Creation Myths

Cosmic Creation Myths Across Cultures Papers

Hum/105

Cosmic Creation Myths Across Cultures Papers

In week two of HUM/105, many creation myths were spoken about in the discussion forum of class. Of all the creation stories the two that stuck out the most, and that were the most interesting was the creation myths of the Egyptian’s and the Navajo’s. This essay will discuss both creation myths and provide a comparison of the two.

The creator in the Egyptian myth was named Atum. The ancient myth tells the story of Atum who created himself using his own thoughts and the force of his own will. Atum was neither a man nor a woman. Before Atum came to be there was only the dark chaos, which was named Nu. Nu was a swirling chaos that was around before Atum and the beginning of time. Atum was said to have risen from the waters of the dark swirling chaos. Once Atum came to be, he created a hill to stand on because there was nothing for him to stand on. The world was empty and Atum used his one eye to see all. His eye roamed the universe in search of other life forms because he was alone.

For Atum not to be alone, he found his shadow and joined with it to create his son and his daughter. The birth of his son and daughter were not normal. Atum created his son by spitting him out of his mouth. His son was named Shu. Atum made his son Shu the god of air. After creating his Shu, Atum created his daughter by throwing up and spitting her out. His daughter was named Tefnut, and she was named the goddess of mist and moisture. Both children were given a task to separate chaos into principles of law, order, and stability. This order would soon be known as Maat. Maat was supposed to form the principles of life forever.

The time came for Shu and Tefnut to produce or create something. Together they produced Geb, which was earth, and Nut, which was the sky. When Geb and Nut were created, they were stuck...