Comparison Myth Assignment ( I have uplode some of the reading myths)
Deam
EgyptianPDF1.pdf
PRIMAL MYTHS
Creation Myths around
the World
Barbara C. Sproul
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PRIMAL MYTHS: Creation Myths Around the World. Copyright © 1979 by Barbara C. Sproul. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.
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FIRST HARPERCOLLINS EDITION PUBLISHED IN 1991
Designed by Paul Quin
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sproul, Barbara C. Primal myths.
Bibliography Includes index. 1. Creation-Comparative studies. I. Title.
BL325.C7S68 1979 291.2 78-4429 ISBN: 978-0-06-067501-1
15 16 17 18 RRD(H) 40 39 38
Pl
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in the steps of him who shines forth on the horizon, reat Seat. He joined with the court and associated :ah, the lord of years. ,e in the land in the "House of the Sovereign" on the he had reached. His son Horus appeared as King of
.s King of Lower Egypt, in the embrace of his father ds who were in front of him and who were behind
ian Mortuary Texts, Myths, and Tales." In James B. Pritchard ~elating to the Old Testament. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Univer-
History of the Creation of the Gods and of the World One of the very early cult cen- ters in Egypt, Heliopolis produced a cosmology that envisioned Atum ("the com- plete one") rising up out of the primeval watery chaos and producing the world. By the time of the Pyramid Texts (c. 2400 B.c.), Atum had become closely identi- fied with the sun god Re (or Ra, as it is spelled in this translation), and his emer- gence out of the water was associated with the rising of the sun and the dispelling of chaotic darkness.
In this "Book of the knowing the evolutions of Re," Neb-er-tcher (Lord-to-the- Limit and one of the forms of the sun god) arises from the waters (Nu) in the as- pect of Khepera ("he who comes into existence"). Neither heaven nor earth, nor plants nor animals, existed then, and Khepera was alone. Becoming conscious of his intent, the god "laid a foundation in Maa" (in what is straight and true; that is, according to a careful and just plan). And then, to create all things, in semian- drogynous fashion he masturbated (or "had union with his clenched hand and joined himself in an embrace with his shadow" [his feminine element)) and poured his seed into his mouth (which functions here as a sort of womb). Thus fer- tilized, he spit forth his son Shu (god of air and the principle of life) and his daughter Tefnut (goddess of moisture and the principle of world order). Speaking through his "father," Khepera notes that in "double henti periods" (technically, 120 years, but used figuratively here to mean a long time) one god had become three.
Atum (or Re or Khepera or Neb-er-tcher-the names all refer to the same god in this context) had only one eye at first, and this capacity to see and judge was depicted as somewhat independent of him. When the great god wept with joy on uniting himself with his two created parts, Shu and Tefnut, his eye raged to find that he had been supplanted by another. To placate it, Neb-er-tcher put it in his forehead and gave it power to rule over all creation.
A splurge of creativity ensued. Men and women had already been made from Neb-er-tcher's tears, and now he came forth in the forms of plants and animals. His offspring Shu and Tefnut (air and moisture) gave birth to Seb and Nut (earth and sky), and these in turn produced the four gods Osiris, Horus, Set (Seth), and Isis.
HISTORY OF THE CREATION OF THE GODS AND OF THE WORLD 81
~~ NVWV\
~~ ~~~J] L) oJi
Q I Q \\ I
Shat enti rekh kheperu nu Ra
The Book of knowing the evolutions of Ra,
r~~ ~~ ~!1! ,;::::::;, Bi Ji <::> <::> ~~ sekher A.pep tchettu N eb-er-tcher tchet-f
[ and] of over- Apep. The words of N eb-er-tcher [which] he throwing spake
~~ ~::JJ ~ ~J] D ~::JJ @ em-khet kheper - f nuk pu kheper
after he had come into being. lam he who came into being
~ ~::~JJ ~::Ji ~:: ~<>I ~, em Kheperd lcheper-nd kheper kheperu
in the form of I was ( or, became) the creator of what came into Khepera, being,
~:: ~<>I ,;::::::;,~~ ~::JJ #.._ I I ~, Q 11 kheper kheperu neb em-khet kheper-d asht
the creator of what came into all; after my coming into many being being
~~~Ji! ~~ ~ ~ Ji ....JL-
N'NW\
kheperu em per em re-a an [ were J the things which
came into being coming forth from my mouth. Not
~~~ ....JL-
~:: I··~ ....JL-
~~~'~ MMM NW"N', kheper pet an lcheper ta c;,n qemam
existed heaven, not existed earth, not had been created
82 NEAR EASTERN MYTHS
1..._1==.fl: J.1°"o I ]1
satat
the things of the earth, (i.e., plants)
~ ~ lJ1l. ,=,,{ o I I I
tcheffet
and creeping things
thes - nd dm - sen em
~j1~ em bet
in place
Nu
~~t~ pui
that;
I raised up them from out of Nu (i.e., the primeval abyss of water)
~++::@.~. -'I- ~~f1f j 0 t~T MN,V'. lc:J em enen dn qem-nd bet a~a-nd
from a state of Not found I a place I could stand inactivity.
?~Ji khut-nd em dmi
wherein. I worked a charm upon (or, with) dbt-d
my heart.
~w M,V,M ~ ~ Jj """""" ~ ~] ~ ! "C7 JI <2>- & 0 senti-nd em Maa dri-nd dru nebt
I laid a foundation in Ma.a [and] I made attribute every.
