Egyptian Creation Myth

“At the beginning the world was a waste of water called Nu.”

It is no surprise that water plays the lead role in the Egyptian Creation Myth. The Nile floods every year bringing chaos and when it recedes “the earth and the heavens rise out of the waste water” just as in the myth. Here Nu is the Great Father, but according to some translations, Nun, a female, is the waste of water. In this sense, the Egyptian Creation Myth is similar to other creation myths, such as the Enuma Elish and Hesoid.

Out of Nu arose Ra, the sun god, who was stronger and greater than Nu.

This trend is also seen with Marduk in the Enuma Elish. In many myths sons are born more powerful than their fathers. It is also interesting that such an important god is the sun. The sun is an abundant important part of the Egyptian life. This is why it is seen as a key element.
Ra spoke and Seb, the earth, and Nut, the heavens, rose out of Nu. Ra then created all moving things and made mankind from his eye. He became the first king on earth.

We see here that the hero becomes king, just as Zeus became king in Hesoid.

Isis, the god who dwelt on earth as a woman, was a mischievous enchantress. She desired to share Ra’s power. In order to do so she had to make Ra reveal his secret name given to him by Nu. This name gave Ra his power. Isis decided to make a venomous serpent from the saliva of Ra. This serpent bit Ra making him very sick and weary. Isis promised to make the pain vanish only if Ra told her his secret name. As a result evil was born into the world. Men on earth began to speak ill of Ra, the mighty sun god.

Upset by the growing evil, Ra called a meeting with the gods who were with him in the beginning: Shu, Tefnut, Seb, Nut and the fathers and the mothers. These gods told Ra to send out his eye, Hathor, to destroy his enemies. When satisfied, Ra flooded the land with beer, making Hathor drunk. Hathor then returned to the sun god, but Ra still grew weary. Nu sent Shu and Nut to help Ra. They took the weary sun god away and darkness fell on earth. The men that followed Ra fought his enemies. Pleased by their devotion, Ra forgave them of their sins.

In this section of the myth, many similarities to the book of Genesis in the Bible are seen. Isis behaves just as Eve did in Genesis. Ra’s power tempts Isis like the apple tempted Eve. The result of both introduced evil on earth. In many myths a female brings chaos upon the world. This is seen in the Enuma Elish with Tiamat and Earth in Hesoid, when both provoked their children. Isis does just that by making Ra reveal his secret name. The forgiveness of sins seen here is similar to when, in the Bible, God forgave mankind for their sins when Jesus died.

Ra decided that his dwelling place was now in the heavens. He called on Thoth, placing him as the watcher of the underworld, known as Duat. This is where his enemies would dwell. At night Ra would pass through the 12 hour-divisions in Duat, each division more difficult to pass than the previous. In the morning Ra is reborn by Nut, the cow. At dawn he is known as Khepera, at high noon, as Ra, and at sunset as Tum.

The end of the Egyptian myth gives one of the first very detailed descriptions of the underworld. By this we can conclude that the underworld, too, played a significant role in their culture.

- Laura Donnelly