Myths about the origin of the world. Legends and myths about the creation of the world

May 30, 2018

The debate between supporters of the theory of creationism and evolutionary theory continues to this day. However, unlike the theory of evolution, creationism includes not one, but hundreds of different theories (if not more). In this article we will talk about ten of the most unusual myths of antiquity.

10. The myth of Pan-gu

The Chinese have their own ideas about how the world came into being. The most popular myth is the myth of Pan-gu, the giant man. The plot is as follows: at the dawn of time, Heaven and Earth were so close to each other that they merged into a single black mass.

According to legend, this mass was an egg, and Pan-gu lived inside it, and lived for a long time - many millions of years. But one fine day he got tired of such a life, and, swinging a heavy ax, Pan-gu got out of his egg, splitting it into two parts. These parts subsequently became Heaven and Earth. He was of unimaginable height - about fifty kilometers in length, which, by the standards of the ancient Chinese, was the distance between Heaven and Earth.

Unfortunately for Pan-gu and fortunately for us, the colossus was mortal and, like all mortals, died. And then Pan-gu decomposed. But not the way we do it - Pan-gu decomposed in a really cool way: his voice turned into thunder, his skin and bones became the firmament of the earth, and his head became the Cosmos. Thus, his death gave life to our world.

9. Chernobog and Belobog

This is one of the most significant myths of the Slavs. It tells about the confrontation between Good and Evil - the White and Black gods. It all started like this: when there was only one continuous sea around, Belobog decided to create dry land, sending his shadow - Chernobog - to do all the dirty work. Chernobog did everything as expected, however, having a selfish and proud nature, he did not want to share power over the firmament with Belobog, deciding to drown the latter.

Belobog got out of this situation, did not allow himself to be killed, and even blessed the land erected by Chernobog. However, with the advent of land, one small problem arose: its area grew exponentially, threatening to swallow everything around.

Then Belobog sent his delegation to Earth with the goal of finding out from Chernobog how to stop this matter. Well, Chernobog sat on a goat and went to negotiate. The delegates, seeing Chernobog galloping towards them on a goat, were imbued with the comedy of this spectacle and burst into wild laughter. Chernobog did not understand the humor, was very offended and flatly refused to talk to them.

Meanwhile, Belobog, still wanting to save the Earth from dehydration, decided to spy on Chernobog, making a bee for this purpose. The insect coped with the task successfully and found out the secret, which was as follows: in order to stop the growth of land, you need to draw a cross on it and say the cherished word - “enough.” Which is what Belobog did.

To say that Chernobog was not happy is to say nothing. Wanting revenge, he cursed Belobog, and he cursed him in a very original way - for his meanness, Belobog was now supposed to eat bee feces for the rest of his life. However, Belobog was not at a loss, and made bee excrement as sweet as sugar - this is how honey appeared. For some reason, the Slavs did not think about how people appeared... The main thing is that there is honey.

8. Armenian duality

Armenian myths resemble Slavic ones, and also tell us about the existence of two opposite principles - this time male and female. Unfortunately, the myth does not answer the question of how our world was created; it only explains how everything around us works. But that doesn't make it any less interesting.

So here's the quick gist: Heaven and Earth are a husband and wife separated by an ocean; The sky is a city, and the Earth is a piece of rock, which is held on its huge horns by an equally huge bull - when it shakes its horns, the earth bursts at the seams from earthquakes. That, in fact, is all - this is how the Armenians imagined the Earth.

There is an alternative myth where the Earth is in the middle of the sea, and Leviathan floats around it, trying to grab onto its own tail, and constant earthquakes were also explained by its flopping. When Leviathan finally bites its tail, life on Earth will cease and the apocalypse will begin. Have a nice day.

7. The Scandinavian myth of the ice giant

It would seem that there is nothing in common between the Chinese and the Scandinavians - but no, the Vikings also had their own giant - the origin of everything, only his name was Ymir, and he was icy and with a club. Before his appearance, the world was divided into Muspelheim and Niflheim - the kingdoms of fire and ice, respectively. And between them stretched Ginnungagap, symbolizing absolute chaos, and there, from the fusion of two opposing elements, Ymir was born.

And now closer to us, to the people. When Ymir began to sweat, a man and a woman emerged from his right armpit along with the sweat. It’s strange, yes, we understand this - well, that’s how they are, harsh Vikings, nothing can be done. But let's get back to the point. The man's name was Buri, he had a son Ber, and Ber had three sons - Odin, Vili and Ve. Three brothers were gods and ruled Asgard. This seemed to them not enough, and they decided to kill Ymir’s great-grandfather, making a world out of him.

Ymir was not happy, but no one asked him. In the process, he shed a lot of blood - enough to fill the seas and oceans; From the skull of the unfortunate man, the brothers created the vault of heaven, broke his bones, making mountains and cobblestones out of them, and made clouds from the torn brains of poor Ymir.

Odin and the company immediately decided to populate this new world: so they found two beautiful trees on the seashore - ash and alder, making a man from the ash, and a woman from the alder, thereby giving rise to the human race.

6. Greek myth about marbles

Like many other peoples, the ancient Greeks believed that before our world appeared, there was only complete Chaos around. There was neither the sun nor the moon - everything was dumped into one big pile, where things were inseparable from each other.

But then a certain god came, looked at the chaos reigning around, thought and decided that all this was not good, and got down to business: he separated the cold from the heat, the foggy morning from a clear day, and everything like that.

