Investigating The Creation Of The Universe, Gods, And Humans

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Recommended: Comparing and contrasting creation myths

Investigating Earth’s Origins The creation of the universe, gods, and humans is one of the most popular topics among myths. Many cultures have passed down creation stories by mouth and through writing so that we are able to know them today. Creation stories were important pieces of information to help humans understand and rationalize their place in life. Cris Campbell of Genealogy of Religion writes, “Though there are undoubtedly other reasons, one of the most important surely is orientation. People need to situate themselves in both time and space. Creation myths serve this need: they provide a temporal and spatial anchor.” The Babylonians were a people who in ancient times ruled the world. The Babylonian Empire spanned over what is now Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Turkey, and Iran. The Babylonian’s account of creation was recorded in The Enuma elish in approximately 2500 B.C. (Rosenburg, 2). This creation epic is a story of gods, family, and murder. The epic begins with the creation of some of the gods out of the sweet and salt waters. These gods (Anu and Ea) emerge from the waters and are very loud causing their father in the sweet water (Apsu) to resent them. Despite mother Tiamat’s objection, Apsu plans to kill his sons. Ea catches wind of his impeding doom, and instead kills his father. Ea then has a son Marduk, and plots to kill his mother because he thinks she let Apsu plan to kill the Ea and Anu. Ea and Kingu attempt to kill Tiamat, but her monsters are too frightening to get past. Ea then brings his powerful son Marduk to fight, and he defeats Tiamat. He splits her body in two making on half the earth, the other the sky, and her saliva the clouds and rain. The gods all celebrate and build Babylon, the house of the gre... ... middle of paper ... ... flood sweeps the world and the humans sacrifice a goat to the gods to earn their protection. The African culture was clearly different with not much war or bloodshed needed to create earth and humans. However, humans were created out of clay in both The Creation of the Titans and the Gods and The Creation of the Universe and Ife. In both stories, a god wanted to create earthly companions similar to the gods. It is clear that the Yoruba people referred to the gods as intelligent and loving. It is clear that creation myths and epics are a very important part of mythology and human history. These stories have been a way for people to relate to their past and the world around them. Each culture has a variation of the story, but in the end, humans are created and the gods rule over them. Regardless of the culture, humans have used myths and epics to understand creation.

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