1. In the Egyptian creation stories, man is created for Aten’s own pleasure, “You fashioned earth to your heart’s desire/while you were still alone/Filled it with man and the family of creatures…” (Hymn to the Sun, L 74-76). Humans’ role in life was pre-determined and they were to be content with their station in life and perform as perfectly as they could in their preordained class. The Pharaoh, Akhenaton, was chosen as Aten’s ruler over man. He professed to be responsible for keeping order, creating peace, regulating light, and generally playing the same role as Aten, the chief god. The pharaoh was solely responsible for communicating to god; he was the mediator between man and god.
2. In Akhenaton’s, “Hymn to the Sun,” Aten is depicted as a benevolent and majestic god. One of Aten personae is the sun. He created everything and rules everything in peace and harmony. “Hark to the chick in the egg/he who speaks in the shell! /You give him air within/to save and prosper him…” (Line 60-63). Aten is shown to have only loving affection for his creation.
3. The ancient Egyptian creation story, “Hymn to the Sun,” uses many references to animals, creatures and objects that were common to their environment. In the first paragraph, the sun is described with words reminiscent of the river
Nile. For example flooded and streaming. In the second paragraph, darkness is described in terms of lions coming out, and in the fourth, phrases like, “Herds are at peace,” “Birds start from their nests,” “Small beasts frisk and gambol,” “Ships float,” and “Fish in the river leap,” demonstrates how closely in tune to their natural environment they were, and what a large portion of their attention was given to it.
1. In the Hebrew creation story of Genesis, man was also created for God’s own pleasure, however, unlike the Egyptian god; the God of Genesis was a jealous God and expected praise, worship and obedience. Human’s role was to praise, worship and obey God. The Hebrew’s God was conversational with man and showed a relationship with the common man; there was no need for a mediator. Human’s role for the future was to have dominion of all other creatures on Earth, and to populate the world.
“…And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:28).
Because of their disobedience, man was exiled from the Garden of Eden and future generations were forced to earn their food by the sweat of their brow (man), and suffer in child birth (woman).
2. The Hebrew God of “Genesis” is depicted as a benevolent God, but shows scorn, wrath and anger. He is supreme, creator and ruler of all. He seems fatherly to Adam and Eve, even speaking freely to them as a father would, as they walked in the Garden of Eden. God’s anger is set loose upon Adam and Eve when they disobey God. He punishes them for their disobedience, and also condemns the serpent for luring them to disobey.
And the lord God said unto the serpent because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle…upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shall thou eat all the days of thy life…Unto the woman he said…in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children… And unto Adam he said…cursed is the ground for thy sake…in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground…to till the ground from whence he was taken. (Genesis 3).
Until their exile from the Garden of Eden, God has an easy demeanor toward the common man and relates easily to them. When God is disobeyed and his word is not kept, his anger is released. The Hebrew God has a stern, punishing side along with his majestic, benevolent character.
3. The Hebrew environment was incorporated with their creation story. For example, “…And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the air…” The ground itself was used in creation, whereas the Egyptian sun was the creator. The creation story includes such things as fruit, beast of the earth, winged fowl, and fish of the sea and also includes how God made rain to fall after Adam was cast from the Garden. All of the depictions in Genesis of the time of creation are very visual and relate to the environment that could/can be observed.
1. The Ihalmiut creation stories differ from that of the Hebrews and Egyptians in that man plays an active role in creation. Woman is given the role of communicating needs to their god, Kaila. “Then the woman stood on a high place and cried out to Kaila, begging for his aid. And Kaila heard, and he sent fire into darkness…” (People of the Deer, 247c). Man is made the hunter, while woman is made keeper of the fire. After man and woman are created, woman cries for light, food and in the process of finding her choice for food, causes all other creatures to be set loose upon Earth. The god, Kaila hid the sun from creation so that it had to be worked for and earned. He was a god of the common man, as was the Hebrew God. Man’s role after creation was to work for his sustenance and hunt for his own food. The creation of man was shown to be a difficult task to perform.