Then he set to work on the Earth, rolling it into a ball and dividing this ball into five parts: at the equator it was very hot, at the poles it was extremely cold, but between the poles and the equator it was just right, you couldn’t imagine anything more comfortable. Further, from the seed of an unknown god, most likely Zeus, known to the Romans as Jupiter, the first man was created - two-faced and also in the shape of a ball.

And then they tore him in two, making him a man and a woman - the future of you and me.

5. An Egyptian god who loved his shadow very much

In the beginning there was a great ocean, whose name was “Nu,” and this ocean was Chaos, and besides it there was nothing. It was not until Atum, by an effort of will and thought, created himself out of this Chaos. Yes, the man had balls. But further - more and more interesting. So, he created himself, now he had to create land in the ocean. Which is what he did. After wandering around the earth and realizing his total loneliness, Atum became unbearably bored, and he decided to plan on more gods. How? And just like that, with an ardent, passionate feeling for your own shadow.

Thus fertilized, Atum gave birth to Shu and Tefnut, spitting them out of his mouth. But, apparently, he overdid it, and the newborn gods were lost in the ocean of Chaos. Atum grieved, but soon, to his relief, he found and rediscovered his children. He was so glad to be reunited that he cried for a long, long time, and his tears, touching the earth, fertilized it - and people grew out of the earth, many people! Then, while people impregnated each other, Shu and Tefnut also had coitus, and they gave birth to other gods - more gods to the god of gods! - Gebu and Nutu, who became the personification of the Earth and the sky.

There is another myth in which Atum is replaced by Ra, but this does not change the main essence - there, too, everyone fertilizes each other en masse.

4. The myth of the Yoruba people - about the Sands of Life and the chicken

There is such an African people - the Yoruba. So, they also have their own myth about the origin of all things.

In general, it was like this: there was one God, his name was Olorun, and one fine day the idea came to his mind that the Earth needed to be equipped somehow (at that time the Earth was one continuous wasteland).

Olorun didn’t really want to do this himself, so he sent his son, Obotala, to Earth. However, at that moment, Obotala had more important things to do (in fact, there was a gorgeous party planned in heaven, and Obotala simply could not miss it).

While Obotala was having fun, all the responsibility fell on Odudawa. Having nothing at hand except chicken and sand, Odudawa nevertheless set to work. His principle was the following: he took sand from a cup, poured it onto the Earth, and then let the chicken run around in the sand and trample it thoroughly.

After carrying out several such simple manipulations, Odudawa created the land of Lfe or Lle-lfe. This is where Odudawa's story ends, and Obotala appears on the stage again, this time completely drunk - the party was a great success.

And so, being in a state of divine alcoholic intoxication, the son of Olorun set about creating us humans. It turned out very badly for him, and he created disabled people, dwarfs and freaks. Having sobered up, Obotala was horrified and quickly corrected everything by creating normal people.

According to another version, Obotala never recovered, and Odudawa also made people, simply lowering us from the sky and at the same time assigning himself the status of ruler of humanity.

3. Aztec "War of the Gods"

According to Aztec myth, there was no primordial Chaos. But there was a primary order - an absolute vacuum, impenetrably black and endless, in which in some strange way the Supreme God - Ometeotl - lived. He had a dual nature, possessing both feminine and masculine principles, was good and at the same time evil, was both warm and cold, truth and lies, white and black.

He gave birth to the remaining gods: Huitzilopochtli, Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca and Xipe Totec, who, in turn, created giants, water, fish and other gods.

Tezcatlipoca ascended to the heavens, sacrificing himself and becoming the Sun. However, there he encountered Quetzalcoatl, entered into battle with him and lost to him. Quetzalcoatl threw Tezcatlipoca from the sky and became the Sun himself. Then, Quetzalcoatl gave birth to people and gave them nuts to eat.

Tezcatlipoca, still harboring a grudge against Quetzalcoatl, decided to take revenge on his creations by turning people into monkeys. Seeing what happened to his first people, Quetzalcoatl flew into a rage and caused a powerful hurricane that scattered the vile monkeys throughout the world.

While Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoc were at war with each other, Tialoc and Chalchiuhtlicue also turned into suns in order to continue the cycle of day and night. However, the fierce battle between Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca affected them too - then they too were thrown from heaven.

In the end, Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoc stopped their feud, forgetting past grievances and creating new people - the Aztecs - from the dead bones and blood of Quetzalcoatl.

2. Japanese “World Cauldron”

Japan. Again Chaos, again in the form of an ocean, this time as dirty as a swamp. In this ocean-swamp, magical reeds (or reeds) grew, and from this reeds (or reeds), like our children from cabbage, gods were born, a great many of them. All of them together were called Kotoamatsukami - and that’s all that is known about them, for as soon as they were born, they immediately hastened to hide in the reeds. Or in the reeds.

While they were hiding, new gods appeared, including Ijinami and Ijinagi. They began to stir the ocean until it thickened, and from it the land was formed - Japan. Ijinami and Ijinagi had a son, Ebisu, who became the god of all fishermen, a daughter, Amaterasu, who became the Sun, and another daughter, Tsukiyomi, who became the Moon. They also had one more son, the last - Susanoo, who, for his violent temper, received the status of the god of wind and storms.

