List of creation myths
Encyclopedia
Oral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
s, and are found throughout human culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
. A creation myth is usually regarded by those who subscribe to it as conveying profound truths
Truth (religious)
-The Four Noble Truths:The Four Noble Truths are the most fundamental Buddhist teachings and appear countless times throughout the most ancient Buddhist texts, the Pali Canon...
, although not necessarily in a historical
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
or literal sense. They are commonly, although not always, considered cosmogonical myths—that is they describe the ordering of the cosmos
Cosmos
In the general sense, a cosmos is an orderly or harmonious system. It originates from the Greek term κόσμος , meaning "order" or "ornament" and is antithetical to the concept of chaos. Today, the word is generally used as a synonym of the word Universe . The word cosmos originates from the same root...
from a state of chaos
Chaos (cosmogony)
Chaos refers to the formless or void state preceding the creation of the universe or cosmos in the Greek creation myths, more specifically the initial "gap" created by the original separation of heaven and earth....
or amorphousness.
The following are common categories used to catalog or compare the various creation myths found throughout the world:
Creation from chaos
- Enûma Eliš
- Greek cosmogonical myth
- Jamshid creation account
- KumulipoKumulipoIn ancient Hawaiian mythology, the Kumulipo is a chant in the Hawaiian language telling a creation story. It also includes a genealogy of the members of Hawaiian royalty.-Creation chant:Many cultures have their own beliefs on how the earth came to be created...
- Mandé creation mythMandé creation mythThe Mandé creation myth is the traditional creation myth of the Mandé peoples of southern Mali. The story begins when Mangala, the creator god, tries making a balaza seed but it failed. Then he made two eleusine seeds of different kinds, which the people of Keita call "the egg of the world in two...
- PanguPanguPangu was the first living being and the creator of all in Chinese mythology.- The Pangu legend:...
- Raven in CreationRaven in CreationThe Raven in Creation is the trickster and creator in the traditional creation stories of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast....
- Sumerian creation mythSumerian creation mythThe earliest record of the Sumerian creation myth and flood myth is found on a single fragmentary tablet excavated in Nippur, sometimes called the Eridu Genesis. It is written in the Sumerian language and datable by its script to 2150 BC, during the first Babylonian dynasty, where the language of...
- Tungusic creation mythTungusic creation mythThe Tungusic creation myths are traditional stories of the creation of the world belonging to the Tungusic peoples of Siberia. In one well known version the story begins when nothing exists but a vast primordial ocean. Buga, their central deity, set fire to this water, and following a long...
- UnkulunkuluUnkulunkuluUnkulunkulu is the creator god in the language of the Zulu people. Unkulunkulu is believed to be father of Jesus and the term "Nkulunkulu" simply means "God". Other names include uMdali "Creator", uMvelinqandi "Before everything" also is uMvelinqangi in isiXhosa language...
- VäinämöinenVäinämöinenVäinämöinen is the central character in the Finnish folklore and the main character in the national epic Kalevala. His name comes from the Finnish word väinämö, meaning minstrel. Originally a Finnish god, he was described as an old and wise man, and he possessed a potent, magical...
- ViracochaViracochaViracocha is the great creator god in the pre-Inca and Inca mythology in the Andes region of South America. Full name and some spelling alternatives are Apu Qun Tiqsi Wiraqutra and Con-Tici Viracocha...
Earth diver
- Ainu creation mythAinu creation mythThe Ainu creation myths are the traditional creation accounts of the Ainu peoples of Hokkaidō, Japan. Their stories share common characteristics with Japanese creation myths and earth diver creation stories commonly found in Central Asian and Native American cultures. In one version the creator...
- Cherokee creation myth
- VäinämöinenVäinämöinenVäinämöinen is the central character in the Finnish folklore and the main character in the national epic Kalevala. His name comes from the Finnish word väinämö, meaning minstrel. Originally a Finnish god, he was described as an old and wise man, and he possessed a potent, magical...
- Yoruba creation myth
Emergence
- Hopi creation
- Maya creation of the world myth
- Diné Bahaneʼ (Navajo)
- Zuni creation myth
Ex nihilo (out of nothing)
- Debate between sheep and grainDebate between sheep and grainThe Debate between sheep and grain or Myth of cattle and grain is a Sumerian creation myth, written on clay tablets in the mid to late 3rd millennium BC...
