Egyptian Creation Myth- Neha Shrestha

Egyptian mythology is one of the most fascinating in the world. They left behind a great deal of knowledge on their lifestyles, cultural beliefs and myths in the form of wall paintings and artifacts. The pyramids created by them contained most of these clues, and are one of the most intriguing relics of the past.

How did we come here? Each civilization created its own explanation for this basic question, which remains unsatisfactorily answered till today. In today’s times, when we hear the myths that people in those times believed, we may laugh and wonder at their absurdity, but there is some sense that can be made of it also. In most civilizations, there is a figure superior to man, the creator, “God” who makes him. He is called by many names, but is essentially the same thing. He is the concept that was created to explain why we’re here, and satiate people’s curiosity.

If I had to imagine myself as a commoner in those times, I would see myself looking towards the authority to provide answers to my questions. There was hierarchy in the social structure even back then, and the priests and the pharaoh ruled the roost in those days in Egypt. Upon questioning, the priests may have created this figure of God, Ra, who was the creator, as well as the first pharaoh to rule Egypt. The story goes as follows:
At first, there was only darkness, there was no land, no humans. Nothing existed, but the swirling waste waters of Nu. From Nu’s power was born the great God Ra (in the form of a shining egg), who named himself Khepera at dawn, Ra at noon and Tum in the evening, which caused the sun to rise and set for the first time. He then spoke names, which created the lesser Gods, Shu of the wind, Refnut of the rain, Geb of the earth, Nut of the sky, and Hapi of the great river Nile. He then named everything to be created on earth, the plants, trees flowers, animals, and then there was mankind. Men and women now roamed the land of Egypt. His own hidden name contained the secret of his powers, and that name alone, he did not utter. Taking the shape of a man, he came to earth to rule as the first Pharaoh of Egypt.

The Egyptian creation myth, may have been different back then, but years of passing around by word of mouth, has caused it to change continuously. People back then were in awe of nature- the land, the river, the sun and death. They were fascinated by their own existence and life cycle. When they were provided this explanation, they would most probably have accepted it willingly, because they could make no sense of it themselves. I myself in those times would definitely have believed this myth.

Today, I can’t make myself believe this myth or any other. I am born in a time when science explains everything, and god is a belief; hope. I am taught to think scientifically and believe that everything in this world can be explained by science, if not today, then someday in the future. What I find interesting is that the origin of most creation myths (Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek) starts from a large mass of water or chaos. In the scientific hot dilute soup theory, life was created from a hot liquid soup of atoms, which created molecules and so on to finally create life. Coincidence? Maybe. Someday, we’ll know for sure.