1. Lotus flower and “Om-m”

Like many other religions, Hinduism also features the concept of the world emerging from the void. Well, as if out of nowhere, there was an endless ocean in which a giant cobra swam, and there was Vishnu, who slept on the cobra’s tail. And nothing more.

Time passed, days followed each other one after another, and it seemed that it would always be like this. But one day, everything around was filled with a sound that had never been heard before - the sound of “Om-m”, and the previously empty world was overwhelmed with energy. Vishnu awoke from sleep, and Brahma appeared from the lotus flower at his navel. Vishnu ordered Brahma to create the world, and in the meantime he disappeared, taking with him a snake.

Brahma, sitting in the lotus position on a lotus flower, set to work: he divided the flower into three parts, using one to create Heaven and Hell, another to create Earth, and the third to create heaven. Brahma then created animals, birds, people and trees, thus creating all living things.

The Myth of Pan-gu

Chernobog and Belobog

This is one of the most significant myths of the Slavs. It tells the story of the confrontation between Good and Evil – the White and Black gods. It all started like this: when there was only one continuous sea around, Belobog decided to create dry land, sending his shadow - Chernobog - to do all the dirty work. Chernobog did everything as expected, however, having a selfish and proud nature, he did not want to share power over the firmament with Belobog, deciding to drown the latter.

To say that Chernobog was not happy is to say nothing. Wanting revenge, he cursed Belobog, and he cursed him in a very original way - for his meanness, Belobog was now supposed to eat bee feces for the rest of his life. However, Belobog was not at a loss, and made the bee excrement as sweet as sugar - this is how honey appeared. For some reason, the Slavs did not think about how people appeared... The main thing is that there is honey.

Armenian duality

Scandinavian myth of the ice giant

Greek myth about marbles

And then they tore him in two, making him a man and a woman - the future of you and me.

Egyptian god who loved his shadow very much

There is another myth in which Atum is replaced by Ra, but this does not change the main essence - there, too, everyone fertilizes each other en masse.

The myth of the Yoruba people - about the Sands of Life and the chicken

There is such an African people - the Yoruba. So, they also have their own myth about the origin of all things.

According to another version, Obotala never recovered, and Odudawa also made people, simply lowering us from the sky and at the same time assigning himself the status of ruler of humanity.

Aztec "War of the Gods"

According to Aztec myth, there was no primordial Chaos. But there was a primary order - an absolute vacuum, impenetrably black and endless, in which in some strange way lived the Supreme God - Ometeotl. He had a dual nature, possessing both feminine and masculine principles, was good and at the same time evil, was both warm and cold, truth and lies, white and black.

He gave birth to the remaining gods: Huitzilopochtli, Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca and Xipe Totec, who, in turn, created giants, water, fish and other gods.

In the end, Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoc stopped their feud, forgetting past grievances and creating new people from the dead bones and blood of Quetzalcoatl - the Aztecs.

Japanese "World Cauldron"

Japan. Again Chaos, again in the form of an ocean, this time as dirty as a swamp. In this ocean-swamp, magical reeds (or reeds) grew, and from this reeds (or reeds), like our children from cabbage, gods were born, a great many of them. All of them together were called Kotoamatsukami - and that’s all that is known about them, for, as soon as they were born, they immediately hastened to hide in the reeds. Or in the reeds.

Lotus flower and "Om-m"

10.10.2015 16.09.2018 - admin

7 mythological concepts of the creation of the world

Most mythologies have general stories about the origin of all things: the separation of elements of order from the primordial chaos, the separation of maternal and paternal gods, the emergence of land from the ocean, endless and timeless. Here are the most interesting myths and legends about the creation of the world.

Slavic

The ancient Slavs had many legends about where the world and everyone inhabiting it came from.
The creation of the world began with filling it with Love.
The Carpathian Slavs have a legend according to which the world was created by two pigeons who sat on an oak tree in the middle of the sea and thought “how to found the world.” They decided to go down to the bottom of the sea, take some fine sand, sow it, and from it would come “black earth, cold water, green grass.” And from a golden stone, which was also mined at the bottom of the sea, “blue sky, bright sun, clear month and all the stars” would come from it.
According to one myth, the world was initially shrouded in darkness. There was only the progenitor of all things - Rod. He was imprisoned in an egg, but managed to give birth to Lada (Love), and by her force he destroyed the shell. The creation of the world began with filling it with Love. The family created the kingdom of heaven, and under it - the heavenly kingdom, and separated the Ocean from the waters of heaven by the firmament. Then Rod separated Light and Darkness and gave birth to the Earth, which plunged into the dark abyss of the Ocean. The Sun came out of Rod’s face, the Moon came out of his chest, and the stars came out of his eyes. From Rod's breath came winds, from tears - rain, snow and hail. His voice became thunder and lightning. Then Rod gave birth to Svarog and breathed into him a powerful spirit. It was Svarog who arranged the change of day and night, and also created the earth - he crushed a handful of earth in his hands, which then fell into the sea. The sun heated the Earth, and a crust was baked on it, and the Moon cooled the surface.
According to another legend, the world appeared as a result of the hero’s battle with the serpent who was guarding the golden egg. The hero killed the snake, split the egg, and from it emerged three kingdoms: heavenly, earthly and underground.
There is also a legend: in the beginning there was nothing but a boundless sea. A duck, flying over the surface of the sea, dropped an egg into the abyss of the water, it split, and from the lower part of it came “mother earth,” and from the upper part, “a high vault of heaven rose.”