- Barton cylinderBarton CylinderThe Barton Cylinder is a Sumerian creation myth, written on a clay cylinder in the mid to late 3rd millennium BC, which is now in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology...
- Ancient Egyptian creation mythsAncient Egyptian creation mythsAncient Egyptian creation myths refers to the ancient Egyptian accounts of the creation of the world. The Pyramid Texts, tomb wall decorations and writings, dating back to the Old Kingdom have given us most of our information regarding early Egyptian creation myths. These myths also form the...
- Genesis creation narrative (Christianity and Judaism)
- Islam
- Kabezya-Mpungu
- Māori myths
- MbomboMbomboMbombo, also called Bumba, is the creator god in the religion and mythology of the Kuba of Central Africa. In the Mbombo creation myth, Mbombo was a giant covered with white skin who had the form of a man....
- NgaiNgaiNgai is the supreme God in the religions of the Kamba, Kikuyu and Maasai nationalities of Kenya....
- Popol Vuh
- Rangi and PapaRangi and PapaIn Māori mythology the primal couple Rangi and Papa appear in a creation myth explaining the origin of the world. In some South Island dialects, Rangi is called Raki or Rakinui.-Union and separation:...
World Parent
- CoatlicueCoatlicueCoatlicue, also known as Teteoinan , "The Mother of Gods" , is the Aztec goddess who gave birth to the moon, stars, and Huitzilopochtli, the god of the sun and war...
- Enûma Eliš
- Greek cosmogonical myth
- Heliopolis creation myth
- Hiranyagarbha creation
- KumulipoKumulipoIn ancient Hawaiian mythology, the Kumulipo is a chant in the Hawaiian language telling a creation story. It also includes a genealogy of the members of Hawaiian royalty.-Creation chant:Many cultures have their own beliefs on how the earth came to be created...
- Rangi and PapaRangi and PapaIn Māori mythology the primal couple Rangi and Papa appear in a creation myth explaining the origin of the world. In some South Island dialects, Rangi is called Raki or Rakinui.-Union and separation:...
- VöluspáVöluspáVöluspá is the first and best known poem of the Poetic Edda. It tells the story of the creation of the world and its coming end related by a völva addressing Odin...
African
- Fon creation mythFon creation mythThe Fon creation myth is the traditional creation story of the Fon peoples of West Africa. Various versions of the creation story are told. In most the creator is either Mawu, the moon being and mother of all the gods and humanity, or Mawu-Lisa, the sun/moon being who is both male and female...
- Kaang creation story (Bushmen)
- Kintu myth (Bugandan)
- Mandé creation mythMandé creation mythThe Mandé creation myth is the traditional creation myth of the Mandé peoples of southern Mali. The story begins when Mangala, the creator god, tries making a balaza seed but it failed. Then he made two eleusine seeds of different kinds, which the people of Keita call "the egg of the world in two...
- MbomboMbomboMbombo, also called Bumba, is the creator god in the religion and mythology of the Kuba of Central Africa. In the Mbombo creation myth, Mbombo was a giant covered with white skin who had the form of a man....
(Kuba, Bakuba or Bushongo/Boshongo) - NgaiNgaiNgai is the supreme God in the religions of the Kamba, Kikuyu and Maasai nationalities of Kenya....
(Kamba, Kikuyu and Maasai ) - UnkulunkuluUnkulunkuluUnkulunkulu is the creator god in the language of the Zulu people. Unkulunkulu is believed to be father of Jesus and the term "Nkulunkulu" simply means "God". Other names include uMdali "Creator", uMvelinqandi "Before everything" also is uMvelinqangi in isiXhosa language...
(Zulu) - Yoruba creation
Mesoamerican
- CoatlicueCoatlicueCoatlicue, also known as Teteoinan , "The Mother of Gods" , is the Aztec goddess who gave birth to the moon, stars, and Huitzilopochtli, the god of the sun and war...
