B
82-581: Bunjil , also spelt Bundjil , is a creator deity , culture hero and ancestral being, often depicted as a wedge-tailed eagle in Australian Aboriginal mythology of some of the Aboriginal peoples of Victoria . In the Kulin nation in central Victoria he was regarded as one of two moiety ancestors , the other being Waang the crow. Bunjil (or Bundjil) has two wives and a son, Binbeal
164-492: A Jewish proto-martyr telling to her son: "I beseech thee, my son, look upon heaven and earth, and all that is in them: and consider that God made them out of nothing, and mankind also"; at chapter 1, it refers a solemn prayer hymned by Jonathan , Nehemiah and the Priest of Israel , while making sacrifices in honour of God: "O Lord, Lord God, Creator of all things, who art fearefull, and strong, and righteous, and mercifull, and
246-480: A conscious and immaterial entity like God cannot create a material entity like the universe. Furthermore, according to the Jain concept of divinity, any soul who destroys its karmas and desires achieves liberation. A soul who destroys all its passions and desires has no desire to interfere in the working of the universe. Moral rewards and sufferings are not the work of a divine being, but a result of an innate moral order in
328-601: A different god or goddess is the secondary creator at the start of each cosmic cycle ( kalpa , aeon). Brahma is a "secondary creator" as described in the Mahabharata and Puranas , and among the most studied and described. Born from a lotus emerging from the navel of Vishnu , Brahma creates all the forms in the universe, but not the primordial universe itself. In contrast, the Shiva -focused Puranas describe Brahma and Vishnu to have been created by Ardhanarishvara , that
410-571: A long time before his father's time, was revered as a god among the many gods and goddesses in Egypt. Atenism was countermanded by later pharaoh Tutankhamun , as chronicled in the artifact, the Restoration Stela. Despite different views, Atenism is considered by some scholars to be one of the frontiers of monotheism in human history. The Genesis creation narrative is the creation myth of both Judaism and Christianity . The narrative
492-428: A lot of the concepts of power and representation from the earlier solar deities like Ra, but building on top of the power Ra and many of his contemporaries represents. Aten carried absolute power in the universe, representing the life-giving force of light to the world as well as merging with the concept and goddess Ma'at to develop further responsibilities for Aten beyond the power of light itself. The cult-center of
574-526: A royal scepter. Instead of barque-processions, the royal family rode in a chariot on festival days. Elite women were known to worship the Aten in sun-shade temples in Akhetaten. Aten was considered to have been everywhere and intangible as Aten was the sunlight and energy in the world. Therefore, he did not have physical representations that other traditional ancient Egyptian gods had, instead represented via
656-514: A secondary creator from a primary transcendent being, identified as a primary creator. Initiated by Pharaoh Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti around 1330 BCE, during the New Kingdom period in ancient Egyptian history. They built an entirely new capital city ( Akhetaten ) for themselves and worshippers of their sole creator god in a wilderness. His father used to worship Aten alongside other gods of their polytheistic religion. Aten, for
738-444: A secondary creator from the primary transcendent being, identified as a primary creator. According to Gaudiya Vaishnavas , Brahma is the secondary creator and not the supreme. Vishnu is the primary creator. According to Vaishnava belief Vishnu creates the basic universal shell and provides all the raw materials and also places the living entities within the material world, fulfilling their own independent will. Brahma works with
820-485: Is Horus of the two horizons ), is a synthesis of two other gods, both of which are attested from very early on in ancient Egyptian religious practice. During the Amarna Period, this synthesis was seen as the invisible source of energy of the sun god, of which the visible manifestation was the Aten, the solar disk. Thus Ra-Horus-Aten was a development of old ideas which came gradually. The real change, as some see it,
902-625: Is Who created for you all that is on earth. Then He Istawa (rose over) towards the heaven and made them seven heavens and He is the All-Knower of everything." At the same time, God is unlike anything in creation: "There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing." and nobody can perceive God in totality: "Vision perceives Him not, but He perceives [all] vision; and He is the Subtle,
