon, scarab beetle, or
human child.[6][7]

Another common element of Egyptian cosmogonies is the familiar figure of the cosmic egg, a substitute for the primeval waters or
the primeval mound. One variant of the cosmic egg version teaches that the sun god, as primeval power, emerged from the primeval
[8]
mound, which itself stood in the chaos of the primeval sea.
Cosmogonies
The different creation accounts were each associated with the cult of a particular god in one of the major cities of Egypt: Hermopolis,
Heliopolis, Memphis, and Thebes.[9] To some degree these myths represent competing theologies, but they also represent different
aspects of the process of creation.[10]

Hermopolis
The creation myth promulgated in the city of Hermopolis focused on the nature of the universe before the creation of the world. The
inherent qualities of the primeval waters were represented by a set of eight gods, called the Ogdoad. The god Nu and his female
counterpart Naunet represented the inert primeval water itself; Huh and his counterpart Hauhet represented the water's infinite extent;
Kek and Kauket personified the darkness present within it; and Amun and Amaunet represented its hidden and unknowable nature, in
contrast to the tangible world of the living. The primeval waters were themselves part of the creation process, therefore, the deities
representing them could be seen as creator gods.[10] According to the myth, the eight gods were originally divided into male and
female groups.[11] They were symbolically depicted as aquatic creatures because they dwelt within the water: the males were
represented as frogs, and the females were represented as snakes.[12] These two groups eventually converged, resulting in a great
upheaval, which produced the pyramidal mound. From it emer [13]
ged the sun, which rose into the sky to light the world.

Heliopolis
In Heliopolis, the creation was attributed to Atum, a deity closely associated with Ra, who was said to have existed in the waters of
Nu as an inert potential being. Atum was a self-engendered god, the source of all the elements and forces in the world, and the
Heliopolitan myth described the process by which he "evolved" from a single being into this multiplicity of elements.[14][15] The
process began when Atum appeared on the mound and gave rise to the air god Shu and his sister Tefnut,[16] whose existence
represented the emergence of an empty space amid the waters.[17] To explain how Atum did this, the myth uses the metaphor of
masturbation, with the hand he used in this act representing the female principle inherent within him.[18] He is also said to have
"sneezed" and"spat" to produce Shu and Tefnut, a metaphor that arose from puns on their names.[19] Next, Shu and Tefnut coupled to
produce the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut, who defined the limits of the world.[20] Geb and Nut in turn gave rise to four
children, who represented the forces of life: Osiris, god of fertility and regeneration; Isis, goddess of motherhood; Set, the god of
chaos; and Nephthys, the female complement of Set. The myth thus represented the process by which life was made possible. These
nine gods were grouped together theologically as the Ennead, but the eight lesser gods, and all other things in the world, were
ultimately seen as extensions of Atum.[21][22]

Memphis
The Memphite version of creation centered on Ptah, who was the patron god of craftsmen. As such, he represented the craftsman's
ability to envision a finished product, and shape raw materials to create that product. The Memphite theology said that Ptah created
the world in a similar way.[23] This, unlike the other Egyptian creations, was not a physical but an intellectual creation by the Word
and the Mind of God.[24] The ideas developed within Ptah's heart (regarded by the Egyptians as the seat of human thought) were
[25]
given form when he named them with his tongue. By speaking these names, Ptah produced the gods and all other things.

The Memphite creation myth coexisted with that of Heliopolis, as Ptah's creative thought and speech were believed to have caused
the formation of Atum and the Ennead.[26] Ptah was also associated withTatjenen, the god who personified the pyramidal mound.[25]

Thebes
Theban theology claimed that Amun was not merely a member of the Ogdoad, but the hidden force behind all things. There is a
conflation of all notions of creation into the personality of Amun, a synthesis which emphasizes how Amun transcends all other
deities in his being "beyond the sky and deeper than the underworld".[27] One Theban myth likened Amun's act of creation to the call
of a goose, which broke the stillness of the primeval waters and caused the Ogdoad and Ennead to form.[28] Amun was separate from
the world, his true nature was concealed even from the other gods. At the same time, however, because he was the ultimate source of
creation, all the gods, including the other creators, were in fact merely aspects of Amun. Amun eventually became the supreme god
of the Egyptian pantheon because of this belief.[29]

Amun is synonymous with the growth of Thebes as a major religious capital. But it is the columned halls, obelisks, colossal statues,
wall-reliefs and hieroglyphic inscriptions of the Theban temples that we look to gain the true impression of Amun's superiority.
Thebes was thought of as the location of the emer [30]
gence of the primeval mound at the beginning of time.

References
1. Leeming, David Adams (2010).Creation Myths of the World. Santa Barbaro: ABC-CLIO. p. 102.ISBN 978-1-59884-
174-9.
2. Hart, George (2004). Egyptian Myths. Austin, Texas: University of Texas. p. 9. ISBN 0-292-72076-9.
3. M.V., Seton-Williams (1999).Egyptian Legends and Stories. U.S.A: Barnes & Noble Publishing. p. 6.ISBN 0-7607-
1187-9.
4. Allen, James P. (2000). Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs
. Cambridge
University Press. p. 466.ISBN 0-521-77483-7.
5. Fleming, Fergus; Alan Lothian (1997).The Way to Eternity: Egyptian Myth. Amsterdam: Duncan Baird Publishers.
pp. 24, 27, 30. ISBN 0-7054-3503-2.
6. Allen, Middle Egyptian, p. 144.
7. Wilkinson, Richard H. (2003).The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt
. Thames & Hudson. pp. 206–
207. ISBN 0-500-05120-8.
8. Leeming, Creation Myths of the World, p.104
9. Fleming and Lothian, Way to Eternity, pp. 24-28.
10. Allen, Middle Egyptian, p. 126.
11. Fleming and Lothian, Way to Eternity, p. 27.
12. Wilkinson, Complete Gods and Goddesses, p. 78.
13. Fleming and Lothian, Way to Eternity, pp. 27-28.
14. Allen, Middle Egyptian, p. 143–145.
15. Wilkinson, Complete Gods and Goddesses, pp. 99-100.
16. Fleming and Lothian, Way to Eternity, p. 24.
17. Allen, Middle Egyptian, p. 145.
18. Wilkinson, Complete Gods and Goddesses, pp. 18, 99.
19. Allen, Middle Egyptian, p. 143.
20. Allen, Middle Egyptian, p. 44.
21. Allen, Middle Egyptian, pp. 144-145.
22. Wilkinson, Complete Gods and Goddesses, p. 99.
23. Allen, Middle Egyptian, pp.172-173.
24. Seton-Williams, Egyptian Legends and Stories, p.13
25. Fleming and Lothian, Way to Eternity, p. 25.
26. Allen, Middle Egyptian, p. 172.
27. Hart, Egyptian Myths, p.22
28. Fleming and Lothian, Way to Eternity, pp. 28-29.
29. Allen, Middle Egyptian, pp.182-183.
30. Hart, Egyptian Myths, pp.22-24

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