The Egyptian Creation Myth

Like other creation myths, Egypt's is complex and offers several versions of how the world
unfolded. The ancient Egyptians believed that the basic principles of life, nature and society were
determined by the gods at the creation of the world. It all began with the first stirring of the High God in
the primeval waters.
Egyptian religion had ancient origins and lasted for at least 3,500 years. The Egyptians saw
divinity in everything — in river, desert, and vegetation; in the sun, moon, and stars; in animals and
kings; in birth and death. They created a vast and confusing multitude of gods. There are literally
hundreds of deities, some having animal form, some depicted with human bodies and animal heads, and
some of human form.

The creation myth is recounted in the sacred hieroglyphic writings found on pyramids, temples,
tombs and sheets of papyrus. These writings describe how the earth was created out of chaos by the
god Atum. The earth was seen as a sacred landscape, a reflection of the sky world where the gods
resided.
The creation of the universe took place over a long period of time when the gods lived on earth
and established kingdoms based on the principles of justice. When the gods left the earth to reside in
the sky world, the pharaohs inherited the right to rule.

Ancient Egypt’s Eight Water Gods

For the Egyptians, in the beginning, there was water. In the primordial waters were eight gods
called the Ogdoad, who came in pairs: a husband and wife, or a male and a female. These eight gods are
often shown as having the heads of frogs because they are water deities, however, there isn’t more
known about them except their attributes.

First, there was Hok and Hoket, and their attribute was formlessness. To remember which is the
male and which is the female of the pair, the female named always ends in “t.” Thus, Hok is the male,
Hoket is the female.

NOTE:​ The feminine form of Egyptian words ends in “t.”

Next come Kuk and Kuket: darkness. Then Amun and Amunet, representing hiddenness, are
next. Amun became perhaps the most important god in ancient Egypt, thousands of years later, with the
appearance of the pharaoh Amunhotep, whose name means “Amun is pleased.”

The last pair is Nun and Nunet. Nun is the primordial waters with Nunet as his consort.
The attributes of these gods: formlessness, darkness, hiddenness are not positive attributes,
they’re negative, representing chaos at the beginning of the universe.

Then the moment of creation takes place.

Gods of Air, Moisture, Earth, and Sky

Out of the waters arises the primordial hill, and standing on that primordial hill was the god
Atum, who manifested itself in the form of Ra, the sun god of Egypt. Atum is a special god. He creates
the gods that interact with the earth. He is called the self-created.

On a Primeval hill, Ra created out of himself the first gods, Shu (Dryness and Air), and his partner
Tefnut (Humidity), who would engender other gods to complete the Cosmos: Geb the Earth god and Nut
the Sky goddess gave birth to four gods who are central to Egyptian mythology. First are Isis and Osiris,
who are brother and sister and also husband and wife. Then, Seth and Nephthys.

