A protoplast, from

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

(''prōtóplastos'', "first-formed"), in a religious context initially referred to the first human or, more generally, to the first organized body of progenitors of

mankind Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, an ...

(as in Manu and Shatrupa or

Adam and Eve Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...

), or of surviving humanity after a cataclysm (as in

Deucalion In Greek mythology, Deucalion (; grc-gre, Δευκαλίων) was the son of Prometheus; ancient sources name his mother as Clymene, Hesione, or Pronoia.A scholium to ''Odyssey'' 10.2 (='' Catalogue'' fr. 4) reports that Hesiod called Deucalio ...

Noah Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible ( Book of Genesis, chapters 5� ...

List of protoplasts

; Abrahamic mythology *

* Adam Kadmon (esoteric) * Adam kasia ("hidden Adam") and Adam pagria ("bodily Adam") (esoteric), in

Mandaeism Mandaeism ( Classical Mandaic: ࡌࡀࡍࡃࡀࡉࡉࡀ ; Arabic: المندائيّة ), sometimes also known as Nasoraeanism or Sabianism, is a Gnostic, monotheistic and ethnic religion. Its adherents, the Mandaeans, revere Adam, Abel, ...

Lilith Lilith ( ; he, לִילִית, Līlīṯ) is a female figure in Mesopotamian and Judaic mythology, alternatively the first wife of Adam and supposedly the primordial she-demon. Lilith is cited as having been "banished" from the Garden of E ...

(esoteric) ; Australian Aboriginal mythology *

Wurugag and Waramurungundi In aboriginal mythology (specifically: Kunwinjku), Wurugag and Waramurungundi are the first man and woman, respectively. Waramurungundi is said to have given birth to all living things and taught language Language is a structured system ...

* Yhi * Kidili ; Ayyavazhi mythology * Kaliyan and Kalicchi ;

Aztec mythology Aztec mythology is the body or collection of myths of the Aztec civilization of Central Mexico. The Aztecs were Nahuatl-speaking groups living in central Mexico and much of their mythology is similar to that of other Mesoamerican cultures. Accordi ...

* Tata/Coxcox and Nana/Xochitl - new progenitors of humankind after the flood * Oxomoco and Cipactonal - first human couple created ;

Baganda The Ganda people, or Baganda (endonym: ''Baganda''; singular ''Muganda''), are a Bantu ethnic group native to Buganda, a subnational kingdom within Uganda. Traditionally composed of 52 clans (although since a 1993 survey, only 46 are officia ...

* Kintu ;

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...

* Selu & Kanati ;

Chinese folk religion Chinese folk religion, also known as Chinese popular religion comprehends a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. Vivienne Wee described it as "an empty bowl, which can variously be fille ...

Fu Xi Fuxi or Fu Hsi (伏羲 ~ 伏犧 ~ 伏戲) is a culture hero in Chinese legend and mythology, credited along with his sister and wife Nüwa with creating humanity and the invention of music, hunting, fishing, domestication, and cooking as we ...

Nüwa Nüwa, also read Nügua, is the mother goddess of Chinese mythology. She is credited with creating humanity and repairing the Pillar of Heaven. As creator of mankind, she molded humans individually by hand with yellow clay. In the Huainanzi ...

(sometimes said to be created by Pangu) *

Pangu Pangu (, ) is a primordial being and creation figure in Chinese mythology who separated heaven and earth and became geographic features such as mountains and rivers. Legends The first writer to record the myth of Pangu was Xu Zheng during t ...

;

Cowichan peoples Cowichan may refer either to: *the Cowichan Tribes Cowichan Tribes ( hur, Quw’utsun) is the band government of the Cowichan, a group of Coast Salish peoples who live in the Cowichan Valley region on Vancouver Island. With over 3,800 register ...

* Quiltumtun ;

Germanic mythology Germanic mythology consists of the body of myths native to the Germanic peoples, including Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon mythology, and Continental Germanic mythology. It was a key element of Germanic paganism. Origins As the Germanic langua ...

Tuiscon According to Tacitus's ''Germania'' (AD 98), Tuisto (or Tuisco) is the legendary divine ancestor of the Germanic peoples. The figure remains the subject of some scholarly discussion, largely focused upon etymological connections and comparisons t ...

- first ancestor of Germans ;

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

Pandora In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek: , derived from , ''pān'', i.e. "all" and , ''dōron'', i.e. "gift", thus "the all-endowed", "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As H ...

- first woman *

Epimetheus In Greek mythology, Epimetheus (; grc-gre, Ἐπιμηθεύς, , afterthought) was the brother of Prometheus (traditionally interpreted as "foresight", literally "fore-thinker"), a pair of Titans who "acted as representatives of mankind". The ...

- first Man (by some Accounts) *

and

Pyrrha In Greek mythology, Pyrrha (; Ancient Greek: Πύρρα) was the daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora and wife of Deucalion of whom she had three sons, Hellen, Amphictyon, Orestheus; and three daughters Protogeneia, Pandora II and Thyia. Acco ...

(the first postdiluvian humans) ;

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

Svayambhuva Manu Swayambhuva Manu (Sanskrit: स्वयम्भुव मनु) is the first of the fourteen Manus.Shatarupa Shatarupa ( sa, शतरूपा, Śatarūpā, she of a hundred forms) is the daughter of the creator deity, Brahma. According to '' Brahma Purana'', Shatarupa is regarded as the first woman to be created by Brahma, marrying Manu, the first ...

(first couple on earth) * Including Vaivasvata Manu and Shraddha (wife of Vaivasvata Manu) of current

Manvantara A ''manvantara'', in Hindu cosmology, is a cyclic period of time identifying the duration, reign, or age of a Manu, the progenitor of mankind. In each ''manvantara'', seven Rishis, certain deities, an Indra, a Manu, and kings (sons of Manu) are ...

