Egyptian Creation Legends

   There is a great similarity between the Creation Legends of the Nile Valley and those of the Fertile Crescent. In all of them the beginning was a primitive chaotic mass of waters known to the Babylonians as Tamtu, Tiamat, or Tiawath, and to the Hebrews as Tohu or Tehom. One would therefore expect the Egyptian chaos monster to have had a name fitting into this common pattern, but instead he is called Nun, or Nu. However, there is also a primeval god called Atmu, who is said to have caused the Deluge, from which it would appear that he or she was the original mass of waters, and that at some later date Nun or Nu was installed in this position.

   There are several alternative versions of the actual creation process, of which the simplest is that the sun arose from the waters, and that when the light had made a rift between the earth and the sky, four pillars, marking the cardinal points, were erected to hold up the heavens. At Hermopolis, however, Thoth was the mind and intelligence of Nu, and, with the aid of Khnemu and Ptah, created several pairs of gods, including Heru and Hehut, Kekui and Kekuit, Qeh and Qerhit, and afterwards the remainder of the universe.

   At Sais, Neith, the self-created virgin goddess, became the mother of Ra, from whom sprang the gods. At Hermopolis, Khepera, the scarab beetle god, created Geb and Nu, the parents of Osiris and Isis and of other gods. At Elephantine it was Khnemu, the potter god, who created the universe, made the cosmic egg from the mud of the Nile, and shaped man on his potter’s wheel, while at Memphis the same part was played by Ptah, who in the process of development seems to have absorbed Tenen, an early creator god.

   Contrary to general opinion, there are at least two Egyptian Deluge legends, of which the earliest says that the god Atmu caused the waters of the great deep to overflow and drown everybody, except those who were with him in his boat. This would indicate that when Atmu, as mentioned above, was deposed from the post of god of the mass of waters, he, in turn, took over the functions of the Egyptian Noah or Utanapishti, whose name may some day be discovered. The other Deluge legend tells how Ra, being offended with his subjects, ordered Hathor and Sekhmet, the fire goddess, to destroy them all. After they had partially completed their work, and were wading in human blood, Ra relented, and, being unable to persuade them to desist, flooded the world with beer, which the goddesses drank to such an extent that they forgot all about their dreadful mission. This rewriting of an early myth of volcanic catastrophe followed by flood is rather different to those of the countries to the north-east, where there are references mainly to floods. There may also be a faint recollection of a flood in the hieroglyph of the Bennu bird. Also there is Manetho’s story of Thoth setting up the Siriadic Columns, before the Deluge, in order that the records of the past should not be lost.