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#1732773327532984-496: Is a time to fear. Work is done best when the sun, and thus Aten, is present. The Aten created all countries and people, and cares for every creature. According to the inscriptions, the Aten created a Nile river in the sky (rain) for the Syrians. The rays of the sun disk only holds out life to the royal family, and because of this non-royals receives life from Akhenaten and Nefertiti , later Neferneferuaten, in exchange for loyalty to
1066-488: Is complex and depends upon each individual and the tradition and philosophy followed. Hinduism is sometimes referred to as henotheistic (i.e., involving devotion to a single god while accepting the existence of others), but any such term is an overgeneralization. The Nasadiya Sukta ( Creation Hymn ) of the Rigveda is one of the earliest texts which "demonstrates a sense of metaphysical speculation" about what created
1148-465: Is for the created to have the capacity to know and love its creator. In Mandaeism , Hayyi Rabbi (lit=The Great Life), or 'The Great Living God', is the supreme God from which all things emanate . He is also known as 'The First Life', since during the creation of the material world, Yushamin emanated from Hayyi Rabbi as the "Second Life." "The principles of the Mandaean doctrine: the belief of
1230-586: Is half Shiva and half Parvati; or alternatively, Brahma was born from Rudra , or Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma creating each other cyclically in different aeons ( kalpa ). Thus in most Puranic texts, Brahma's creative activity depends on the presence and power of a higher god. In other versions of creation, the creator deity is the one who is equivalent to the Brahman , the metaphysical reality in Hinduism. In Vaishnavism , Vishnu creates Brahma and orders him to order
1312-622: Is made up of two stories, roughly equivalent to the first two chapters of the Book of Genesis . In the first, Elohim (the Hebrew generic word for God ) creates the heavens and the Earth, the animals, and mankind in six days, then rests on, blesses and sanctifies the seventh (i.e. the Biblical Sabbath ). In the second story, God, now referred to by the personal name Yahweh , creates Adam ,
1394-527: Is one, and material monism which holds that everything including all material reality is one and the same thing. Buddhism denies a creator deity and posits that mundane deities such as Mahabrahma are misperceived to be a creator. Jainism does not support belief in a creator deity. According to Jain doctrine, the universe and its constituents—soul, matter, space, time, and principles of motion have always existed (a static universe similar to that of Epicureanism and steady state cosmological model ). All
1476-531: Is only with his Lord. Indeed, the disbelievers will not succeed." ). Islam teaches that God as referenced in the Qur'an is the only god and the same God worshipped by members of other Abrahamic religions such as Christianity and Judaism. One of the biggest responsibilities in the faith of Sikhism is to worship God as "The Creator", termed Waheguru , who is shapeless, timeless, and sightless, i.e., Nirankar , Akal, and Alakh Niranjan . The religion only takes after
1558-578: Is seen as the origin of life and a force of motion. The Bakongo believe that life requires constant change and perpetual motion. Nzambi Mpunga is also referred to as Kalûnga, the God of change. Similarities between the Bakongo belief of Kalûnga and the Big Bang Theory have been studied. Nzambi is also said to have created two worlds. As Kalûnga filled mbûngi, it created an invisible line that divided
1640-407: Is the creator of the world. Aten C D F G H I K M N P Q R S T U W Aten , also Aton , Atonu , or Itn ( Ancient Egyptian : jtn , reconstructed [ˈjaːtin] ) was the focus of Atenism , the religious system formally established in ancient Egypt by the late Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh Akhenaten . Exact dating for
1722-635: Is to be tested: "Who has created death and life, that He may test you which of you is best in deed. And He is the All-Mighty, the Oft-Forgiving;" Those who pass the test are rewarded with Paradise: "Verily for the Righteous there will be a fulfilment of (the heart's) desires;" According to the Islamic teachings, God exists above the heavens and the creation itself. The Quran mentions, "He it
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#17327733275321804-430: Is today a popular tourist attraction and one of the most important Aboriginal rock art sites in the region. Early European colonists such as Daniel Bunce recorded the name as "Winjeel" or "Wingeel", possibly from dialectal differences between the closely related Woiwurrung , Boonwurrung and Wathaurong languages. These spellings have persisted in the name of the farming area of Wingeel near Geelong , and in that of
