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Separation Of Heaven And Earth
The separation of heaven and earth is a major event in the creation of the cosmos found in many creation myths across the world, from Egypt to New Zealand. This event functions as a necessary precondition for the rest of the creation event, as before it, the cosmos is chaotic and undifferentiated, sometimes understood in the form of a universal cosmic ocean. The cause of the separation event differs by the mythology, but is either a spontaneous process or one caused by a specific deity. Sumerian literature mentions the separation of heaven and earth more than any other literature, but all the references are in passing, while Egyptian texts place a greater emphasis on the mechanism of the separation. Ancient Near Eastern cosmology The cosmic and physical union (mythologically symbolized as a marriage) of heaven and earth is spoken of in ancient Near Eastern texts stretching back to the 3rd millennium BC. The first source that mentions their separation is from the late 3rd millenn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cosmos
The cosmos (, ; ) is an alternative name for the universe or its nature or order. Usage of the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos is studied in cosmologya broad discipline covering scientific, religious or philosophical aspects of the cosmos and its nature. Religious and philosophical approaches may include the cosmos among spiritual entities or other matters deemed to exist outside the physical universe. Etymology The verb wikt:κοσμέω, κοσμεῖν (''kosmein'') meant generally "to dispose, prepare", but especially "to order and arrange (troops for battle), to set (an army) in array"; also "to establish (a government or regime)", "to adorn, dress" (especially of women). Thus ''kosmos'' meant "ornaments, decoration" (compare ''kosmokomes'' "dressing the hair," and cosmetic). The philosopher Pythagoras used the term ''kosmos'' for the order of the universe. Anaxagoras further introduced the concept of a C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enki And Ninmah
Enki ( ) is the Sumerian god of water, knowledge ('' gestú''), crafts (''gašam''), and creation (''nudimmud''), and one of the Anunnaki. He was later known as Ea () or Ae p. 324, note 27. in Akkadian (Assyrian-Babylonian) religion, and is identified by some scholars with Ia in Canaanite religion. The name was rendered Aos within Greek sources (e.g. Damascius). He was originally the patron god of the city of Eridu, but later the influence of his cult spread throughout Mesopotamia and to the Canaanites, Hittites and Hurrians. He was associated with the southern band of constellations called ''stars of Ea'', but also with the constellation AŠ-IKU, ''the Field'' ( Square of Pegasus). Beginning around the second millennium BCE, he was sometimes referred to in writing by the numeric ideogram for "40", occasionally referred to as his "sacred number". The planet Mercury, associated with Babylonian ''Nabu'' (the son of Marduk) was, in Sumerian times, identified with Enki, as wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pangu
Pangu or Pan Gu (also sometimes spelled Peng Gu and P’an-ku) ( zh, t=盤古, ) is a primordial being and creation figure in Chinese mythology and in Taoism. According to legend, Pangu separated heaven and earth, and his body later became geographic features such as mountains and flowing water. Legend The first writer to record the myth of Pangu is thought to be Xu Zheng during the Three Kingdoms period. However, his name was found in a tomb predating the Three Kingdoms period. In the beginning, there was nothing and the universe was in a featureless, formless primordial state. This primordial state coalesced into a cosmic egg over the course of about 18,000 years. Within it, the perfectly opposed principles of yin and yang became balanced and Pangu emerged (or woke up) from the egg. Pangu inside the cosmic egg symbolizes Taiji. Pangu is usually depicted as a primitive, hairy giant with horns on his head. Pangu began creating the world: he separated yin from yang with a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taoism
Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', 'path', or 'technique', generally understood in the Taoist sense as an enigmatic process of transformation Ultimate reality, ultimately underlying reality. Taoist thought has informed the development of various practices within the Taoist tradition and beyond, including forms of Taoist meditation, meditation, Chinese astrology, astrology, qigong, feng shui, and Neidan, internal alchemy. A common goal of Taoist practice is self-cultivation, a deeper appreciation of the Tao, and more harmonious existence. Taoist ethics vary, but generally emphasize such virtues as ''wu wei, effortless action'', ziran, ''naturalness'', ''pu (Taoism), simplicity'', and the Three Treasures (Taoism), three treasures of compassion, frugality, and humility. The co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Cosmology
Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature throughout the area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology encompasses a diverse array of myths derived from regional and cultural traditions. Populated with engaging narratives featuring extraordinary individuals and beings endowed with magical powers, these stories often unfold in fantastical mythological realms or historical epochs. Similar to numerous other mythologies, Chinese mythology has historically been regarded, at least partially, as a factual record of the past. Along with Chinese folklore, Chinese mythology forms an important part of Chinese folk religion and Taoism, especially older popular forms of it. Many narratives recounting characters and events from ancient times exhibit a dual tradition: one that presents a more historicized or euhemerized interpretation, and another that offers a more mythological perspective. Numerous myths delve into the creation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coffin Texts
The Coffin Texts are a collection of ancient Egyptian funerary spells written on coffins beginning in the First Intermediate Period. They are partially derived from the earlier Pyramid Texts, reserved for royal use only, but contain substantial new material related to everyday desires, indicating a new target audience of common people. Coffin texts are dated back to 2100 BCE. Ordinary Egyptians who could afford a coffin had access to these funerary spells and the pharaoh no longer had exclusive rights to an afterlife. As the modern name of this collection of some 1,185 spells implies, they were mostly inscribed on Middle Kingdom coffins. They were also sometimes written on tomb walls, stelae, canopic chests, papyri and mummy masks. Due to the limited writing surfaces of some of these objects, the spells were often abbreviated, giving rise to long and short versions, some of which were later copied in the Book of the Dead. Content In contrast to the Pyramid Texts which focus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Egyptian Cosmology