Egyptian

Atum, who arose from Nun - the primary ocean, was considered the creator and primordial being. In the beginning there was no sky, no earth, no soil. Atum grew like a hill in the middle of the world's oceans. There is an assumption that the shape of the pyramid is also associated with the idea of a primary hill.
Atum absorbed his own seed and then vomited two children into the world.
Afterwards, Atum broke away from the water with great effort, soared over the abyss and cast a spell, as a result of which a second hill grew among the water surface - Ben-Ben. Atum sat down on a hill and began to think about what he should use to create the world. Since he was alone, he absorbed his own seed, and then vomited out the god of air Shu and the goddess of moisture Tefnut. And the first people appeared from the tears of Atum, who briefly lost his children - Shu and Tefnut, and then found them again and burst into tears of joy.
From this couple, born of Atum, came the gods Geb and Nut, and they, in turn, gave birth to the twins Osiris and Isis, as well as Set and Nephthys. Osiris became the first god to be killed and resurrected to an eternal afterlife.

Greek

In the Greek concept, there was originally Chaos, from which the land of Gaia emerged, and in its depths lay the deep abyss of Tartarus. Chaos gave birth to Nyukta (Night) and Erebus (Darkness). The night gave birth to Tanat (Death), Hypnos (Sleep), as well as moira - goddesses of fate. From Night came the goddess of rivalry and discord, Eris, who gave birth to Hunger, Sorrow, Murder, Lies, Exhaustive Labor, Battles and other troubles. From the connection of Night with Erebus, Ether and the shining day were born.
Gaia gave birth to Uranus (Sky), then Mountains rose from its depths, and Pontus (Sea) spilled across the plains.
Gaia and Uranus gave birth to the Titans: Oceanus, Tethys, Iapetus, Hyperion, Theia, Criya, Kay, Phoebe, Themis, Mnemosyne, Kronos and Rhea.
Kronos, with the help of his mother, overthrew his father, seizing power and marrying his sister Rhea. It was they who created a new tribe - the gods. But Kronos was afraid of his children, because he himself had once overthrown his own parent. That's why he swallowed them immediately after birth. Rhea hid one child in a cave in Crete. This rescued baby was Zeus. God was fed by goats, and his crying was drowned out by the blows of copper shields.
Having matured, Zeus overcame his father Cronus and forced him to vomit his brothers and sisters from his womb: Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter and Hestia. Thus came the end of the era of the Titans - the era of the gods of Olympus began.

Scandinavian

The Scandinavians believe that before the creation of the world there was a void called Ginungagap. To the north of it lay the frozen world of darkness Niflheim, and to the south lay the fiery country of Muspellheim. Gradually, the world emptiness of Ginungagap was filled with poisonous frost, which turned into the giant Ymir. He was the ancestor of all frost giants. When Ymir fell asleep, sweat began to drip from his armpits, and these drops turned into a man and a woman. From this water also the cow Audumla was formed, whose milk Imir drank, as well as the second man born from sweat - Buri.
The son of Buri Bore Bor married the giantess Bestla, and they had three sons: Odin, Vili and Ve. For some reason, the sons of the Storm hated the giant Ymir and killed him. Then they took his body to the center of Ginungagapa and created the world: from flesh - the earth, from blood - the ocean, from the skull - the sky. Ymir's brain was scattered across the sky, creating clouds. With the eyelashes of Ymir they fenced off the best part of the world and settled people there.
Drops of sweat from the armpits of the Scandinavian giant Ymir turned into a man and a woman.
The gods created the people themselves from two tree branches. From the first man and woman all other people descended. The gods built the Asgard fortress for themselves, where they settled.

Chinese

Zoroastrian

The Zoroastrians created an interesting concept of the universe. According to this concept, the world has existed for 12 thousand years. Its entire history is conventionally divided into four periods, each lasting 3 thousand years.
The first period is the pre-existence of things and ideas. At this stage of heavenly creation there already existed the prototypes of everything that was later created on Earth. This state of the world is called Menok ("invisible" or "spiritual").
The second period is considered to be the creation of the created world, that is, the real, visible, inhabited by “creatures.” Ahura Mazda creates the sky, the stars, the Sun, the first man and the first bull. Beyond the sphere of the Sun is the abode of Ahura Mazda himself. However, Ahriman begins to act at the same time. It invades the firmament, creates planets and comets that do not obey the uniform movement of the celestial spheres.
Ahriman pollutes the water and sends death to the first man Gayomart and the primeval bull. But from the first man are born man and woman, from whom the human race descends, and from the first bull come all animals. From the collision of two opposing principles, the whole world begins to move: waters become fluid, mountains arise, celestial bodies move. To neutralize the actions of “harmful” planets, Ahura Mazda assigns her spirits to each planet.
The third period of the existence of the universe covers the time before the appearance of the prophet Zoroaster.
During this period, the mythological heroes of the Avesta act: the king of the golden age - Yima the Shining, in whose kingdom there is no heat, no cold, no old age, no envy - the creation of the devas. This king saves people and livestock from the Flood by building a special shelter for them.
Among the righteous of this time, the ruler of a certain region, Vishtaspa, the patron of Zoroaster, is also mentioned. During the last, fourth period (after Zoroaster) in each millennium, three Saviors should appear to people, appearing as the sons of Zoroaster. The last of them, Savior Saoshyant, will decide the fate of the world and humanity. He will resurrect the dead, destroy evil and defeat Ahriman, after which the world will be cleansed with a “flow of molten metal”, and everything that remains after this will gain eternal life.