1886-534: The CAC Winjeel aircraft. In other sources, the name may be recorded as Pundjel, Bunjel, Pundjil, Punjel, Pun-Gel, Bun-Gil, or Pundgel. Creator deity A creator deity or creator god is a deity responsible for the creation of the Earth , world , and universe in human religion and mythology. In monotheism , the single God is often also the creator. A number of monolatristic traditions separate
1968-418: The basimbi , bakisi and bakita. Oral tradition accounts that in the beginning, there was only a circular void ( mbûngi ) with no life. Nzambi Mpungu summoned a spark of fire ( Kalûnga ) that grew until it filled the mbûngi. When it grew too large, Kalûnga became a great force of energy and unleashed heated elements across space, forming the universe with the sun, stars, planets, etc. Because of this, Kalûnga
2050-539: The cosmos ; a self-regulating mechanism whereby the individual reaps the fruits of his own actions through the workings of the karmas. Through the ages, Jain philosophers have adamantly rejected and opposed the concept of creator and omnipotent God and this has resulted in Jainism being labeled as nāstika darsana or atheist philosophy by the rival religious philosophies . The theme of non-creationism and absence of omnipotent God and divine grace runs strongly in all
2132-568: The rainbow . His brother is Palian the bat . He is assisted by six wirmums or shamans who represent the clans of the Eaglehawk moiety: Djart-djart the nankeen kestrel , Thara the quail hawk, Yukope the parakeet, Lar-guk the parrot, Walert the brushtail possum and Yurran the gliding possum . A Boonwurrung story tells of a time of conflict among the Kulin nations, when people argued and fought with one another, neglecting their families and
2214-590: The Acquainted." God in Islam is not only majestic and sovereign, but also a personal God: "And indeed We have created man, and We know what his ownself whispers to him. And We are nearer to him than his jugular vein (by Our Knowledge)." Allah commands the believers to constantly remember Him ("O you who have believed, remember Allah with much remembrance" ) and to invoke Him alone ("And whoever invokes besides Allah another deity for which he has no proof—then his account
2296-590: The Aten as the creator, giver of life, and nurturing spirit of the world. Aten does not have a creation myth or family but is mentioned in the Book of the Dead . The first known reference to Aten the sun-disk as a deity is in The Story of Sinuhe from the 12th Dynasty , in which the deceased king is described as rising as a god to the heavens and "uniting with the sun-disk, the divine body merging with its maker". Aten
2378-475: The Aten was at the capital city Akhenaten founded, Akhetaten , though other cult sites have been found in Thebes and Heliopolis . The use of Amarna as a capital city and religious center was relatively short lived compared to the 18th Dynasty or New Kingdom as a whole as it was shortly abandoned after the death of Akhenaten. Inscriptions found on boundary stela accredited to Akhenaten discuss his desire to make
2460-400: The Aten were open-air structures with little-to-no roofing to maximize the amount of sunlight on the interior making them unique compared to other Egyptian temples of the time. Balustrades depict Akhenaten and the royal family embracing the rays of the Aten flanked stairwells, ramps, and altars. These fragments were initially identified as stele but were later reclassified as balustrades based on
2542-538: The Aten. In inscriptions, like the Hymn to the Aten and the King, the Aten is depicted as caring for the people through Akhenaten, placing the royal family as intermediaries for the worship of the Aten. There is only one known instance of the Aten talking. In the Hymn to Aten, a love for humanity and the Earth is depicted in Aten's mannerisms: "Aten bends low, near the earth, to watch over his creation; he takes his place in
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2624-705: The Eighteenth Dynasty is contested, though a general date range places the dynasty in the years 1550 to 1292 BCE. The worship of Aten and the coinciding rule of Akhenaten are major identifying characteristics of a period within the Eighteenth Dynasty referred to as the Amarna Period ( c. 1353 – 1336 BCE). Atenism and the worship of the Aten as the sole god of ancient Egypt state worship did not persist beyond Akhenaten's death. Not long after his death, one of Akhenaten's Eighteenth Dynasty successors, Tutankhamun , reopened
