Creation Theology from Egypt

Creation Theology from Egypt      In the earliest Egyptian creation story, the world began as a formless watery void, entombed in darkness. When this primeval "water-stuff" subsided, the first mound of earth appeared. On this first island the creator-god Atum brought into being all other creatures and things. How he did this varies in the versions. According to one account, he masturbated (since he was male and had no mate) and brought the lesser male and female deities into existence. From their mating came the populated earth. According to another version, Atum named his own body parts and, as it were, out of himself came other separate beings.
    Another creation story later emerged, called the Memphis theology of creation. Dating to the earliest dynastic period in Egypt (third millennium B.C.E.), this story supported the superiority of Memphis and its patron god Ptah over the previous capital. It states that Ptah was the heart and tongue, which is to say he was divine mind and speech. Ptah conceived the idea of the universe, ordered it, and called it into being with a command. Because of this Ptah existed prior to Atum as the principle and mechanism through which the world came into being. In positing the priority of the divine word, this theology of creation has a notable similarity to the Priestly account of creation in Genesis.

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Egyptian Cosmology Shu, the god of the air, upholds Nut, the sky-goddess, while Geb, the earth-god, reclines under Nut. This structure is similar to Israelite cosmology.

For a full account of Egyptian creation theology see Wilson (1951). For the text of the Memphis theology of creation see Pritchard (1969: 4-6) or Simpson (1972). The Instructions for Merikare', written shortly after 2000 B.C.E., contains a creation account with similarities to the biblical story of creation.