There are as many creation myths as there are cultures and each has its own particular way of viewing the origins of the universe, of the earth, and of human beings. The intention in this paper is to explore the similarities and differences in the Sumerian, Babylonian, and Egyptian creation myths.
The very beginning, according to the Sumerians, was watery. According to their theology, the universe at the beginning was surrounded by sea and water on all sides. For them, the sea was the original matter, the first cause and prime mover. Unlike the genesis creation story, a god did not hover over these waters separating them from the land. Instead, the universe emerged through the action of several different deities.
The waters are identified with the Great Mother figure of Nammu. According to Eliade (1978), this is quite common in archaic cosmogonies in which the waters are imagined as both cosmic and divine, with them serving as first mother (or father, or both). In this instance, Nammu gives birth to the original couple of the Sky God An and the Earth Goddess Ki. From them was born the air god, En lil.
The Sky God, An, carried off the heavens, or the sky, while the Earth Goddess Ki (later Ninhursag) carried off the earth. The air was separated out by Enlil, while Enki was the Water God, and eventually the God of Wisdom. There were other important deities, including Ereshkigal, Goddess of the Underworld, and Inanna, the Goddess of the Morning and Evening Star (Wolkstein, & Kramer, 1983).
These are the creator gods, whose power resided in the word. According to Kramer (1983), the creator gods only had to formulate plans, say the divine word, and pronounce the name of the thing to be created.
According to Joseph Campbell (1964), there was an Egyptian creation myth as early as 2850 B.C.E., which also emphasized creation by the power of the word. This is one of the major types of creation myth. Some of the ...