2706-580: The Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.", 1st century CE), that is symmetrical to the Nicene Creed (4th century CE). Nowadays, theologians debate whether the Bible itself teaches if this creation by God is a creation ex nihilo . Traditional interpreters argue on grammatical and syntactical grounds that this is the meaning of Genesis 1:1, which is commonly rendered: "In the beginning God created
2788-680: The Jews had held monotheistic views even before the Greeks. A similar theoretical proposition was demonstrated by Thomas Aquinas , who linked Aristotelian philosophy with the Christian faith, followed by the statement that God is the First Being, the First Mover, and is Pure Act. The deuterocanonical 2 Maccabees has two relevant passages. At chapter 7, it narrows about the mother of
2870-419: The beginning there was nothing in the universe except a formless chaos . However this chaos began to coalesce into a cosmic egg for eighteen thousand years. Within it, the perfectly opposed principles of yin and yang became balanced and Pangu emerged (or woke up) from the egg. Pangu is usually depicted as a primitive, hairy giant with horns on his head and clad in furs. Pangu set about the task of creating
2952-469: The belief in "One God for All" or Ik Onkar . In the Baháʼí Faith God is the imperishable, uncreated being who is the source of all existence. He is described as "a personal God, unknowable, inaccessible, the source of all Revelation, eternal, omniscient , omnipresent and almighty ". Although transcendent and inaccessible directly, his image is reflected in his creation. The purpose of creation
3034-403: The circle in half. The top half represents the physical world ( Ku Nseke or nsi a bamôyo ), while the bottom half represents the spiritual world of the ancestors ( Ku Mpèmba ). The Kalûnga line separates these two worlds, and all living things exists on one side or another. After creation, the line and the mbûngi circle became a river, carrying people between the worlds at birth and death. Then
3116-443: The city a place of worship to Aten, dedicating the city to the god and emphasizing the royal residences' efforts in worship. Major principles of the Aten's cult worship were recorded via inscriptions on temples and tombs from the period. Straying significantly from the tradition of ancient Egyptian temples being hidden and more enclosed the further one went into the site, temples of Aten were open and did not have roofs in order to allow
3198-399: The combined narrative as "compelling in its archetypal character, its adaptation of myth to monotheistic ends". The Abrahamic creation narrative is made up of two stories, roughly equivalent to the two first chapters of the Book of Genesis . The first account (1:1 through 2:3) employs a repetitious structure of divine fiat and fulfillment, then the statement "And there was evening and there
3280-458: The constituents and actions are governed by universal natural laws . It is not possible to create matter out of nothing and hence the sum total of matter in the universe remains the same (similar to law of conservation of mass ). Similarly, the soul of each living being is unique and uncreated and has existed since beginningless time. The Jain theory of causation holds that a cause and its effect are always identical in nature and therefore
3362-457: The creation of the first woman and the institution of marriage. In contrast to the omnipotent God of Genesis 1 creating a god-like humanity, the God of Genesis 2 can fail as well as succeed. The humanity he creates is not god-like, but is punished for acts which would lead to their becoming god-like (Genesis 3:1-24) and the order and method of creation itself differs. "Together, this combination of parallel character and contrasting profile point to
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3444-545: The demiurge represents the second cause or dyad , after the monad . In Gnostic dualism , the demiurge is an imperfect spirit and possibly an evil being, transcended by divine Fullness ( Pleroma ). Unlike the Abrahamic God, Plato's demiurge is unable to create ex-nihilo . Hinduism is a diverse system of thought with beliefs spanning monotheism , polytheism , panentheism , pantheism , pandeism , monism , and atheism among others; and its concept of creator deity
3526-537: The different origin of materials in Genesis 1:1 and Gen 2:4, however elegantly they have now been combined." An early conflation of Greek philosophy with the narratives in the Hebrew Bible came from Philo of Alexandria (d. 50 CE), writing in the context of Hellenistic Judaism . Philo equated the Hebrew creator-deity Yahweh with Aristotle 's unmoved mover ( First Cause ) in an attempt to prove that
