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Writer's pictureElla Pamment

THE CREATION OF ANCIENT EGYPT

How was Ancient Egypt created according to Mythology? How did the world start from beetles to snakes, and crying eyes that created mankind... what did the Ancient Egyptians believe about their origins?


Egyptian Creation holds many myths and answers as to how the world came about, giving relevance to every detail. You could say it's similar to The Big Bang... everyone knows that something occurred to begin the universe, but deciphering what that really was - especially in the Ancient ages - isn't an easy and straightforward topic.

The God Nun creating the earth with the 7 other primeval gods














One myth states that the God Nun, the god of the limitless ocean, awoke within the boundless seas that scoped the earth and created the 8 original gods. Nun's awakening created the world, and with his new gods, the first mound of the earth was created. And, from this mound, the first seed of the earth was formed - an egg - that hatched into the sun and dawned light onto the dark world, changing it forever.


So, what was it like before Nun awoke? It is said that there was infinite water, with no separation of elements such as air, or fire - just water, everywhere. Not great if you can't swim. There was the darkness that hung like a blanket, the earth didn't move, and nothing was named. There was no life, and consequently, there was no death. It was all just dark water.

In Nun's awakening, to help comprehension, the world was personified into Gods, making up the 8 primeval gods of Egypt. They are as follows:

Nun, and Naunet - the god and goddess of the limitless waters
Huh and Hauket - the god and goddess of infinity
Kuk and Kauket - the god and goddess of darkness
Amun and Amunet - the god and goddess of hiddenness.


Amun
The god Amun on the left sitting infront of Queen Nefertari


The God Amun is a particularly famous deity who is depicted almost like an Avatar, with blue skin and a crown of two feather plumes. It was within eh time of 2066 bc to 1780 bc that he rose to fame, and in the New Kingdom of 1549 - 1069 BC he was the ultimate deity, named the King of the Gods. However, there was a catch. As the god of hiddenness, if anyone revealed his identity, whether accidentally or on purpose, they would drop dead.
Amun had a wife, of equal importance. Her name was the Goddess Mut, who was either depicted as a human or a lioness signifying a divine female Pharoah. She served as the mother goddess, being the overseer at the start of the world.

Ptah
Then comes a personal favorite of mine - Ptah, the god of arts and crafts...
Ptah was the divine sculptor who had power over the creative mind. All things that were created - from technology to art, deities, and sculptors - were all from the creation of his heart. Interestingly, Ptah was depicted like a mummy, wrapped up in cloth tightly. This is quite amusing to me because it reminds me of arts and crafts in primary school, where you would literally bind your friends in cloth during art times!
Ptah used the power of Sia - divine perception - hu - authoritative utterance - and heka - magic - to bring to life all of his creations. It was these three powers that allowed the creation of the world, some myths say, and all that is within it.
Ptah also had an extremely powerful wife, she was called Sekhmet...

Sekhmet

Sekhmet means 'powerful' which in itself signifies her abilities! She was a lion-headed woman when depicted, and a dangerous yet protective force. Associated with plagues, warfare, and aggression, it is evident that she had just as much power as Ptah. The people of Memphis, where her main center was, would worship her if a plague struck for protection from disease. On the topic of protection, she protected the king and would breathe fire at her enemies! A super cool diety indeed.



It is evident that Ptah is a generative, giving, and somewhat calm force of a deity with a firey wife who holds destructive powers. This may seem like an unlikely match, however, the Ancient Egyptians were keen on the idea of balance in all elements whether that be daily affairs or justice. It is called maat. The maat - which is order - is to be in balance with isfet which means disorder; neither one can be taken from the other, or be dissolved to nothing. This is because the Ancient Egyptians saw that chaos was crucial to the beginning of the world, thus it had to continue in balance for a successful civilization! When the idea of maat is personified, she looks like a familiar goddess with a tall feather on her head... seen on many inscriptions!


So... how did mankind come out of all of this isfet?! Well, there was an Eye of the god Atum - the finisher of the world, and the master of all as he represents the start and end of evolution - and the Eye wanted to return. But it turns out that a solar eye name 'The Gloruis One' had taken its place. Naturally, it was upset angry, and crying hysterically when mankind came out of the tears. Mankind was the human manifestation of the eye's rage. Atum decided to place it on his forehead and give it power over the whole land. Well, the eye turned into a uraeus (rearing cobra) that is worn by all Pharoahs that can spit fire at enemies of order. It is evident that there are similarities to Sekhmet... the Egyptians loved the cyclical nature of life!
The creator Atum decided that whilst mankind had kind of come out of the blue, to do something nice for us all. He did 4 nice things according to the Ancient Egyptians...

1- The four winds were given to the earth to give a breath of life
2- An annual flood of the Nile was implemented to help crops
3 - All humans were created equal, removing the King from that exception of course.
4- All the hearts of humans remembered the afterlife


So, the Ancient Egyptians have a few myths about how it all started. Whether it was Atum and the eye, or Ptah and his heka to create each element that we see today, they are all quite lovely stories to know!



Scholarly sources
Garry J. Shaw, The Egyptian Myths: A guide to the Ancient Gods and Legends, London: Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2014. All pictures within this post have been taken from Shaw's book.

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