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Similarities between the Egyptian story of creation and the creation story in the bible
Compare and contrast creation myths
Compare and contrast creation myths
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Comparing Creation Myths of Ancient Egypt and The Christian Bible
Creation in Ancient Egyptian religion can be much different than the creation account taken from The Bible. Genesis has a set description of “The Beginning” while there are several different versions and variations in Egyptian mythology. The versions range from a “one god” myth (Ptah; see picture) to the more common creator out of Nun, which in itself has several derivations.
The Ogdoad is a grouping of eight gods that existed before the creator and formed him. This version is taken from Middle Egypt at Hermopolis. The eight gods consisted of Amun, Huh, Kuk, and Nun and their counterparts (i.e. Nun and Naunet). They came together to create an egg that contains the creator (Baines, 1991). This is the point at which variations will occur. Inside the egg there could be gods (Re, Atum, or sometimes even Thoth) or a Blue Lotus. This Lotus would come forth from the egg and rise high into the darkness to a young god, Amen-Re. (The egg was surrounded by Nun which contained the Ogdoad. The Ogdoad consisted of four serpents and four frogs.)(Egyptian Creation Story, pg. 1) The child radiates light and banishes the darkness. He destroyed the silence with his Word and thus creation began. He then constructed a mound for which he could sit upon. (The Benben Stone, which was kept in Heliopolis, was said to have been the mound upon which the creator god, in this case Re, sat.(Redford)) In a different account the mound came forth from the waters of Nun bearing the egg and a falcon emerged. This falcon soared into the air and took its place as the sundisk (Redford). The falcon could also be represented by a winged insect such as a beetle or as a golden falcon. Another variat...
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... is reality. If this type of thinking were to be followed one would come to realize that all the gods and goddesses did exist and so did the events told time and again in story. They were alive in the conscience of society. Creation did begin with Nun, yet it also began with God creating the heavens and the earth. Everything depends on time, place, and perception of reality.
WORKS CITED
Holy Bible. New International Version. Zondervan. Grand Rapids, Michigan. 1984.
Genesis Chapter 1.
John Baines, Leonard H. Lesko, David P. Silverman. Religion in Ancient Egypt. New York Cornell University Press 1991. Pages 92-100.
Ancient Egyptian Religion. http://www.egypt-tehuti.com/religion.html. Pages 2 and 3 of 5. Egyptian Creation Story. http://members.aol.com/kheph777/mideast/mythos/egyptcrt.html.
Page 1 of 3. Redford, Professor Donald. Oral Communication
During the New Kingdom of Egypt (from 1552 through 1069 B.C.), there came a sweeping change in the religious structure of the ancient Egyptian civilization. "The Hymn to the Aten" was created by Amenhotep IV, who ruled from 1369 to 1353 B.C., and began a move toward a monotheist culture instead of the polytheist religion which Egypt had experienced for the many hundreds of years prior to the introduction of this new idea. There was much that was different from the old views in "The Hymn to the Aten", and it offered a new outlook on the Egyptian ways of life by providing a complete break with the traditions which Egypt held to with great respect. Yet at the same time, there were many commonalties between these new ideas and the old views of the Egyptian world. Although through the duration of his reign, Amenhotep IV introduced a great many changes to the Egyptian religion along with "The Hymn", none of these reforms outlived their creator, mostly due to the massive forces placed on his successor, Tutankhamen, to renounce these new reforms. However, the significance of Amenhotep IV, or Akhenaten as he later changed his name to, is found in "The Hymn". "The Hymn" itself can be looked at as a contradiction of ideas; it must be looked at in relation to both the Old Kingdom's belief of steadfast and static values, as well as in regards to the changes of the Middle Kingdom, which saw unprecedented expansionistic and individualistic oriented reforms. In this paper I plan to discuss the evolvement of Egyptian Religious Beliefs throughout the Old,
Assmann, Jan. The Mind of Egypt: History and Meaning in the Time of the Pharaohs.
In my examination of the works, I came across a particular sculpture that portrayed both beauty and craftsmanship. A 15th century sculpture (1490), made in Venice, Italy by Tullio Lombardo, shows a life-size figure of Adam. Titled Adam, the work is the most prominent in the gallery mostly because of its 6-foot standing. It immediately caught my attention and gave me a very realistic impression. One beige color and made of marble, Adam is depicted simply, yet the statue has intense emotions. His meaningful glance is seen in the upward and tilted head position. Adam has almost lifeless looking eyes and seems to be staring into the distance. With these sagging eyes, parted lips, and lacking posture I feel Adam’s guilt is displayed in this figure.