Sumerian-Akkadian

The mythology of Mesopotamia is the most ancient of all known in the world. It arose in the 4th millennium BC. e. in a state that at that time was called Akkad, and later developed in Assyria, Babylonia, Sumeria and Elam.
At the beginning of time there were only two gods, who personified fresh water (the god Apsu) and salt water (the goddess Tiamat). The waters existed independently of each other and never crossed. But one day the salt and fresh waters mixed - and the elder gods were born - the children of Apsu and Tiamat. Following the elder gods, many younger gods appeared. But the world still consisted of nothing but chaos; the gods felt cramped and uncomfortable in it, about which they often complained to the Supreme Apsu. The cruel Apsu was tired of all this, and he decided to destroy all his children and grandchildren, but in the battle he could not defeat his son Enki, by whom he was defeated and cut into four parts, which turned into land, seas, rivers and fire. Tiamat wanted to take revenge for the murder of her husband, but she was also defeated by the younger god Marduk, who created wind and storms for the duel. After the victory, Marduk received a certain artifact “Me”, which determines the movement and fate of the entire world.

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MYTHS ABOUT THE CREATION OF THE WORLD AND THE FIRST PEOPLE

Egypt Ethic mythology
The Egyptians believed that people and their Ka (soul) were molded from clay by the ram-headed god Khnum. He is the main creator of the world. He sculpted the whole world on a potter's wheel and created people and animals in the same way.

Myth of the ancient Indians
The progenitor of the world was Brahma. People emerged from the body of Purusha - the primordial man whom the gods sacrificed at the beginning of the world. They threw him like a sacrificial animal onto the straw, doused him with oil, and surrounded him with wood. From this sacrifice, dismembered into pieces, hymns and chants, horses, bulls, goats and sheep were born. From his mouth arose priests, his hands became warriors, from his thighs farmers were created, and from his feet the lower class was born. From the mind of Purusha arose the month, from the eye - the sun, fire was born from his mouth, and from his breath - the wind. The air came from his navel, the sky came from his head, and the cardinal directions were created from his ears, and his feet became the earth. Thus, from a great sacrifice, the eternal gods created the world.

Greek mythology
According to Greek mythology, people were fashioned from earth and water by Prometheus, son of the Titan Iapetus, cousin of Zeus. Prometheus created people looking at the sky, in the likeness of the gods.
According to some myths, people and animals were created by the Greek gods in the depths of the earth from a mixture of fire and earth, and the gods instructed Prometheus and Epimetheus to distribute abilities between them. Epimetheus is to blame for the defenselessness of people, since he spent all the abilities to live on earth on animals, so Prometheus had to take care of people (gave them fire, etc.).

Myth of the peoples of Central America
The gods molded the first people from wet clay. But they did not live up to the hopes of the great gods. Everything would be fine: they are alive and can speak, but can clay fools even turn their heads? They stare at one point and roll their eyes. Otherwise they will start to crawl, and a little rain will sprinkle them. But the worst thing is that they came out soulless, brainless...
The gods got down to business for the second time. “Let's try to make people out of wood!” - they agreed. No sooner said than done. And the earth was populated by wooden idols. But they had no heart, and they were foolish.
And the gods decided to once again take on the creation of people. “To create people from flesh and blood, we need a noble material that will give them life, strength, and intelligence,” the gods decided. They found this noble material - white and yellow maize (corn). They threshed the cobs, kneaded the dough, from which they molded the first intelligent people.

North American Indian Myth
One day there was such a hot summer that the pond in which the turtles lived dried up. Then the turtles decided to look for another place to live and hit the road.
The fattest turtle, to make his way easier, took off his shell. So she walked without a shell until she turned into a man - the ancestor of the Turtle family.

Myth of the North American Acoma tribetells that the first two women learned in a dream that people live underground. They dug a hole and freed the people.

Myth of the Inca people
In Tiwanaku, the creator of all things created the tribes there. He made one person from each tribe out of clay and drew a dress for them to wear; those who should have long hair were sculpted with long hair, and those who should be cut were sculpted with short hair; and each people was given its own language, and its own songs, and grains, and food.
When the creator finished this work, he breathed life and soul into every man and woman and ordered them to go underground. And each tribe went out where it was ordered.

Myth of the Indians of Mexico
When everything was ready on Earth, Nohotsakyum created people. The first were the Calcia, that is, the monkey people, then the Koha-ko - the boar people, then the Kapuk - the jaguar people and, finally, the Chan-ka - the pheasant people. This is how he created different nations. He made them from clay - men, women, children, fitted their eyes, noses, arms, legs and everything else, then put the figures in the fire, on which he usually baked tortillas (corn cakes). The clay hardened from the fire, and people came to life.

Australian myths
At first, the Earth was covered with sea, and at the bottom of the dried-up primeval ocean and on the slopes of rocks protruding from the waves, there were already... lumps of helpless creatures with glued fingers and teeth, closed ears and eyes. Other similar human “larvae” lived in water and looked like shapeless balls of raw meat, in which the rudiments of human body parts could only be discerned. The flycatcher bird used a stone knife to separate human fetuses from each other, cut out their eyes, ears, mouth, nose, fingers... She taught them how to make fire by friction, how to cook food, gave them a spear, a spear thrower, a boomerang, and provided each of them with a personal churing-goa (guardian of the soul).
Various Australian tribes consider the kangaroo, emu, opossum, wild dog, lizard, crow, and bat as their ancestors.

