The beginnings of life as we comprehend it have continued to captivate scientists, religious followers, and our world and while society seems to have envisioned a respective creed of Earth’s secrets, humanity may never know how it came to be. Around the world, different cultures have their sense of how Earth and the people within it came to be and although each story has its own distinctive understanding, there are some collective associations. Popol Vuh, a cultural narrative of the Quiche people, tells the story of creation as we live it. Referred to as “The Mayan Bible”, it is an account and understanding the Quiche people had of cosmology and creation before the rise of Christianity. The creation stories present in Popul Vuh and the …show more content…
Bible – focusing on Genesis – share several similarities which may, partly, have been introduced through the interpretations of the stories. I believe there are parallels in the story of creation and the role of God(s) present in the Bible and Popul Vuh which indeed provide a thought-provoking talking topic in how they share a connection. Popul Vuh opens by introducing the four gods who try several times to craft creatures that would carry the tradition and legacy instilled by themselves and who would serve and honor them. The gods begin by creating animals but,to their dismay, see that this creation could not meet the expectations as it could not speak. Because of this inability to praise the creators, the animals were then eaten and killed (66). On a mission, the gods started to craft their next creature; one made out of mud. This time, the being could speak but it was incomprehensible to the gods and, yet again, the creature was dismissed (68). With the third attempt, the gods crafted a manikin out of wood who could speak. However, these wood beings could not hold memories and, therefore, were unable to have memories of the maker (70). Once more, the beings were demolished – in this case, far worse than the previous attempts had faced. The Heart of Sky condemned them to a great flood, crashing onto their heads. Not only that, their eyeballs gauged out, heads snapped off, flesh eaten, and bodies torn up (71). As a result of the flood, the earth was blackened for days and rain continued to downpour (72). At the end of all of this, a new constellation appeared; a new start. In the next attempt, the gods created humans out of maize but worried them as they saw the potential power that rested in these beings. Hence, flaws were sentenced to humans – making the human race less understanding of the world and, ultimately, limited in power. In the Bible, the first book of Genesis tells that God created everything in seven days and that the making of humans was, in a way, to mirror his image. Forming Adam and Eve, he forbade them from eating fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, but they ate from it anyhow. In response to this and further immorality, the vast majority of mankind is demolished by a flood. Both texts share similarities in the sense that the consistent displeasure in the God(s) creation of mankind implies that the creators are errant.
In Popol Vuh, the gods needed four attempts to land on beings that suited their desires, and even this creature was still undeserving and reprimanded for that. In the Bible, God set one rule that was not to be broken but Adam and Eve disobeyed this rule: both examples show that these creators could not control their own creations. God says “I will blot out from the earth the humans beings I have created — people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them” in Genesis 6:6, proving a point that both creators in the text show dissatisfaction with their creation. A significant comparison between both texts is that of the flood, used as a cleansing and a form of punishment to mankind and meant to wipe out humanity. However, at the end of the flood and dark days, new constellations began to appear and a new, fresh start [figuratively and metaphorically] had begun for the hands of the creator. Additionally, the creators create everything on earth from its landscapes to humans and both stories attempt to explain the origin of life while showing that mankind is a result of the
creator. While the content in Popol Vuh and the Bible may differ in specific aspects, unquestionably there are connections between both texts. Both have creation stories and include a God or gods that ultimately condemn mankind to a devastation that show the creator is all powerful. The role and present of the creator shares a similarity in both texts, most distinctly showing that everything on earth is a result of their intentions and actions. Popol Vuh and the Bible are two interpretations of life as we know it and while they derive from different parts of the world, they certainly have their comparisons.
Most cultures have a creation myth, a story of how humans came to exist in the world. Often, they involve Gods of some capacity who exist without much question or explanation. Many myths have a common idea for the origin of the world, like Earth being born from water, a golden egg, or a great monster. The Mayan creation myth and the Babylonian creation myth are similar in that they both begin with water, and account the creation and purpose of man. They also differ, as the Mayan Popol Vuh chronicles a peaceful tale of trials to forge the Earth and sentient beings to worship the gods, while the Babylonian Enuma Elish tells of wars between gods that lead to the creation of Earth and of man as a servant to the gods.
