Egyptian Babylonian And Hebrew Religions Essay Research

Egyptian, Babylonian, And Hebrew Religions Essay, Research Paper

Egyptian, Babylonian, and Hebrew Religions

Egyptians, Babylonians, and Hebrews have similarities yet also differences in

their religions. The importance is not in the similarities as much as it is in

the differences that distinguish the cultures from each other and their views on

life. I would like to point out each civilization’s creation and flood story.

By analyzing these stories we can come to a better understanding of their world

views. The Hebrew creation story from the book of Genesis is one that most

people know well. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The

earth was without form and void. God said, “let there be light,” and there was

light. He then separated the light from the darkness. He also created the land,

plants, and animals. He saw everything he created and, behold, it was good.

The heavens and earth were completed and all that dwelled within them. On the

seventh day he rested. The earth was complete, but there was nothing to take

care of this creation. So, God created man in the image of himself. Man was

created from the dust of the ground. God gave him the breath of life and the

man became a living soul (Moses 1:1-2:7). With the background of that story,

one should look at the Egyptian interpretation of the beginning. At first there

was nothing but chaos that contained the seed of everything to come. In this

confusion the sun god dwelled. By an effort of his will he emerged from chaos

as Ra and gave birth to Shu, the god of air, and Tefnut, the goddess moisture.

Shu and Tefnut gave birth to Geb and Nut, the earth god and sky goddess. Thus

the physical universe was created. People were created from Ra’s tears. Time

passed and Ra grew frail, so the ungrateful race of men plotted against Ra.

When Ra learned of this he called the gods together. The gods decided that

mankind must be destroyed. Tens of thousands of men were killed until only a

few were left. Then Ra relented and man was spared. Nevertheless Ra was sick

of the world and retreated into the heavens, leaving Shu to reign in his place.

At that time the present world was established. The Babylonians have their own

interpretation of the beginning. All things came from the water. From the

mixture of sweet water, Aspu, with salt water, Tiamat, the gods arose. Aspu and

Tiamat gave birth to a pair of gigantic serpents, Lakhmu and Lakhamu. These two

serpents produced Anshar and Kishar, the heavens and the earth. Anshar and

Kishar then conceived Anu, Enlil, and Ea. Aspu and Tiamat grew angry because

the younger gods were noisy. So, they decided to destroy the new gods. Ea, the

all knowing, learned of this plan and used his magic to capture Apsu. Tiamat

became furious and created and army of gods and monsters to punish Ea and the

others. Marduk was asked to stand against Tiamat and her army. Marduk promised