Osiris was a kind and wise ruler who taught humans agriculture and civilization. With his
sister/wife Isis, who helped her husband with creativity and magic, they formed the perfect couple.
Their brother Seth was strong but unruly, the opposite of his brother. In fact, Seth envied Osiris so much
that he killed him so he could inherit his throne and rule Egypt the way he wanted. Seth’s sister/ partner
Nephthys could not stop the murder despite her love for their siblings.
Killing Osiris turned out not such a bad idea. He was resurrected through the magic of his wife
long enough to impregnate her with son Horus, who would later avenge his father and recapture the
throne of Egypt. Then Osiris departed to the Otherworld to rule over the deceased, thus ensuring
resurrection and the cycle of life.
Note: ​The name Isis, the female god, doesn’t end in a “t.” This is because her name came
from the Greeks. Her real name in Egyptian is Ist, but the Greeks added their language’s
“is” endings, so Ist became Isis.
The Cataclysm of Ra
The concept of cataclysm is very common in almost all mythologies and religions. It is when the
‘god’ or ‘gods’ decide that humanity is not serving them anymore and, thus, they order humanity’s
destruction.
Such a concept is not missing in ancient Egyptian mythology. According to the creation myth,
men were created from the tears of the sun god Ra. Ra used to live on Earth and ruled his kingdom for
many ages; however, once he grew old, men ceased worshipping him and rebelled against him. What
followed was a plot to take over his throne. These actions naturally made Ra furious, and he called for a
secret council with the other gods. Ra’s father, Nun, supported Ra’s anger and suggested that mankind
should be punished. Nun’s daughter, the goddess Hathor, was selected for this mission. In one night she
went out amongst humankind and—like a lion—began killing men, women and children in all the places
they were hiding, striking and slaying mankind while drinking their blood.
The actions of Hathor threatened to completely destroy
mankind, something that Ra did not want as he still wanted to
rule them. In order to stop Hathor from continuing her
slaughter, he devised a plan to trick her. With the help of his
faithful followers he arranged for large quantities of beer to be
mixed with red dye so that it would look like blood. Then they
brought seven thousand jars of beer and poured the contents
on the fields, flooding the fields where Hathor would return to
continue her slaughter. The next day Hathor returned to
eliminate the rest of the humanity and saw the large pool of
‘blood’. She started drinking from it until she became so drunk
that she couldn’t remember why she was sent there, and
when she returned to her father, Nun, she slept for many days.
In the end, Ra was still disappointed by the rebellion of men.
Nothing could have been as it was before, so he called for
another council of the ‘gods’ where he announced that he was
going to retreat into the heavens, leaving the god Shu behind to assume his position of ruler over
mankind.
The Underworld Journey of the Sun God.
Ra’s voyage across the sky began at dawn as Khepri, the god of the rising sun. Each morning Ra
is reborn through Khepri, which actually means “to come into being”. It was believed that Khepri would
push Ra across the sky, just as a dung (or scarab) beetle would push dung—hence, Khepri is depicted as
either a person with the head of a beetle or a person with a beetle on his head.
By midday, Ra as the great round orb (representing a full sun), was at his most powerful, not
combining with any other gods or goddesses, but known simply as “Ra”.
As the sun begins to set, Ra once again comes to be associated with another ancient Egyptian
god—that of Atum, depicted as an elderly version of Ra. Atum is also linked to both the Upper and
Lower Kingdoms, which is why the image of Atum wearing the dual crown is often found in religious
artwork. Additionally, there was a correlation between Atum and the underworld—so it is quite fitting
that Atum leads Ra into the underworld. Once there, he helps to protect Ra. Also, Atum is shown as an
aged, ram-headed figure who supervises the punishment of evildoers and enemies of the sun god, and
also subdues hostile netherworld forces.
When he enters the underworld, Ra also becomes associated with Osiris, the god of the dead
who oversaw the judgment of dead souls; not only are they paired together, but the ancient Egyptians
believed that Ra and Osiris combined to become one.
While in the underworld, the giant snake,
Apophis, would try to stop Ra from
bringing the dawn again. On Ra’s barge
were a number of defenders, who would
slit the snake’s belly every day so that Ra
could pass.
 Of the gods who traveled on the barge with Ra to protect him from Apophis, the most surprising
is probably Set. He is also a god of evil, darkness and chaos. It doesn’t seem as though Ra and Set were
always associated with each other, however, and later stories swap Set for another god such as Hathor
As day breaks, Ra’s voyage reaches the completion of its’ cycle. Ra and Osiris, who had merged
into one god when Ra entered the underworld, now separate as Ra (the god of regeneration) is reborn
once again. Khepri pushes Ra’s boat along its journey through the sky another time, while Osiris (the god
of permanence) remains in the underworld below.
Thus Ra’s Voyage across the skies both ends and begins, persevering into perpetuity. As ancient
Egyptian worshippers of the eternal sun god knew, the reign of Ra is everlasting.