Heliopolis Creation Myths

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Cultures from all around the world practice different things and hold different beliefs. For example, a Christian will believe that God created the world in 7 days, whereas an atheist is more likely to believe The Big Bang Theory to explain the creation of the universe. Regardless of your beliefs, we can all agree that those same beliefs impact our perception of the world. To build on my argument, I will be looking at Egyptian mythology to illustrate how beliefs, including creation stories, impact a person's perception of the world. Even though the Ancient Egyptians told various creation myths, the most prominent or well-known one is the Heliopolis creation myth. Heliopolis tells us how Atum, or the Sun God, Ra, created himself and emerged as the first god. The myth also tells of how Atum created his son, Shu, God of air, and daughter, Tefnut, goddess of moisture. Furthermore, the myth tells us how they went on to create more gods and goddesses and how they created humanity from their tears of happiness. There were three different creation stories from this period. These were the Memphis creation myth, the Heliopolis creation myth, and the Hermopolis creation myth. Why are there different creation myths? This was due to each creation myth being attributed to a different cult belonging to …show more content…

The Ancient Egyptians had many, many Gods whom they worshipped and that dictated their beliefs including the afterlife, treatment of others, and their work. These beliefs included that the Pharoah was chosen by the Gods, that the heart was the center of a person's intelligence and being, and that all the Gods worked together to maintain peace and harmony in the land. All of these beliefs stemmed from mythology. When worshipping their gods, the Egyptians participated in rituals and built temples for their deities. The ancient Egyptians believed that by worshipping their gods, they could ensure a good harvest and

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