The Egyptian creation story, “was developed by the priests of Ancient Egypt who evolved a creation myth in an attempt to explain how some of the major Egyptian Gods and Goddesses came into being and provided religious explanations of the nature and beginnings of the universe and of mankind,” (Egyptian Creation Myth). It also created the Heliopolis Ennead which includes 9 major gods and goddesses who are worshiped in the Egyptian religion. In the beginning there was only Nun, the dark waters of chaos. Next appeared Atum (also known as Atem, or Tem), who rose out of the chaotic water using only his will and his thoughts. After rising out of the water Atum realized he had nowhere to stand. After realizing this, Atum created a hill on which he …show more content…
He is a member of the Ennead, which is a group of the first original nine gods in Egyptian mythology. The other eight gods of the Ennead of Heliopolis include; Geb, Isis, Nephthys, Nut, Osiris, Set, Shu and Tefnut. All nine of the gods of the Ennead are the gods that are part of the creation story. Atum is depicted as having a false beard that, “was tightly knotted, plaited and hooked behind the ears (Atum, God of Egypt).” This beard is known as a divine symbol of the gods and was very important in many religious and ceremonial occasions. He is also shown wearing the Pshent crown which is a symbol of a unified Egypt, it represents both the Upper and Lower parts of Egypt. Atum is also known to be the god of Pharaohs. In the old Egyptian culture, they believed that certain animals hold the spirit of the gods in them; this is why Atum is often depicted as having a falcons head and a scarab beetle symbol. One of the only things that distinguishes him from Pharaohs is the shape of his beard. Due to the fact that Atum created his children without a mate his is considered to be a bisexual god known as the “Great …show more content…
In the beginning of the Egyptian creation story, there is only the dark water of chaos. In the creation story of Enuma Elish, it also begins with chaotic waters, Apsu the fresh water, and Tiamat the salt water. The water at the beginning of the Egyptian creation story was described as chaotic, and in the Greek creation story at the beginning there was only chaos. There is also a connection between the Egyptian creation story and Genesis because at the beginning of both there was only water; no land had been created yet. There are also similarities between the Egyptian version and the other creation story regarding the separation between the earth and the sky. In the Egyptian version, Shu lifted Nut, the goddess of the sky, above Geb, the earth, to form a canopy over the earth. Similar to this, in Enuma Elish, Tiamat gives birth to Anshar and Kishar who became the gods who represented the boundary between the earth and the sky (The Enuma Elish: The Babylonian Creation Myth). All of the creation stories also contain a power struggle between gods. In the Egyptian creation story, Set wanted to be the ruler of the earth so he killed his brother Osiris. After Osiris went to the underworld, Horus battled Set in order to regain his father’s throne. This is similar to Enuma Elish because there is a power struggle between the gods Tiamat and