Creation Mythology
The Great Creators
At first there were nothing but Nun, the primal ocean of chaos which
contained the seeds of everything to come. In this jumble of waters the sun god
reposed. Finally, by an exertion of will, he emerged from chaos as Ra and gave
birth to Shu and Tefnut by himself. In Turn Shu, the god of air, and Tefnut, the
goddess of moisture, gave birth to Geb and Nut, the earth god and sky goddess.
Thus the physical universe was created.Men were created from Ra's tears. Eons
passed and Ra grew decrepit, so the ungrateful race of men plotted against Ra.
When Ra learned of these plots he angrily called a council of the gods. The gods
decided that mankind must be destroyed, and Ra dispatched the goddess Hathor to
wipe out humankind. Hathor did an effective job of it, killing men by the tens
of thousands until only a tiny remnant was left. Then Ra relented, and men were
spared. but Ra was thoroughly sick of the world and retreated into the heavens,
leaving Shu to reign in his place. At that time the present world was
established.
Against the orders of Ra, Geb, the earth god, and Nut, the sky goddess, married.
Then Ra in his wrath ordered Shu, the air god, to separate them. Shu defeated
Geb and raised Nut aloft, separating them permanently. However, Nut was
pregnant, and Ra had decreed that she could not give birth in any month of any
year. Seeing her plight, the god of learning, Thoth, gambled with the moon for
extra light and thus was able to add five extra days to the official Egyptian
calendar of 360 days. On those five days Nut gave birth to Osiris (god of
Nature), Horus the Elder, Set, Isis (wife to Osiris), and Nephthys(Set's wife),
successively. Osiris became the incarnation of good, while Set became the
embodiment of evil. In this manner the two poles of morality were fixed once and
for all.
[ Home ] [ Up ] [ The History Of Creation ] [ Legend of the Destruction of Mankind ] [ The Legend of Ra and Isis ] [ The Legend of Horus of Behutet and the Winged Disk ] [ A Hymn to Osiris and a Legend of the Origin of Horus ] [ A Legend of Ptah Nefer-Hetep and the Princess of Bekhten ] [ The Osiris Legend ] [ Egyptian Creation Myths ] [ The Instruction of Amenemope ]