Once upon a time there lived two brothers, two twins - Bunjil and Palian. Bunjil could transform into a falcon, and Palian into a raven. One brother made mountains and rivers on the earth with a wooden sword, and the other made salt water and fish that live in the sea. One day Bunjil took two pieces of bark, put clay on them and began to crush it with a knife, sculpting legs, torso, arms and head - so he created a man. He also made a second one. He was pleased with his work and performed a dance with joy. Since then people have existed, since then they have been dancing for joy. He attached wood fibers to one man as hair, and to another too - the first had curly hair, the second had straight hair. Since then, men of some births have curly hair, while others have straight hair.

Norse mythology
Having created the world, Odin (the supreme deity) and his brothers planned to populate it. One day on the seashore they found two trees: ash and alder. The gods cut them down and made a man out of ash and a woman out of alder. Then one of the gods breathed life into them, another gave them reason, and the third gave them blood and rosy cheeks. This is how the first people appeared, and their names were: the man was Ask, and the woman was Embla.

The history of the creation of the world has worried people since ancient times. Representatives different countries and peoples have repeatedly thought about how the world in which they live came into being. Ideas about this have been formed over the centuries, growing from thoughts and guesses into myths about the creation of the world.

That is why the mythology of any people begins with attempts to explain the origins of the surrounding reality. People understood then and understand now that any phenomenon has a beginning and an end; and the logical question of the appearance of everything around logically arose among representatives of Homo Sapiens. groups of people in the early stages of development clearly reflected the degree of understanding of a particular phenomenon, including such as the creation of the world and man by higher powers.

People passed on theories of the creation of the world from mouth to mouth, embellishing them, adding more and more details. Basically, myths about the creation of the world show us how diverse the thinking of our ancestors was, because gods, birds, and animals acted as the primary source and creator in their stories. There was, perhaps, one similarity - the world arose from Nothing, from Primordial Chaos. But its further development took place in the way that representatives of one or another people chose for it.

Restoring the picture of the world of ancient peoples in modern times

The rapid development of the world in recent decades has given a chance for a better restoration of the picture of the world of ancient peoples. Scientists of various specialties and directions have been studying found manuscripts and archaeological artifacts in order to recreate the worldview that was characteristic of the inhabitants of a particular country many thousands of years ago.

Unfortunately, the myths about the creation of the world have not been fully preserved in our time. It is not always possible to reconstruct the original plot of the work from surviving passages, which prompts historians and archaeologists to persistently search for other sources that can fill in the missing gaps.

Nevertheless, from the material that modern generations have at their disposal, a lot of useful information can be extracted, in particular: how they lived, what they believed in, who the ancient people worshiped, how the worldviews differ between different nations and what is the purpose of creating the world according to their versions.

Modern technologies provide enormous assistance in searching and recovering information: transistors, computers, lasers, and various highly specialized devices.

The theories of the creation of the world that existed among the ancient inhabitants of our planet allow us to conclude: at the heart of any legend was the understanding of the fact that everything that exists arose from Chaos thanks to something Almighty, Comprehensive, feminine or masculine (depending on the foundations of society).

We will try to briefly outline the most popular versions of the legends of ancient people in order to get a general idea of their worldview.

Myths about the creation of the world: Egypt and the cosmogony of the ancient Egyptians

The inhabitants of Egyptian civilization were adherents of the Divine principle of all things. However, the history of the creation of the world through the eyes of different generations of Egyptians is somewhat different.

Theban version of the appearance of the world

The most common (Theban) version tells that from the waters of the endless and bottomless ocean, the very first God, Amun, appeared. He created himself, after which he created other Gods and people.

In later mythology, Amon is already known under the name Amon-Ra or simply Ra (Sun God).

The first people Amon created were Shu, the first air, and Tefnut, the first moisture. Of these he created which was the Eye of Ra and was supposed to monitor the actions of the Deity. The first tears from the Eye of Ra caused the appearance of people. Since Hathor - the Eye of Ra - was angry with the Deity for existing separately from his body, Amun-Ra placed Hathor on his forehead as a third eye. From his mouth, Ra created other Gods, including his wife, the Goddess Mut, and his son Khonsu, the lunar Deity. Together they represented the Theban Triad of Gods.

Such a legend about the creation of the world makes it clear that the Egyptians laid the Divine principle into the basis of their views on its origin. But this was the supremacy over the world and people not of one God, but of their entire galaxy, which they honored and expressed their respect through numerous sacrifices.

Worldview of the Ancient Greeks

The richest mythology was left as a legacy to new generations by the ancient Greeks, who paid great attention to their culture and gave it paramount importance. If we consider the myths about the creation of the world, Greece, perhaps, surpasses any other country in their number and diversity. They were divided into matriarchal and patriarchal: depending on who the hero was - a woman or a man.

Matriarchal and patriarchal versions of the emergence of the world

For example, according to one of the matriarchal myths, the ancestor of the world was Gaia - Mother Earth, who arose from Chaos and gave birth to the God of Heaven - Uranus. The son, in gratitude to his mother for his appearance, poured rain on her, fertilizing the earth and awakening the seeds dormant in it to life.

