Comparison of the Creation Stories of Egypt and Mesopotamia
The texts of Old Testament Parallels and Genesis describe unique theories regarding the creation of the world and universe. These etiologies of creation have many differences, but have similar details as well. By reading Egyptian and Mesopotamian etiologies and those in Genesis, one will notice that though similar, there are many differences that exist. These differences are partly due to the fact that these common etiologies were added to by cultures to make them unique. In the Egyptian creation stories begin with hymns celebrating Ptah, the divine patron of Memphis and the creator of the world. This story is set as The Ennead, and is made up of Egypt's nine most important and divine people, and meets in an effort to make Egypt a single state and designate its leader. At the beginning of the story, it states that the Ptah is the creator of the members of the Ennead, and also guides the thoughts of the living through his own thoughts. He also governs the living, praising the innocent and punishing the guilty. After he has finished creating, Ptah, like the Christian God, rests. In "Hymn to Ptah", Ptah is praised and honored because his way of creation, that being only thoughts and words, was superior to Atum, who had to c
In Genesis, God created the world and everything in it: the light and darkness, land, vegetation, the sun, moon, and stars, sea creatures, birds, animals, and man all before resting on the seventh day. This fact shows that Ra did not create the world completely, therefore making this story different from Genesis. In addition to the story of Ptah, there is another creation story, "Hymn to Ra". He then creates a new world, with people to do the work of the divine assembly. For example, while all of the Egypt and Mesopotamian stories honor a being as the creator, none solely created their work as did God in the Genesis depiction. Ptah gave life to the Ennead and the wind and rain who, in turn, created the earth and sky; there is no mention of the creation of human or animal creation, and while the earth and sky were born, all other details such as light and darkness etc. In Old Testament Parallels, the Mesopotamian etiology is described as a divine assembly that is born out of darkness and water. In these stories of creation, there are several aspects that are similar to the Genesis creation, and there are also several differences. Teftnut and Ra had offspring, who had offspring, etc. Also, Ptah is only hailed as being the creator of Egypt, not the entire universe as God is. Apsu and Tiamat existed before everything, and then the divine beings appeared. Before the creation of the heavens and the earth, two divine members, Tiamat and Apsu, were all that existed.
Common topics in this essay:
Egyptian Mesopotamian,
Genesis God,
Ra Ra,
God Ptah,
Ennead Egypt's,
Genesis Mesopotamian,
Tiamat Marduk,
Tiamat Apsu,
Ptah Ptah,
Parallels Genesis,
creation stories,
genesis god created,
egyptian mesopotamian,
marduk offspring,
power struggle,
creates earth,
light darkness,
divine assembly,
tiamat's body,
story ptah,
people egypt,
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Acceptance Essays