(Aztec) - Maya creation of the world myth
- Popol Vuh (Quiché Mayan)
Mid North American
- Anishinaabeg creation stories
- Cherokee creation myth
- Choctaw creation
- Creek creation
- Hopi creation
- KuterastanKuterastanKuterastan is the creator in a creation myth of the Kiowa Apache from the southern plains of North America. His name means One Who Lives Above.The story of his creation tells that in the beginning, before there were earth or sky there was only darkness...
(Plains Apache) - Diné Bahaneʼ (Navajo)
- Raven in CreationRaven in CreationThe Raven in Creation is the trickster and creator in the traditional creation stories of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast....
(Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian) - Zuni creation myth
Central Asian
- Mongolian creation myth
- Tungusic creation mythTungusic creation mythThe Tungusic creation myths are traditional stories of the creation of the world belonging to the Tungusic peoples of Siberia. In one well known version the story begins when nothing exists but a vast primordial ocean. Buga, their central deity, set fire to this water, and following a long...
East Asian
- Ainu creation mythAinu creation mythThe Ainu creation myths are the traditional creation accounts of the Ainu peoples of Hokkaidō, Japan. Their stories share common characteristics with Japanese creation myths and earth diver creation stories commonly found in Central Asian and Native American cultures. In one version the creator...
(Japan) - Chinese creation myth
- Dangun creation myth (Korean)
- Japanese creation mythJapanese creation mythIn Japanese mythology, the , is the story that describes the legendary birth of the celestial and earthly world, the birth of the first gods and the birth of the Japanese archipelago....
- NüwaNüwaNüwa is a goddess in ancient Chinese mythology best known for creating mankind and repairing the wall of heaven.-Primary sources:...
(Chinese) - PanguPanguPangu was the first living being and the creator of all in Chinese mythology.- The Pangu legend:...
(Chinese) - Samseonghyeol legend (Korean)
European
- Greek cosmogonical myth
- Pelasgian creation myth (Greek)
- VäinämöinenVäinämöinenVäinämöinen is the central character in the Finnish folklore and the main character in the national epic Kalevala. His name comes from the Finnish word väinämö, meaning minstrel. Originally a Finnish god, he was described as an old and wise man, and he possessed a potent, magical...
(Finnish) - VöluspáVöluspáVöluspá is the first and best known poem of the Poetic Edda. It tells the story of the creation of the world and its coming end related by a völva addressing Odin...
(Norse)
Middle Eastern
- Debate between sheep and grainDebate between sheep and grainThe Debate between sheep and grain or Myth of cattle and grain is a Sumerian creation myth, written on clay tablets in the mid to late 3rd millennium BC...
- Ancient Egyptian creation mythsAncient Egyptian creation mythsAncient Egyptian creation myths refers to the ancient Egyptian accounts of the creation of the world. The Pyramid Texts, tomb wall decorations and writings, dating back to the Old Kingdom have given us most of our information regarding early Egyptian creation myths. These myths also form the...
- Enûma Eliš (Babylonian)
- Genesis creation narrative (Hebrew)
- Islamic creation belief (Arabic)
- Mashya and MashyanaMashya and MashyanaAccording to the Zoroastrian cosmogony, Mashya and Mashyana were the first man and woman whose procreation gave rise to the human race.-Etymology:...
(Persian) - Sumerian creation mythSumerian creation mythThe earliest record of the Sumerian creation myth and flood myth is found on a single fragmentary tablet excavated in Nippur, sometimes called the Eridu Genesis. It is written in the Sumerian language and datable by its script to 2150 BC, during the first Babylonian dynasty, where the language of...
Pacific Islander/Oceanic
- KumulipoKumulipoIn ancient Hawaiian mythology, the Kumulipo is a chant in the Hawaiian language telling a creation story. It also includes a genealogy of the members of Hawaiian royalty.-Creation chant:Many cultures have their own beliefs on how the earth came to be created...
(Hawaiian) - Māori myths
- Rangi and PapaRangi and PapaIn Māori mythology the primal couple Rangi and Papa appear in a creation myth explaining the origin of the world. In some South Island dialects, Rangi is called Raki or Rakinui.-Union and separation:...
(Māori) - Sureq GaligoSureq GaligoSureq Galigo or La Galigo is an epic creation myth of the Bugis from South Sulawesi, written between the 13th and 15th century in the Indonesian language Buginese...
(Buginese)