~ -1\..- ~ DO .!'~••D lf ~ [email protected] -It-I~~ --1) """"""
DO~ NVWVI
ua-k[ ud] dn dshesh-nd em Shu dn
I was alone, [for] not had I spit in the form of Shu, not
0 /'NV.M
~ ~~JJ -A- ;:: ~~~ ,l'~••D ~ ~~ MNN', tef-nd em Te/nut dn kheper ki
had I emitted Tefnut, * not existed another
* I.e., I had not sent forth from my body the emanation which took the form of Shu, nor the moisture which took the form of Tefnut.
ar
who"'
t z
[and] in·
e,
from
a· k
the tl C&IlH
em
with
my1
'::::::: 'i :::::::
I se01
l
HISTORY OF THE CREATION OF THE GODS AND OF THE WORLD 83
dri-nef henii-d senti-nd em dbt-d tches-d
who worked with me. I made a foundation in my heart my own, (or, by means ofmy own will)
~:: ~ ;~~JI! 9 ;~jJJ! a Ill kheper iisht kheperu nu kheperu
[ and] there came the multitudes which came of the things which into being of things into being came into being
~ ~~~JI! 0 mr l ~ I em kheperu nu mesu em
from out of the things which came of births, from out of into being
~~~JJ! 0 mri r,~, ~~JI~ fD~~iJJ I kheperu nu mesu-sen dnuk pu hat-a
the things which of came into being
tl;i.eir births. I, even I, had union
~ ~DJ} Q~Q~~~ MNW\
~ ~ em khefa-d
with my clenched hand,
11 ajJ} khaibit-d
my shadow,
~~l"D li dshesh-nd
kher-nd
I poured seed
em Shu
tatadt-nd em
I joined myself in an with embrace
~ ~Ji ~~Ji em re-a tches-d
into my mouth my own,
tefnet-nd
I sent forth issue in the form of Shu, I sent forth moisture
84 NEAR EASTERN MYTHS
~ ~})C)~ ~ ~~jJjj ooo~Jj r~:,r:~, """"""
.==.~
em 'f afnut an dtef-d Nii in the form of Saith my father Nu,
Tefnut.
maat-d em-sa-sen tcher
my eye behind them, because
<>j ~~ ;::JJ er-a em-lchet lcheper-d
from me after I became
!JenlJ,enti
for double henti period;
~ i Ji em nete1·
from god
D <>j Ji ;::T ~~ @ pu er-a kheper-nd em ta
sat et-sen
" They make to be weak
uau-sen
they proceeded
~ i Ji 111 ---lJ uii neter lchemt
one gods three,
0 {~! NWVV, pen (iiiii
that is from out of [ and after J I came m earth this. Were raised up myself, into being
~~ ~~Ji ~ 0 ~ """-- 0 C) ~ ,~:::Ji aref Shu 'f'iifnut em enenu
therefore Shu [ and] Tafnut in the inert watery mass
~Ji un-sen ami - f an-sen na 11iaat-d
wherein they were, brought they to me my eye
~;: r~I em l.:liet-sen
in their train.
~;: em-khet
After
~:: dref
therefore
sam-nd
I had united
--ll I..£ 0 Q.:~
iit-d
my members
HISTORY OF THE CREATION OF THE GODS AND OF THE WORLD 85
= ~ m=r'i 9 r-I I I I ~:: <=:> j I = I. ~~ rem-na IJ,er-sen kheper reth pit em
I wept over them, [ and] came into men and from
=~~! c::J = ./'J per
being women
em maat-d kharu-s remit
the tears [ which J came forth from my eye, [ and] it raged
0
er-a em lchet i-s qemi-s ari-na ket
against me after it came [ and] found [that] I had made another
em ast-s tebi-s em khut dru-nci in its place. [I] endowed it with the power I had made.
( or, splendour) which
selchenti dref dst-s em !Jrci-ci em-lchet
Having made to approach therefore its place in my face, afterwards
~ D <:::::> I lI MMN\
® ~I <:::::> I ~~~ ~~
dref !Jeq-s ta pen er tcher. f kher
therefore it ruleth earth this to its whole extent. Fall
~~;Ir~, [email protected]~J@.,1r,r~, en at-sen
their moments (or, seasons)
9~r ~~~r thet-s cimi-s
with what it hath in it. taken possession of
du uabu-sen
upon their plants, tebiti-nci
I endowed it
c::J - <j;> & ~ fl~j@.,,,! per-nd em uabu
I came forth from (or, in the plants, the form of)
86 NEAR EASTERN MYTHS
::t �ba � �:: �
��r�. o I I I C, C, tchefjet nebt lcheper nebt am-sen
creeping things all, [ and] things which all [ are J in them. came into being
5. r= Ooo1i)
il\nl � � <:) � 1111' I �
mesu dn Shu 'fiifnut �enii
[Seb] and
Nut mesu an
Give birth Shu [ and] Tefnut Nut. Give birth
Seb Nut Asar If er Khent-dn-maa Set Ast
Seb and Nut to Osiris, Horus-Khent-an-maati, Set, Isis, -
u;� � 0--
���� �� r,7. C, I Nebt-�et em khat uii em-sa uii am-sen
Nephtbys from the womb, one after the other of them,
mr: r�. �,
r -
� � 0
C, I I II I I :II MNV'v\ mes-sen iisht-sen em ta pen
they give birth [and] they multiply in earth this.
-E. A. Wallis Budge. The Gods of the Egyptians. Vol. I. New York: Dover, 1969, pp. 308-313. (Originally published 1904.)
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