3608-441: The embodiment of Horus. Akhenaten positioned himself as the only intermediary who could speak to Aten, emphasizing the dominance of Aten as the preeminent deity. This has led to discussion of whether Atenism should be considered a monotheistic religion, and thus making it one of the first examples of monotheism. Aten is both a unique deity and a continuation of the traditional idea of a sun-god in ancient Egyptian religion, deriving
3690-422: The existence of other gods; he simply refrained from worshipping any but the Aten. Other scholars call the religion henotheistic . As pharaoh, Akhenaten was considered the 'high priest' or even a prophet of the Aten, and during his reign was one of the main propagators of Atenism in Egypt. After the death of Akhenaten, Tutankhamun reinstated the cult of Amun, and the ban on the state worship of non-Atenism deities
3772-666: The first man, from dust and places him in the Garden of Eden , where he is given dominion over the animals. Eve , the first woman, is created from Adam and as his companion. It expounds themes parallel to those in Mesopotamian mythology , emphasizing the Israelite people's belief in one God . The first major comprehensive draft of the Pentateuch (the series of five books which begins with Genesis and ends with Deuteronomy )
3854-608: The four most prominent beasts, namely the Turtle , the Qilin , the Phoenix , and the Dragon . After eighteen thousand years had elapsed, Pangu was laid to rest. His breath became the wind ; his voice the thunder ; left eye the sun and right eye the moon ; his body became the mountains and extremes of the world; his blood formed rivers; his muscles the fertile lands; his facial hair
3936-502: The great happenings and processes of nature. The post-Vedic texts of Hinduism offer multiple theories of cosmogony , many involving Brahma . These include Sarga (primary creation of universe) and Visarga (secondary creation), ideas related to the Indian thought that there are two levels of reality, one primary that is unchanging ( metaphysical ) and other secondary that is always changing ( empirical ), and that all observed reality of
4018-559: The heavens and the earth." However, other interpreters understand creation ex nihilo as a 2nd-century theological development. According to this view, church fathers opposed notions appearing in pre -Christian creation myths and in Gnosticism —notions of creation by a demiurge out of a primordial state of matter (known in religious studies as chaos after the Greek term used by Hesiod in his Theogony ). Jewish thinkers took up
4100-459: The idea, which became important to Judaism. According to Islam , the creator deity, God, known in Arabic as Allah , is the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator, Sustainer, Ordainer, and Judge of the universe. Creation is seen as an act of divine choice and mercy, one with a grand purpose: "And We did not create the heaven and earth and that between them in play." Rather, the purpose of humanity
4182-510: The land. The first (the Priestly story ) was concerned with the cosmic plan of creation, while the second (the Yahwist story ) focuses on man as cultivator of his environment and as a moral agent. The second account, in contrast to the regimented seven-day scheme of Genesis 1, uses a simple flowing narrative style that proceeds from God's forming the first man through the Garden of Eden to
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#17327733275324264-401: The land. The mounting chaos and disunity angered the sea, which began to rise until it had covered the plains and threatened to flood the entire country. The people went to Bunjil and asked him to help them stop the sea from rising; Bunjil agreed to do so, but only if the people would change their ways and respect the laws and each other. He then walked out to the sea, raised his spear and ordered
4346-512: The latter is in an endless repeating cycle of existence, that cosmos and life we experience is continually created, evolved, dissolved and then re-created. The primary creator is extensively discussed in Vedic cosmogonies with Brahman or Purusha or Devi among the terms used for the primary creator, while the Vedic and post-Vedic texts name different gods and goddesses as secondary creators (often Brahma in post-Vedic texts), and in some cases
4428-514: The materials provided by Vishnu to actually create what are believed to be planets in Puranic terminology, and he supervises the population of them. Monism is the philosophy that asserts oneness as its fundamental premise, and it contradicts the dualism-based theistic premise that there is a creator God that is eternal and separate from the rest of existence. There are two types of monism, namely spiritual monism which holds that all spiritual reality