The Popol Vuh is a collection of early Mayan religion and history and is divided into three parts. The first part is their creation myth, and states the world was created by Gucumatz and Tepeu – Mayan dual gods. They created the earth, animals that were food for the humans, and finally created humans from maize to worship them. “This generation, which includes the present human race, is able to worship and nourish the gods.” (Nicoletta Maestri). The second part of the Popol Vuh is the story of the Hero Twins. Hunahpu and Xbalanque were twin brothers who became great ballplayers. They played a ball game with the Lords of Xibalba who killed their father and uncle. They defeated the Lords of Xibalba and revived their father and uncle, and soon after the twins became the moon and the sun. The third and final part of Popol Vuh are narratives and details of the Quiche noble dynasties up until the 16th century. When Gucumatz and Tepeu created humans from maize, those first humans would become part of the Quiche dynasties. “They were able to praise the gods, and wandered the world until they reached a mythical place where they could receive the gods into sacred bundles and take them home.” (Nicoletta
In Popol Vuh, the gods created the mud people to have them worshipping the gods, “Thus, let us try again to make one who will honor us, who will respect us; one who will be a provider and a sustainer” (Popol Vuh 89). However, the mud people had no knowledge while speaking; they could only look in one direction, and they could not worship the gods. Because of that, the gods punished the mud people by toppling them, “Therefore they undid it. They toppled what they had framed, what they had shaped” (Popol Vuh 94). Nevertheless, in Genesis, Yahweh created humans, so they would be happy. The only thing He asked them was to not disobey Him, “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:16,17). Because they disobeyed Yahweh, they were punished by having to leave the garden and “suffer.” The differences in the types of gods punishments is that, in Popol Vuh, they punished the mud people because they were not capable of worship them; it was the gods’ fault in creating people like that. In Genesis, Yahweh punished Adam and Eve because they chose to disobey him, and not because Yahweh created them
The Popol Vuh is the most important Mayan document to survive the Spanish conquest. It is believed to have been written in pre-Columbian times in hieroglyphs. After the conquest it was transcribed into the Mayan language with Roman characters. The Popol Vuh is the most sacred book of the Quiche Maya. Like other holy books, it contains stories of human creation. The opening passage excerpted here refers to the Heart of Heaven and the Heart of Earth, a name given to the Creator and the Maker of Life. According to the text, nothing was on Earth in the beginning, only the silence of darkness. The Creator and his helpers united their "words and their thoughts" and brought forth the world. They then modeled humans from yellow and white corn. The Popol Vuh is not only a precious source of information on the pre-Columbian Maya but a source of inspiration to many contemporary Central American and Hispanic-American artists and writers. “This is the account of how all was in suspense, all calm, in silence; all motionless, still, and the expanse of the sky was empty. This is the first account, the first narrative. There was neither man, nor animal, birds, fishes, crabs, trees, stones, caves, ravines, grasses, nor forests; there was only the sky. The surface of the earth had not appeared. There was only the calm sea and the great expanse of the sky. There was nothing brought together, nothing which could make a noise, nor anything which might move, or tremble, or could make noise in the sky. There was nothing standing; only the calm water, the placid sea, alone and tranquil. Nothing existed. There was only immobility and silence in the darkness, in the night. Only the Creator, the Maker, Tepeu, Gucumatz, the Fore-fathers, were in the water surrounded with light. They were hidden under green and blue feathers, and were
Creation texts and most early pieces of literature all share many of the same themes, mythology, and to an extent, the same characters. In the days that early texts like The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Bible, and Popol Vuh, epistemology was of high interest to many philosophers and writers. To answer the questions of “How did we get here,” “Why are we here,” “What do we do here,” and other ontological ponderings, texts like these were written to give some reason. One consistent theme from early literature and creation texts is that early people had the tragic flaw of a thirst for knowledge and a lack of willpower, which is shown in The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Bible, and Popol Vuh.
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.
Comparing each record of the flood can reveal how different cultural and religious backgrounds explain events of the world, and despite the stories differences, their similarities prove
Through studies such as comparative mythology, researchers and philosophers have discover hundreds of parallels between the myths that make up every culture, including their creation myths. As most are deeply rooted in religion, comparisons based on geographic area, themes, and similar story lines emerge as religions form and migrate. Campbell recognized these similarities an...
Throughout the world there are various cultures with varying religions and creation stories to explain the creation of the Earth and it’s inhabitants. Of these creation stories two with similar and also different characteristics is the Creation story in the book of Genesis which is a part of the 1st Testament in the Hebrew Bible and explains the creation of Earth and humans, and the Theogony which is the greek creation story that describes the origins of the Earth and the Greek Gods. Both the Theogony and the Creation in Genesis show nature as a blessing for humans but it can also affect them negatively, However the myths differ in the ways that the Earth and humans were created and how humans interact with the deities of the creation stories.
Though the two Creation stories are supposedly intended to be connected - even interchangeable - the only similarity they share is the presence of the omnipotent God and His role in the creation of the earth. Where the first creation describes a detailed, six-day process in which God first delineates day and night, establishes the physical world, and then finally creates man, the second creation is a much simpler process, one almost contradictory to the first story's strict schedule.
The creation myths that I have studied are similar in many ways. They also have differences that show an inherently different way of thinking about the world. All have creators-gods that make the world into what is now. There are conflicts within their world, and these conflicts change the face world. God to god or human to god maybe be involved in these conflicts. Their bloody struggles prove who is more powerful, causing change in the control of the world. Some gods are beneficial to man and others are self-serving, using man only as a tool.
Since the beginning of time, societies have created stories to explain the mystery of the origin of man and the universe. In the Babylonian text, Enuma Elish and the book of Genesis-which originated in the same part of the world-one finds two very different stories about the creation of man. These two creation stories contrast the two societies that created them: the chaotic lives of servitude of the Babylonians and the lives of the recently freed Jewish people.
Every culture has a different story of their origin. Each story varies in setting, main characters, and religious aspects. Although the stories are different, the sole purpose is the same for each – to explain how each civilization came to be. In order for a civilization to fully understand their past, they must critically break down the components of their origin story. Creation stories establish appropriate relationships within society by the revelation of the punishment laid out by the gods on unsatisfactory vassals, the importance of a hero figure, and the exposure of human survival based on nature.
In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, God can be seen as having a sort of bi-polar attitude. In the beginning chapters God is shown as a caring person when he is creating the earth and when he talks about how he wants Adam and Eve to succeed and do well and how he gives Adam a companion, Eve because he feels Adam will be lonely. As the book unfolds God becomes very angry with how his world is turning out. Sin has been introduced and humans seem to be falling away from the righteous. This upsets God and he creates an idea that he will flood the world so that only Noah and the people and animals inside the ark will live. His intentions seem horrible, trying to kill humans because they have sinned, but in reality he is trying to free the world of sin so that the remaining humans will live wonderful lives free of pain and despair. The flood can be seen as both a positive and negative thing. To non-believers they may find fault in the idea that God felt that he had to punish the world as a result of how sinful the people of earth had become. To help promote their ideas they could use statements from the Bible such as this one when God's feelings are stated about how he seems to be dissatisfied with the people of earth, "The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain" (Genesis 6:6). It can also be revealed when God states, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth" (Genesis 6:13).
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.