Speak Out

The Ancient Egyptians had at least four creation myths. We have to read them complementary!

• Hermopolis. Frogs and snakes make in water the egg (read: primeval mound) from which the sun and world is born. 
• Heliopolis. Eel in water who creates by separating: water and land; man and wife.
• Memphis. The heart of a god thinks and the tongue makes the world come alive by speaking out their names.
• Thebes/ Aswan. Cosmos is made from clay by a potter on his turntable.

In all four myths we have water, a mound raising from the water and a sun coming out of the mound. An image most likely inspired by the annual flooding of the Nile River, after the withdrawing of the floodwaters fertile soil was left behind. Life re-newed like the first time.

Next to that. The scarab beetle lets the sun rise every morning. An image most likely inspired by their creating and rolling of brood balls.

Next to that the fly was considered courageous and brave. In the New Kingdom they even had a militairy decoration named 'Fly of Valour' or 'Golden Fly' (source picture: here).

Keen observers those Ancient Egyptians, aren't they?

P.S. Information from four creation myths is from exhibition 'Gods of Egypt' in Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden, The Netherlands. The details are slightly different according to Vergote, 'De Godsdienst van het Oude Egypte' (1987), Shaw and Nicholson, 'The Illustrated Dictionary of Ancient Egypt' (2008) and Wikipedia, 'Ancient Egyptian creation myths'.