4510-561: The onely, and gracious king". The Prologue to the Gospel of John begins with: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made." Christianity affirms the creation by God since its early time in the Apostles' Creed ("I believe in God,
4592-404: The only one great God, Hayyi Rabbi, to whom all absolute properties belong; He created all the worlds, formed the soul through his power, and placed it by means of angels into the human body. So He created Adam and Eve , the first man and woman." Mandaeans recognize God to be the eternal, creator of all, the one and only in domination who has no partner. Monolatristic traditions would separate
4674-417: The philosophical dimensions of Jainism, including its cosmology , karma , moksa and its moral code of conduct. Jainism asserts a religious and virtuous life is possible without the idea of a creator god. In polytheistic creation, the world often comes into being organically, e.g. sprouting from a primal seed, sexually, by miraculous birth (sometimes by parthenogenesis ), by hieros gamos , violently, by
4756-442: The presence of scenes on both sides. Inscriptions in tombs and temples during the Amarna Period often gave Aten a royal titulary enclosed in a double cartouche . Some have interpreted this to mean that Akhenaten was the embodiment of Aten, and the worship of Aten is directly worship of Akhenaten; but others have taken this as an indicator of Aten as the supreme ruler even over the current reigning royalty. There were two forms of
4838-480: The process repeats and a person is reborn. A simbi (pl. bisimbi) is a water spirit that is believed to inhabit bodies of water and rocks, having the ability to guide bakulu , or the ancestors, along the Kalûnga line to the spiritual world after death. They are also present during the baptisms of African American Christians , according to Hoodoo tradition . Pangu can be interpreted as another creator deity. In
4920-457: The rays of the sun inside. No statues of Aten were allowed as they were seen as idolatry. However, these were typically replaced by functionally equivalent representations of Akhenaten and his family venerating the Aten and receiving the ankh, the breath of life, from him. Compared to periods before and after the Amarna Period, Priests had less to do since offerings, such as fruits, flowers, and cakes were limited, and oracles were not needed. In
5002-409: The reign of Amenhotep III , it was made the sole deity to receive state and official cult worship under his successor Akhenaten, though archaeological evidence suggests the closing of the state temples of other Egyptian gods likely did not stop household worship of the traditional pantheon. Inscriptions, such as the " Great Hymn to the Aten ", found in temples and tombs during Akhenaten's reign showcase
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#17327733275325084-779: The rest of universe. In Shaivism , Shiva may be treated as the creator. In Shaktism , the Great Goddess creates the Trimurti. The Bakongo people traditionally believe in Nzambi Mpungu , the Creator God, whom the Portuguese compared to the Christian God during colonization. They also believe his female counterpart called Nzambici , the ancestors ( bakulu ) as well as guardian spirits, such as Lemba,
5166-486: The sky for the same purpose; he wearies himself in the service of the creatures; he shines for them all; he gives them sun and sends them rain. The unborn child and the baby chick are cared for; and Akhenaten asks his divine father to 'lift up' the creatures for his sake so that they might aspire to the condition of perfection of his father, Aten." Akhenaten represented himself as the son of Aten, mirroring many of his predecessors' claims of divine birth and their positions as
5248-566: The sky. Bunjil himself became the star Altair and his two wives, the black swans , became stars on either side. Bunjil was said to have left this world via the island of Deen Maar . It is believed by the Kulin and other Aboriginal peoples that, in the Dreamtime , Bunjil took shelter in a cave located in the part of Gariwerd that is now known as the Black Range Scenic Reserve , not far from Stawell . Bunjil's Shelter
5330-416: The slaying of a primeval monster , or artificially, by a divine demiurge or "craftsman". Sometimes, a god is involved, wittingly or unwittingly, in bringing about creation. Examples include: Plato , in his dialogue Timaeus , describes a creation myth involving a being called the demiurge ( δημιουργός "craftsman"). Neoplatonism and Gnosticism continued and developed this concept. In Neoplatonism,
5412-495: The sole god of the Egyptian state religion, and Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaten to reflect his close link with the supreme deity. The sole worship of Aten can be referred to as Atenism. Many of the core principles of Atenism were recorded in the capital city Akhenaten founded and moved his dynastic government to, Akhetaten , referred to as either Amarna, El-Amarna, or Tell el-Amarna by modern scholars. In Atenism, night