2. In “People of the Deer,” the supreme god of the Ihalmiut, Kaila, includes humans in the creation. Kaila specifically answers woman in her cries of distress. He seems inexperienced and forgetful as he creates the world for man. “Yet Kaila…forgot that men see nothing in the dark…” (p 247). Kaila, to provide for humans, instructed the woman to fish for a creature as a food source. The woman did this until she found Tuktu, the first deer. She previously released every other creature she caught, as they were not what she was looking for. Kaila, in this way allowed her to populate the world with all other creatures and thus allowing humans to participate in the creation. Their god seemed to form a partnership with man and worked in coordination with them in the creation.
3. The Ihalmiut stories of creation are very descriptive in terms of the animals and their character. The natural environment is used as a tool by which man obtains his needs. Even the sun, which has been hidden from man and is buried in the ground, is a tool to be discovered and set loose. The first creatures were depicted as animals such as wolverines, beavers, wolves and dogs. “In this way she caught all the beasts of land: Amow the white wolf, Kakwik the gray wolverine, Akla the great brown bear, Hikik the red-haired squirrel…” (People of the Deer p248). The Ihalmiut were hunters and gatherers and their natural environment made them aware of their constant need to hunt for food, and their creation stories were put into phraseologies that they could understand. They were also very dependant on their environment as their creation stories depicted. Their world was comprised of the hunter or the hunted, for those were the two roles they understood.
1. The Quiche Mayan’s god of creation, which is called by many names and implies polytheism, struggled to produce a race that would honor him/them with praise and worship. The creation of man was an experiment that involved many failed attempts, including being made from mud, and then wood. When the god(s) finally produced a race of beings that remembered to give praise and thanks, humans were made less perfect in their vision and knowledge so as not to be compared to the gods.
Let it be this way: now we’ll take them apart just a little, that’s what we need. What we’ve found out isn’t good. Their deeds would become equal to ours, just because their knowledge reaches so far. They see everything…They were blinded as the face of a mirror is breathed upon. (Popul Vuh: part 4, par. 17)
Man’s role was entirely based on praising the gods, and remembering their creator. Future generations were, in order to have life, to follow the precepts of praise and worship the forefathers and mothers had taught them.
2. From “Popul Vuh: Creation,” we learn of the Quiche Mayan’s god(s) many names and personae, which demonstrates their early polytheism. There are many names and titles often related to the readers, which indicates a committee or panel of gods involved in creation. The single name for what seems to be the highest god is the “Sovereign Plumed Serpent.” The process of creating man is shown as a long involved process. There are trial and error and many failures before the completed model of man. We see digressions and stories of childlike fun and experimentation intermixed in the tales of creation. This lends a sense of gaiety and adventure to the experiment of man’s creation, and reinforces the idea that the creators where childlike and inexperienced, and in no great hurry to finish their task of creation. Many names of the creator(s) include maker, modeler, mason and such names that bestow them with authority and give them reverence. Their primary concern for creating all that was created was to be remembered and praised for their accomplishments. They seemed vainglorious and un-deserving of the high praise they demanded.
3. The Quiche Mayans were, as were most early races, acutely aware of their natural environment. Their creation stories also involve the various animals of their habitat, and are told through those animals’ perspectives. Their stories depict the emotions of the animals in the creation of the sun, revealing how synchronous to each of the animals’ emotions, they were. They were able to comprehend the animals’ happiness. “After that they cried because they had yet to see, and yet to witness the birth of the sun. And then when the sun came up, the animals, small and great, were happy. ... All the animals were truly happy” (Popul Vuh handout p181g). The Quiche stories of creation gave their gods names like, Heart of Sky, Newborn Thunderbolt, Jaguar Night and Hurricane, as well as many others. Even the names they called their gods were indicators of where they lived, what they experienced and how their entire existence was closely tied to their natural environment. They considered nature in whole worthy of their praises (handout p170).
All of the creation stories have similar themes and ways of explaining how life came about. They all describe details about how different races and different creatures came to be, and attempt to explain the occurrence of life in common every-day terms. The natural environment is used by each culture to play some role in the creation, giving man the role of overseer, but far removed from controlling the environment in which he lives. A central idea that others have called, “Mother Nature,” controls man’s destiny to a great extent in all of these stories. Regardless of the role the natural environment plays, man is at its mercy, and is aware of his status in all accounts.
