Curated category
Creation myths
- Book of GenesisScholars now date the final form of Genesis to after the Babylonian Exile, possibly in the fifth century BCE. This conclusion contradicts the ancient…
- Adam and EveThe Book of Genesis opens with two distinct narratives about the first humans. The first account in chapter one describes God creating humankind as a…
- MetamorphosesOvid composed the Metamorphoses in 8 CE, a Latin narrative poem that stands as his magnum opus. The Roman poet drew inspiration from Alexandrian poetry…
- Ancient Egyptian creation mythsThe sun rises over a circular mound of creation as goddesses pour out the primeval waters around it. This image appears in tomb wall decorations and writings…
- CosmogonyIn ancient Greece, thinkers developed a cosmogony focused on the origin of matter, space, and time. This transition from Chaos to Cosmos formed a form of…
- Uranus (mythology)Most linguists trace the name Uranus to a Proto-Greek form called Worsanós. Originally reconstructed by Johann Baptist Hofmann, this root expands from Worsó-.
- TheogonyHesiod composed the Theogony in the 8th or 7th century BC. This epic poem contains exactly 1,022 lines written in the epic dialect of Ancient Greek.
- Ogdoad (Egyptian)Hatshepsut carved a dedicatory inscription at the Speos Artemidos during the Eighteenth Dynasty. This text marks the earliest certain reference to the Ogdoad…
- VöluspáThe Codex Regius manuscript holds the oldest complete version of Völuspá. This Icelandic document dates from around 1270.
- EnneadThe sun god Atum sat upon a mound rising from the primordial waters of Nun. His children Shu and Tefnut stood beside him as air and moisture personified.
- Chaos (cosmogony)The Greek word chaos means emptiness, vast void, chasm, or abyss. It comes from verbs that mean to gape or be wide open.