The patriarchal version is more expanded and deeper: in the beginning there was only Chaos - dark and boundless. He gave birth to the Goddess of the Earth - Gaia, from whom all living things came, and the God of Love Eros, who breathed life into everything around.

In contrast to the living and striving for the sun, the gloomy and gloomy Tartarus was born underground - a dark abyss. Eternal Darkness and Dark Night also arose. They gave birth to Eternal Light and Bright Day. Since then, Day and Night have replaced each other.

Then other creatures and phenomena appeared: Deities, titans, cyclops, giants, winds and stars. As a result of a long struggle between the Gods, Zeus, the son of Kronos, raised by his mother in a cave and overthrew his father from the throne, stood at the head of Heavenly Olympus. Starting with Zeus, other famous people who were considered the ancestors of people and their patrons take their history: Hera, Hestia, Poseidon, Aphrodite, Athena, Hephaestus, Hermes and others.

People revered the Gods and propitiated them in every possible way, building luxurious temples and bringing countless rich gifts to them. But in addition to the Divine creatures living on Olympus, there were also such respected creatures as: Nereids - sea inhabitants, Naiads - guardians of reservoirs, Satyrs and Dryads - forest talismans.

According to the beliefs of the ancient Greeks, the fate of all people was in the hands of three goddesses, whose name was Moira. They spun the thread of each person's life: from the day of birth to the day of death, deciding when this life would end.

Myths about the creation of the world are replete with numerous incredible descriptions, because, believing in forces higher than man, people embellished them and their deeds, endowing them with superpowers and the ability inherent only to gods to rule the fate of the world and man in particular.

With the development of Greek civilization, myths about each of the deities became increasingly popular. A great many of them were created. The worldview of the ancient Greeks significantly influenced the development of the history of the state that emerged at a later time, becoming the basis of its culture and traditions.

The emergence of the world through the eyes of ancient Indians

In the context of the topic “Myths about the creation of the world,” India is known for several versions of the appearance of all things on Earth.

The most famous of them is similar to Greek legends, because it also tells that in the beginning the impenetrable darkness of Chaos dominated the Earth. She was motionless, but full of hidden potential and great power. Later, Water appeared from Chaos, which gave birth to Fire. Thanks to the great power of heat, a Golden Egg appeared in the Waters. At that time, there were no celestial bodies or time measurements in the world. However, according to the modern account of time, the Golden Egg floated in the vast waters of the ocean for about a year, after which the progenitor of everything named Brahma arose. He broke the egg, as a result of which its upper part turned into Heaven, and its lower part into Earth. An air space was placed between them by Brahma.

Next, the progenitor created the countries of the world and began the countdown of time. Thus, according to Indian legend, the Universe came into being. However, Brahma felt very lonely and came to the conclusion that living beings must be created. Brahma was so great that with her help he was able to create six sons - great lords, and other goddesses and gods. Tired of such global affairs, Brahma transferred power over everything existing in the Universe to his sons, and he himself retired.

As for the appearance of people in the world, according to the Indian version, they were born from the goddess Saranyu and the god Vivasvat (who turned from God into man by the will of the elder gods). The first children of these gods were mortals, and the rest were gods. Yama was the first of the mortal children of the gods to die, and in the afterlife he became the ruler of the kingdom of the dead. Another mortal child of Brahma, Manu, survived the Great Flood. From this god people originated.

Pirushi - The First Man on Earth

Another legend about the creation of the world tells of the appearance of the First Man, called Pirusha (in other sources - Purusha). characteristic of the period of Brahmanism. Purusha was born thanks to the will of the Almighty Gods. However, later Pirushi sacrificed himself to the Gods who created him: the body of the primordial man was cut into parts, from which the heavenly bodies (Sun, Moon and stars), the sky itself, the Earth, the countries of the world and classes of human society emerged.

The Brahmans, who arose from the mouth of Purusha, were considered the highest class - caste. They were the priests of the gods on earth; knew the sacred texts. The next most important class were the Kshatriyas - rulers and warriors. The Primordial Man created them from his shoulders. From the thighs of Purusha appeared traders and farmers - Vaishyas. The lowest class that emerged from the feet of Pirusha were the Shudras - forced people who played the role of servants. The most unenviable position was occupied by the so-called untouchables - you could not even touch them, otherwise a person from another caste would immediately become one of the untouchables. Brahmins, kshatriyas and vaishyas, upon reaching a certain age, were initiated and became “twice-born”. Their life was divided into certain stages:

Apprenticeship (a person learns life from wiser adults and gains life experience).
Family (a person creates a family and is obliged to become a decent family man and housewife).
Hermit (a person leaves home and lives the life of a hermit monk, dying alone).

Brahmanism assumed the existence of such concepts as Brahman - the basis of the world, its cause and essence, the impersonal Absolute, and Atman - the spiritual principle of each person, inherent only to him and striving to merge with Brahman.

With the development of Brahmanism, the idea of Samsara - the circulation of being; Incarnations are rebirths after death; Karma - fate, the law that will determine what body a person will be born in in the next life; Moksha is the ideal to which the human soul needs to strive.

Speaking about the division of people into castes, it is worth noting that they should not have had contact with each other. Simply put, each class of society was isolated from the other. The too strict caste division explains the fact that only brahmins - representatives of the highest caste - could deal with mystical and religious problems.