Egyptian mythology is the collection of myths from ancient Egypt, which describe the actions of the Egyptian gods as a means of understanding the world around them. The beliefs that these myths express are an important part of ancient Egyptian religion. Myths appear frequently in Egyptian writings and art, particularly in short stories and in religious material such as hymns, ritual texts, funerary texts, and temple decoration. These sources rarely contain a complete account of a myth and often describe only brief fragments. Inspired by the cycles of nature, the Egyptians saw time in the present as a series of recurring patterns, whereas the earliest periods of time were linear. Myths are set in these earliest times, and myth sets the pattern for the cycles of the present. Present events repeat the events of myth, and in doing so renew ''maat'', the fundamental order of the universe. Amongst the most important episodes from the mythic past are the creation myths, in which the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Upelluri
Upelluri or Ubelluri was a primordial giant in Hurrian mythology. He is only known from the ''Song of Ullikummi'', which is one of the few Hurrian texts offering a view of this culture's cosmology. It was believed that Upelluri was already alive during the separation of heaven and earth, which were placed on his back, and that he lived in the "Dark Earth," the Hurrian underworld. His name ends with the Hurrian suffix -''luri'', known also from the names of the mountain goddess Lelluri and Impaluri, sukkal (attendant deity) of the sea god Kiaše, as well as a number of Hurrian mountain and stone names. In the ''Song of Ullikummi'', known from poorly preserved fragments of a Hurrian original and a more complete Hittite translation, the eponymous monster is placed on his right shoulder by Irširra (perhaps to be identified as goddesses of nursing and midwifery), the servants of Kumarbi, to let him grow away from sight of allies of Kumarbi's enemy Teshub, such as the sun god Šimi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Song Of Ullikummi
__NOTOC__ In Hurrian mythology, Ullikummi is a giant stone monster, son of Kumarbi and the sea god's daughter, Sertapsuruhi, or a female cliff. The language of the literary myth in its existing redaction is Hittite, in cuneiform texts recovered at Bogaskoy, where some Hurrian fragments of the ''Song of Ullikummi'' have been found. ''See'' Guterbock (1951). The ''Song of Ullikummi'' was recognized from its first rediscovery as a predecessor of Greek myths in Hesiod. Parallels to the Greek myth of Typhon, the ancient antagonist of the thunder-god Zeus, have been elucidated by Burkert. The ''Song'' possesses information on the Hittite creation myth, including the idea that there was a separation of heaven and earth in the primordial past, before which, the two were united. The story of Ullikummi The narrative of Ullikummi is one episode, the best preserved and most complete, in an epic cycle of related "songs" about the god Kumarbi, who aimed to replace the weather god Teshub and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Song Of Kumarbi
Kumarbi, also known as Kumurwe, Kumarwi and Kumarma, was a Hurrian god. He held a senior position in the Hurrian pantheon, and was described as the "father of gods". He was portrayed as an old, deposed king of the gods, though this most likely did not reflect factual loss of the position of the head of the pantheon in Hurrian religion, but only a mythological narrative. It is often assumed that he was an agricultural deity, though this view is not universally accepted and the evidence is limited. He was also associated with prosperity. It was believed that he resided in the underworld. Multiple Hurrian deities were regarded as Kumarbi's children, including Teshub, whom he conceived after biting off the genitals of Anu. They were regarded as enemies. In myths dealing with the conflict between them Kumarbi fathers various enemies meant to supplant the weather god, such as the stone giant Ullikummi. Kumarbi was also closely associated with other deities who were regarded as the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hittite Language
Hittite (, or ), also known as Nesite (Nešite/Neshite, Nessite), is an extinct Indo-European language that was spoken by the Hittites, a people of Bronze Age Anatolia who created an empire centred on Hattusa, as well as parts of the northern Levant and Upper Mesopotamia. The language, now long extinct, is attested in cuneiform, in records dating from the 17th ( Anitta text) to the 13th centuries BC, with isolated Hittite loanwords and numerous personal names appearing in an Old Assyrian context from as early as the 20th century BC, making it the earliest attested use of the Indo-European languages. By the Late Bronze Age, Hittite had started losing ground to its close relative Luwian. It appears that Luwian was the most widely spoken language in the Hittite capital of Hattusa during the 13th century BC. After the collapse of the Hittite New Kingdom during the more general Late Bronze Age collapse, Luwian emerged in the early Iron Age as the main language ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tiamat
In Mesopotamian religion, Tiamat ( or , ) is the primordial sea, mating with Abzû (Apsu), the groundwater, to produce the gods in the Babylonian epic '' Enûma Elish'', which translates as "when on high". She is referred to as a woman, and has—at various points in the epic—a number of anthropomorphic features (such as breasts) and theriomorphic features (such as a tail). In the ''Enûma Elish'', the Babylonian epic of creation, Tiamat bears the first generation of deities after mingling her waters with those of Apsu, her consort. The gods continue to reproduce, forming a noisy new mass of divine children. Apsu, driven to violence by the noise they make, seeks to destroy them and is killed. Enraged, Tiamat also wars upon those of her own and Apsu's children who killed her consort, bringing forth a series of monsters as weapons. She also takes a new consort, Qingu, and bestows on him the Tablet of Destinies, which represents legitimate divine rulership. She is ulti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