Two closely related creation myths come from the Chinese and Japanese. Their geographical ties and trading patterns forged a link. Both share the symbolism of the egg as part an old creation myth. In the Japanese version of the myth, the two gods that were first formed, made love to each other many times and each time a new god of something was born, such as islands, wind and fire. Izam, the female finally died and the creation of other gods was put to a halt. The pattern used here was from nothing to everything, and from the birth of gods to the halt of the creation, when Izam dies.
Scott, N. The Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series, Vol. 31, No. 3, The Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians (Spring, 1973), pp. 123-170
Can religions and cultures be anything more than their history? Why do we have a concept of history in the first place? Obviously history exists, but like the human ability to conceive of the future, history seems to be a rare phenomenon tied with our ability for language and the telling of stories. What’s even more fascinating is the human ability to make up a history or to tell a story, such as a creation myth, that seeks to explain something that has not been witnessed by anyone and does not have any role in finding food or creating shelter. We do not have a physical need to know how the earth came to be or to know how it is that we came to be here. Still, creation stories exist in almost all human cultures and, amazingly, many share many of the same elements. The question is, why? Is it a coincidence that so many of them share the same elements? By looking at a comparison of two creation stories, we should be able to understand the meaning of these similarities better.
A creation myth is an explanation of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it. Every creation myth is different, but there is similarity in most of them. Motifs are recurring ideas that help develop a theme and these motifs are common in many creation myths. Three similar motifs are the idea of a supreme being, the idea of people being created from organic material, and the idea of rulers being overthrown. These concepts appear in the Inuit, Greek, Hindu, Chinese, Norse, and many more myths. These three motifs connect to one another and are common in many creation myths.
One of the main external factors in the development of an eating disorder is the media. The media objectifies both men and women throug...
Although there are few religions that still consider the ways of the ancient Egyptian culture important, they are still out there. They are influenced every day by the history, which permeates their rituals, scriptures, and more. Furthermore, Egypt’s political influence may be outdated and not the clearest system, but it led the way for further development and refinement for future use. Without the influence of Egypt, we would not be the civilization that we are
Ninety percent of the eating disorder cases occur in women ages twelve to twenty-five and many researchers believe the media is to blame. Though there is no single cause of an eating disorder, multiple studies cause an eating disorders to the media. With being vulnerable to the “thin ideal” in mass media, there is an increased risk of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. (“Media, Body Image, and Eating Disorders”)
Hesiod’s Theogony and the Babylonian Enuma Elish are both myths that begin as creation myths, explaining how the universe and, later on, humans came to be. These types of myths exist in every culture and, while the account of creation in Hesiod’s Theogony and the Enuma Elish share many similarities, the two myths differ in many ways as well. Both myths begin creation from where the universe is a formless state, from which the primordial gods emerge. The idea of the earth and sky beginning as one and then being separated is also expressed in both myths.
Since 1960 the amount of cases of eating disorders has risen drastically. Since 1960 technology has increased as well. With this new technology social media has become increasingly popular leading to overstimulation of pictures portraying emaciated young women as “perfection” (Salter). Eating disorders are especially prominent in young females; and young minds are often easily influenced by what is normalized to them (Park). When a young brain is opened up to ideas and words that idolize “skinny”, it will undoubtedly become similarly obsessed with “skinny”. Harvard Medical school recently did a study on media’s effects on eating disorders: “Scientists…studying the social influences contributing to eating disorders focuse...
The questions about the existence of life and the creation of the world are always mind-boggling and fascinating, however, the real answer to these questions may never surface. All there is to rely on are the myths, stories and legends passed on from generation to generation by ancestors and the clues they have left. This essay will try to uncover the ancient Mesopotamian and Hebrew views on existence and creation by looking at sources like the Genesis and other ancient Mesopotamian texts and poems. Mesopotamians and Hebrews had contrasting views on how they explained the events in their lives, and through analysis of ancient sources, those differences will be outlined. In such populated and booming areas, human conflict was inevitable and some of the law codes that were placed in effect to establish order within the society will be examined. Throughout it all, god and religion played a central role in these ancient civilizations.
Within the texts of Genesis which belong to the biblical scriptures of the Hebrews, and the myths of Egyptian origin, there are a multitude of similarities and differences. When compared side by side, the most obvious factor of both texts is that a single God was the creator of all that we know today. In Genesis that creator is simply referred to as God, while in Egyptian mythology, the creator is known as Neb-er-tcher. Both creators have striking resemblances, such as the ways they went about the production of the world.
Ancient Egyptians tried to understand their place in the universe. This is why their mythology is centered on nature such as the earth, sky, moon, sun, stars, and the Nile River. There are many Egyptian myths of creation, but the Heliopolitan Tradition, Hermopolitan Ogdoad, and the Memphite Theology are the most commonly used. They all have some common elements and gods. For example, many of t...