However, later more democratic religious teachings emerged - Buddhism and Jainism, which took a point of view opposing the official teaching. Jainism became a very influential religion within the country, but remained within its borders, while Buddhism became a world religion with millions of followers.

Despite the fact that the theories of the creation of the world through the eyes of the same people differ, in general they have a common principle - the presence in any legend of a certain First Man - Brahma, who eventually became the main deity believed in in Ancient India.

Cosmogony of Ancient India

The latest version of the cosmogony of Ancient India sees in the foundation of the world a triad of Gods (the so-called Trimurti), which included Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Guardian, and Shiva the Destroyer. Their responsibilities were clearly distributed and delineated. Thus, Brahma cyclically gives birth to the Universe, which is preserved by Vishnu, and destroys Shiva. As long as the Universe exists, Brahma's day lasts. As soon as the Universe ceases to exist, the night of Brahma begins. 12 thousand Divine years - this is the cyclic duration of both day and night. These years consist of days, which are equal to the human concept of a year. After Brahma's hundred-year life, he is replaced by a new Brahma.

In general, the cult significance of Brahma is secondary. Evidence of this is the existence of only two temples in his honor. Shiva and Vishnu, on the contrary, gained wide popularity, transforming into two powerful religious movements - Shaivism and Vaishnavism.

Creation of the world according to the Bible

The history of the creation of the world according to the Bible is also very interesting from the point of view of theories about the creation of all things. The Holy Book of Christians and Jews explains the origin of the world in its own way.

The creation of the world by God is illuminated in the first book of the Bible - Genesis. Just like other myths, the legend tells that in the very beginning there was nothing, not even the Earth. There was only complete darkness, emptiness and cold. All this was observed by Almighty God, who decided to revive the world. He began his work by creating the earth and sky, which did not have any definite shapes or outlines. After this, the Almighty created light and darkness, separating them from each other and calling them day and night, respectively. This happened on the first day of the universe.

On the second day, God created a firmament, which divided the water into two parts: one part remained above the firmament, and the second - below it. The name of the firmament became Sky.

The third day was marked by the creation of land, which God called Earth. To do this, he collected all the water that was under the sky in one place and called it the sea. To revive what had already been created, God created trees and grass.

The fourth day became the day of the creation of the luminaries. God created them to separate day from night, and also so that they always illuminate the earth. Thanks to the luminaries, it became possible to count days, months and years. During the day, a large luminary, the Sun, shone, and at night, a smaller luminary, the Moon, shone (he was helped by the stars).

The fifth day was dedicated to the creation of living beings. The very first to appear were fish, aquatic animals and birds. God liked what was created, and he decided to increase their number.

On the sixth day, creatures that lived on land were created: wild animals, cattle, snakes. Since God still had a lot of things to do, he created an assistant for himself, calling him Man and making him like himself. Man was to become the ruler of the earth and everything that lives and grows on it, while God reserved for himself the privilege of ruling the whole world.

A man emerged from the dust of the earth. To be more precise, he was sculpted from clay and named Adam (“man”). God settled him in Eden - a paradise country through which a mighty river flowed, overgrown with trees with large and tasty fruits.

In the middle of paradise, two special trees stood out - the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life. Adam was tasked with guarding and caring for him. He could eat from any tree except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God threatened him that, having eaten the fruit from this particular tree, Adam would immediately die.

Adam was bored alone in the garden, and then God ordered all living creatures to come to man. Adam gave names to all the birds, fish, reptiles and animals, but did not find anyone who could become a worthy helper for him. Then God, taking pity on Adam, put him to sleep, took a rib out of his body and created a woman out of it. Waking up, Adam was delighted with such a gift, deciding that the woman would become his faithful companion, assistant and wife.

God gave them parting instructions - to fill the earth, to possess it, to rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air and other animals that walk and crawl on the earth. And he himself, tired from the work and satisfied with everything created, decided to rest. Since then, every seventh day has been considered a holiday.

This is how Christians and Jews imagined the creation of the world day by day. This phenomenon is the main dogma of the religion of these peoples.

Myths about the creation of the world of different nations

In many ways, the history of human society is, first of all, a search for answers to fundamental questions: what happened in the beginning; what is the purpose of creating the world; who is its creator. Based on the worldviews of peoples who lived in different eras and under different conditions, the answers to these questions acquired an individual interpretation for each society, which in general terms could come into contact with the interpretations of the emergence of the world among neighboring peoples.

Nevertheless, each nation believed in its own version, revered its god or gods, and tried to spread its teachings and religion regarding such an issue as the creation of the world among representatives of other societies and countries. The passage of several stages in this process became an integral part of the legends of ancient people. They firmly believed that everything in the world arose gradually, one by one. Among the myths of different peoples, there is not a single story where everything that exists on earth appears in an instant.

Ancient people identified the birth and development of the world with the birth of a person and his maturation: first, a person is born into the world, acquiring more and more new knowledge and experience every day; then there is a period of formation and maturation, when the acquired knowledge becomes applicable in everyday life; and then comes the stage of aging, extinction, which involves a person’s gradual loss of vitality, which ultimately leads to death. The same stages in the views of our ancestors applied to the world: the emergence of all living things thanks to one or another higher power, development and flourishing, extinction.

Myths and legends that have survived to this day form an important part of the history of the development of a people, allowing us to associate our origins with certain events and gain an understanding of where it all began.