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List of creation myths. A creation myth (or creation story) is a cultural, religious or traditional myth which describes the earliest beginnings of the present world. Creation myths are the most common form of myth, usually developing first in oral traditions, and are found throughout human culture. A creation myth is usually regarded by those ...
- Heliopolis creation story – ancient Egypt. According to the ancient Egyptians, the universe started with a primordial ocean known as Nun. At the center of Nun was a giant pyramid called benben.
- Proto-Indo-European Creation Myths. Among many Proto-Indo-European cultures, Ymir was the force that existed in the time before time. This being was also the embodiment of the vast sea of chaos (Ginnungagap) – a region devoid of any life form or structure or order.
- Mayan creation story. The Mayan creation story is contained in the Popul Vuh (also known the “Book of the Community” or the “Book of the People”). The text was written in Mayan hieroglyphics.
- Babylonian creation myth. The ancient Babylonians believed that in the beginning two primordial gods – Aspu and Tiamet (or Tiamat) – existed. Prior to that, the universe was a vast void of nothingness, land and sky had yet formed.
Learn about the cosmogonic myth, the symbolic narrative of the beginning of the world as understood by a particular religious community. Explore the nature, significance, and types of creation myths from different cultures and traditions.
A creation myth or cosmogonic myth is a type of cosmogony, a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it. While in popular usage the term myth often refers to false or fanciful stories, members of cultures often ascribe varying degrees of truth to their creation myths.
- Greek Creation. In the beginning was Chaos. Then came Earth which produced Sky. Covering Earth each night, Sky fathered children upon her. Earth was personified as Gaia/Terra and sky was Ouranos (Uranus).
- Norse Creation. In Norse mythology, there was only a chasm, Ginnungagap, in the beginning (somewhat like the Greeks' Chaos) bounded on either side by fire and ice.
- Biblical Creation. The first book of the Old Testament is the Book of Genesis. In it is an account of the creation of the world by God in 6 days. God created, in pairs, first the heaven and the earth, then day and night, land and sea, flora and fauna, and male and female.
- Rig Veda Creation. W. Norman Brown interprets the Rig Veda to come up with various underlying creation stories. Here is the one most like the preceding myths.
Feb 1, 2013 · Explore nine different creation stories from various cultures, each illustrated by artist Noah MacMillan. Learn how the sun, moon, earth and humans were created in each myth, and see the distinctive visual styles and symbols.
In several myths it is stated that the primordial stuff of creation was some form of undifferentiated matter (e.g., water, chaos, a monster, or an egg). It is from this undifferentiated matter that the world evolves or is made.
