List of creation myths
A creation myth (or creation story) is a cultural, traditional or religious myth which describes the earliest beginnings of the present world. Creation myths are the most common form of myth, usually developing first in oral traditions, and are found throughout human culture. A creation myth is usually regarded by those who subscribe to it as conveying profound truths, although not necessarily in a historical or literal sense. They are commonly, although not always, considered cosmogonical myths—that is they describe the ordering of the cosmos from a state of chaos or amorphousness.
The following are common categories used to catalog or compare the various creation myths found throughout the world:
Basic type
Creation from chaos
- Cheonjiwang Bonpuli (a Korean creation myth)
- Enûma Eliš (Babylonian creation myth)
- Greek cosmogonical myth
- Jamshid
- Kumulipo
- Mandé creation myth
- Pangu
- Raven in Creation
- Serer creation myth
- Sumerian creation myth
- Tungusic creation myth
- Unkulunkulu
- Väinämöinen
- Viracocha
Earth diver
Emergence
Ex nihilo (out of nothing)
- Debate between sheep and grain
- Barton cylinder
- Ancient Egyptian creation myths
- Genesis creation myth (Christianity and Judaism)
- Islamic creation myth
- Kabezya-Mpungu
- Māori myths
- Mbombo
- Ngai
- Popol Vuh
- Rangi and Papa
World Parent
- Coatlicue
- Enûma Eliš
- Greek cosmogonical myth
- Heliopolis creation myth
- Hiranyagarbha creation myth
- Kumulipo
- Rangi and Papa
- Völuspá
Regional
African
- Ancient Egyptian creation myths
- Fon creation myth
- Kaang creation story (Bushmen)
- Kintu myth (Bugandan)
- Mandé creation myth
- Mbombo (Kuba, Bakuba or Bushongo/Boshongo)
- Ngai (Kamba, Kikuyu and Maasai )
- Serer creation myth (cosmogony of the Serer people of Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania)
- Unkulunkulu (Zulu)
- Yoruba creation
American
The american one is where they believe that one of the founders of america had an ancestor and that ancestor had another ancestor who was thought to be the creator of earth but the real one is where a god (Allah) had created the earth out of nothing but in seven days, however a day here can be a year there, so no one knows exactly how long it took
Mesoamerican
- Coatlicue (Aztec)
- Maya creation of the world myth
- Popol Vuh (Quiché Mayan)
Mid North American
- Anishinaabeg creation stories
- Cherokee creation myth
- Choctaw creation myth
- Creek creation myth
- Hopi creation myth
- Kuterastan (Plains Apache)
- Diné Bahaneʼ (Navajo)
- Raven in Creation (Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian)
- Zuni creation myth
South American
- Legend of Trentren Vilu and Caicai Vilu (Chilean)
- Viracocha (Incan)
Asian
Central Asian
East Asian
- Ainu creation myth (Japan)
- Au Co (Vietnamese)
- Chinese creation myth
- Cheonjiwang Bonpuli (Korean)
- Dangun creation myth (Korean)
- Japanese creation myth
- Nüwa (Chinese)
- Pangu (Chinese)
- Samseonghyeol legend (Korean)
Indian subcontinent
- Ajativada
- Buddhist cosmology
- Folk Hindu creation myth
- Hiranyagarbha creation (India)
- Jainism and non-creationism (India)
- Mimamsa eternalism (India)
- Nyaya-Vaisheshika atomic theory (India)
- Samkhya-yoga theory (India)
European
- Greek cosmogonical myth
- Pelasgian creation myth (Greek)
- Väinämöinen (Finnish)
- Völuspá (Norse)
- Raelian creation myth (French)
Middle Eastern
- Debate between sheep and grain
- Enûma Eliš (Babylonian)
- Genesis creation myth (Hebrew)
- Islamic creation myth (Arabic)
- Mashya and Mashyana (Persian)
- Sumerian creation myth
Pacific Islander/Oceanic
- Kumulipo (Hawaiian)
- Māori myths
- Rangi and Papa (Māori)
- Sureq Galigo (Buginese)
References
- Leeming, David Adams; Leeming, Margaret Adams (1994). Encyclopedia of Creation Myths (2nd ed.). ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-87436-739-3.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Leeming, David Adams; Leeming, Margaret Adams (2009). A Dictionary of Creation Myths (Oxford Reference Online ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-510275-4.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help)