Introduction

The Egyptian story of Creation is believed to be one of the most ancient stories of cosmogenesis known to us at the present time. It may even predate the First Dynasty of the Old Kingdom ca 2500 B.C. In this story, a total of 8 deities, 4 male and 4 female, were involved. Their roles, however, were not to be the causative agents behind cosmogenesis, but simply to provide a set of qualities upon which such an agent could act. For example, Nu and Nut were the male and female qualities of the vast, inert watery mass. The primeval spirit felt the desire for creating activity after laying dormant for eternity in the vast, dark primordial waters. His word awoke the world to life in a form in which it had already been mirrored in the spirits mind. Ra-Khepera, the Creator, came forth from the waters of Nu and through a series of acts then sets about to create all the things in the world.

In a papyrus at the British Museum, one chapter called "Book of Knowing the Creations of Ra,"  Ra is said to take upon himself the form of Khepera, the god intimately involved in creative acts of all kinds, and declares that his powers were not exhausted by the act of creating himself. He continued to create new things without the need of a female principle, using only the waters of Nu as the source of primeval matter. The poem ("Enûma Eliš") was written in Akkadian probably ca 1500 B.C. and describes the Sumerian Creation epic.

There are many similarities between the Sumerian and Egyptian stories suggesting a common origin. The earliest state of the universe is described as chaos, consisting of Apsu, the "sweet waters," Ti'amat the sea, and Mummu which is usually identified as mist. These three types of water were mixed together. In the midst of this watery mass, two gods came into existence, Lahmu and Lahamu, who were created by Apsu and born of Ti'amat. They are believed by Sumerian scholars to represent silt. From them are born the next divine pair, Anshar and Kishar, who are seen as two aspects of the horizon. They in turn give birth to Anu, the god of the sky, and Enki, the god of the Earth. This story is thought to be a reflection of how land is actually observed to form in the delta region of Mesopotamia where the Tigres-Euphrates river deposits silt at the mouth of the Persian Gulf.

Much, if not all of the Judeo-Christian story of Genesis is believed by biblical scholars to have been borrowed from the Egyptian and Sumerian Creation mythology, with appropriate modifications made to reflect monotheism. Orthodox Judeo-Christians adhere to the Old Testament account in Genesis 1:1 where the primordial waters and darkness were replaced by light, followed by Yaheweh's creation of the rest of the physical universe by verbal command. According to Genesis (i-ii.3), the earth (world, universe) was without form and void. Darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Heaven was created as a roof to divide the Heavenly Waters. Dry land was then separated from the sea. The sun, moon and stars were then created to separate night from day.

Related EoC Articles

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External Links

• Ausar Auset Society (See section Ausarian Religion for "Book of Knowing the Creations of Ra") - Wikipedia.
• Enûma Eliš (Babylonian creation myth) - Wikipedia.

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"Eye of Horus" - (Source: WikiMedia Commons.)