The Myth Behind the Egyptian and Navajo Creations

The Myth behind the Egyptian and Navajo Creations

Maenell Hendricks

HUM/105

Megge Fitz-Randolph

April 28, 2012

Old ancient stories are not only myths and legends, nor just amusement to stimulate one's imagination. Myths can help man view things from a different angle, while increasing one's philosophical skills. Every culture has its theory of how the world came to be, and each myth derived from common philosophies. For instance, certain cultures believe that the universe was created due to the father and mother Gods separating and others believe that the universe was created out of nothing. Surely, cultures have their own approach on how the universe emerged; nonetheless, each sustains a similar concept.

Man and woman were treated equally in ancient Egypt, which women as well as men, were involved in politics, economics, and law. This collective system aligns with Egyptian mythology where the female's role was equivalent or higher. One Egyptian creation myth explains how Atum, a non-gendered deity from the waters with one all-seeing eye, created man and the universe. By uniting with his shadow, Atum created a Shu (god of the air) by expelling him from his mouth, and appointing him as the god of the air. His daughter (Tefnut) was birthed from his vomit, and appointed her as the goddess of moisture and mist. There was an order called Maat (a feather), which consisted of Shu and Tefnut splitting chaos into three principles, law, order, and stability, and then created night and day. Tangled together, Shu (god of air) and Tefnut (goddess of moisture and mist) produced Geb (the earth) and Nut (the sky). Geb and Nut could not stay together due to having separate duties, which required them to be apart. Subsequently, Shu casted Nut out into the heavens to drape over Geb which Nut provided rain. Nut birthed the sun each day to offer light. Shu and Tefnut created other gods like Isis (queen of the gods), Hathor (goddess of love and beauty), Osiris (possibly the god of the underworld), Seth (the god of evil), Thoth (god of wisdom), and Nephthys (the female protector of the dead). In the murky seas of Nu, Shu and Tefnut got lost. Atum became worried, and sent his all-seeing eye amongst the lands to search for Shu and Tefnut. When found, Atum cried with happiness, and as his tears dropped to the earth's surface, men were shaped; they multiplied, and were required to preserve the truth, balance Maat, tend to the lands, and worship the gods. While some myths focused on the emergence of the universe, disorder, and man; other focused on agriculture.

The Navajo creation describes the prehistoric emergence of the Navajos and was centered on the homeland of the Navajos. Before