;

Inca mythology Inca mythology or religion includes many stories and legends that attempt to explain or symbolize Inca beliefs. Basic beliefs Scholarly research demonstrates that Runa ( Quechua speakers) belief systems were integrated with their view of the ...

* Pacha Camac ; Lakota people * Tokahe - first human emerged from the underworld * Wa and Ka ; Maori mythology *

Tiki In Māori mythology, Tiki is the first man created by either Tūmatauenga or Tāne. He found the first woman, Marikoriko, in a pond; she seduced him and he became the father of Hine-kau-ataata. By extension, a tiki is a large or small woo ...

and Marikoriko ;

Muisca mythology Knowledge of Muisca mythology has come from Muisca scholars Javier Ocampo López, Pedro Simón, Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita, Juan de Castellanos and conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada who was the European making first contact with ...

* Tena and Fura ; Navajo mythology * Áłtsé Hastiin and Áłtsé Asdzą́ą́ ;

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern peri ...

Ask and Embla In Norse mythology, Ask and Embla ( non, Askr ok Embla )—male and female respectively—were the first two humans, created by the gods. The pair are attested in both the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional s ...

(former) *

Líf and Lífþrasir In Norse mythology, Líf (identical with the Old Norse noun meaning "life, the life of the body")Cleasby & Vigfusson s.v. ''líf''. and Lífþrasir (Old Norse masculine name from ''líf'' and ''þrasir'' and defined by ''Lexicon Poëticum'' as ...

(future) ;

Polynesian mythology The Polynesian narrative or Polynesian mythology encompasses the oral traditions of the people of Polynesia (a grouping of Central and South Pacific Ocean island archipelagos in the Polynesian Triangle) together with those of the scattered ...

* Ele'ele * Kumu-Honua and Lalo-Honua * Marikoriko and

* Tu-Mea * Tonga * Vatea and Papa ;

Philippine mythology Philippine mythology is the body of stories and epics originating from, and part of, the indigenous Philippine folk religions, which include various ethnic faiths distinct from one another. Philippine mythology is incorporated from various ...

Malakas ''Malakas'' ( gr, μαλάκας ) is a commonly used profane Greek slang word, with a variety of different meanings, but literally meaning "man who masturbates". While it is typically used as an insult, with its literal equivalent in Commonwea ...

(strong) and Maganda (beautiful) * Silalac and Sivacay ( Hiligaynon) ;

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintoi ...

Izanagi Izanagi (イザナギ/伊邪那岐/伊弉諾) or Izanaki (イザナキ), formally known as , is the creator deity (''kami'') of both creation and life in Japanese mythology. He and his sister-wife Izanami are the last of the seven generations o ...

Izanami , formally known as , is the creator deity of both creation and death in Japanese mythology, as well as the Shinto mother goddess. She and her brother-husband Izanagi are the last of the seven generations of primordial deities that manifested ...

;

Traditional African religions The traditional beliefs and practices of African people are highly diverse beliefs that include various ethnic religions.Encyclopedia of African Religion (Sage, 2009) Molefi Kete Asante Generally, these traditions are oral rather than scriptur ...

* Kikuyu ** Gikuyu and

Mumbi {{No footnotes, date=July 2020 Mũmbi Muthiga is regarded as the mother of the Gĩkũyũ people. The word Mũmbi can be translated as the creator, "one who moulds/creates/builds". She and Gĩkũyũ were married, and both are claimed ancestor to all ...

* Serer creation myth ** YAAB and YOP (first human couple (female and male respectively) created by Roog in

Serer religion The Serer religion, or ''a ƭat Roog'' ("the way of the Divine"), is the original religious beliefs, practices, and teachings of the Serer people of Senegal in West Africa. The Serer religion believes in a universal supreme deity called Roog ( ...

) ** Unan and Ngoor (two mythical figures in the Serer creation myth and early ancestors of humanity - female and male respectively) ** Jambooñ and Agaire (two sisters and early ancestors of the Serer and

Jola people The Jola or Diola ( endonym: Ajamat) are an ethnic group found in Senegal, the Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau. Most Jola live in small villages scattered throughout Senegal, especially in the Lower Casamance region. The main dialect of the Jola lang ...

respectively whose pirogue broke at the Point of Sangomar separating the two groupsTaal, Ebou Momar, ''Senegambian Ethnic Groups : Common Origins and Cultural Affinities Factors and Forces of National Unity, Peace and Stability'', nThe Point (201

/ref>) * Yoruba mythology **

Oduduwa Oduduwa was a Yoruba divine king. According to tradition, he was the holder of the title of the ''Olofin'' of Ile-Ife, the Yoruba holy city. He ruled briefly in Ife, and also served as the progenitor of a number of independent royal dynasties ...

and Obatala ** Iya Nla ;

Turkic mythology Turkic mythology refers to myths and legends told by the Turkic people. It features Tengrist and Shamanist strata of belief along with many other social and cultural constructs related to the nomadic and warrior way of life of Turkic and Mongol ...

* Törüngey and Ece {{anchor, Zoroastrianism ;

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic ...

Keyumars Keyumars or Kiomars ( fa, کیومرث) was the name of the first king (shah) of the Pishdadian dynasty of Iran according to the '' Shahnameh''. The name appears in Avestan in the form of ''𐬔𐬀𐬌𐬌𐬊 𐬨𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬙𐬀𐬥 ...

* Mahabad * Mashya and Mashyana

References

Creation myths

Legendary progenitors A legendary progenitor is a legendary or mythological figure held to be the common ancestor of a dynasty, people, tribe or ethnic group. Overview Masculinity, femininity and ''"ghenos"'' or lineage linked to legendary progenitors were fundam ...

List of protoplasts

See also

References