5494-549: The stars and milky way; his fur the bushes and forests; his bones the valuable minerals; his bone marrows sacred diamonds; his sweat fell as rain; and the fleas on his fur carried by the wind became human beings all over the world. The first writer to record the myth of Pangu was Xu Zheng during the Three Kingdoms period. Shangdi is another creator deity, possibly prior to Pangu; sharing concepts similar to Abrahamic faiths. According to Kazakh folk tales, Jasagnan
5576-459: The state temples to other Egyptian gods and re-positioned Amun as the pre-eminent solar deity. Aten is depicted as a solar disc emitting rays terminating in human hands. The word Aten appears in the Old Kingdom as a noun meaning "disc" which referred to anything flat and circular; the sun was called the "disc of the day" where Ra was thought to reside. By analogy, the term "silver aten"
5658-440: The sun disc and reaching rays of light tipped with human-like hands. The explanation as to why the Aten could not be fully represented was that the Aten was beyond creation. Thus the inscriptions of scenes of gods carved in stone previously depicted animals and human forms instead showed the Aten as an orb above with life-giving rays stretching toward the royal figure. This power transcended human or animal form. Later, iconoclasm
5740-473: The title; the first had the names of other gods, and the second later one was more 'singular' and referred only to the Aten himself. The early form was Re-Horakhti who rejoices in the Horizon, in his name Shu, which is the Aten. The later form was Re, ruler of the two horizons, who rejoices in the Horizon, in his name of light, which is the Aten. Ra-Horus, more usually referred to as Ra-Horakhty ( Ra who
5822-417: The universe, the concept of god(s) and The One, and whether even The One knows how the universe came into being. The Rig Veda praises various deities, none superior nor inferior, in a henotheistic manner. The hymns repeatedly refer to One Truth and Reality. The "One Truth" of Vedic literature, in modern era scholarship, has been interpreted as monotheism, monism, as well as a deified Hidden Principles behind
5904-451: The water to stop rising. According to one legend, after creating the mountains, rivers, flora, fauna, and laws for humans to live by, Bunjil gathered his wives and sons then asked Waang, who had charge of the winds, to open his bags and let out some wind. Waang opened a bag in which he kept his whirlwinds, creating a cyclone which uprooted trees. Bunjil asked for a stronger wind. Waang complied, and Bunjil and his people were blown upwards into
5986-501: The world: he separated Yin from Yang with a swing of his giant axe, creating the Earth (murky Yin ) and the Sky (clear Yang ). To keep them separated, Pangu stood between them and pushed up the Sky. This task took eighteen thousand years, with each day the sky grew ten feet higher, the Earth ten feet wider, and Pangu ten feet taller. In some versions of the story, Pangu is aided in this task by
6068-409: The worship of the Aten, the daily service of purification, anointment, and clothing of the divine image that is traditionally found in ancient Egyptian worship was not performed. Instead, incense and food-stuff offerings such as meats, wines, and fruits were placed onto open-air altars. A common scene in carved depictions of Akhenaten giving offering to Aten has him consecrating the sacrificed goods with
6150-492: Was composed in the late 7th or the 6th century BCE (the Jahwist source) and was later expanded by other authors (the Priestly source ) into a work very similar to Genesis as known today. The two sources can be identified in the creation narrative: Priestly and Jahwistic. The combined narrative is a critique of the Mesopotamian theology of creation: Genesis affirms monotheism and denies polytheism . Robert Alter described
6232-447: Was enforced, and even sun disc depictions of Aten were prohibited in an edict issued by Akhenaten. In the edict, he stipulated that Aten's name was to be spelt phonetically. Two temples were central to the city of Akhetaten. The larger of the two had an "open, unroofed structure covering an area of about 800 by 300 metres (2,600 ft × 1,000 ft) at the northern end of the city". Doorways had broken lintels and raised thresholds. Temples to
6314-408: Was extensively worshipped as a solar deity during the reign of Amenhotep III where it was depicted as a falcon-headed god like Ra. While Aten was the preeminent creator deity of a pantheon of ancient Egyptian gods under Amenhotep III, it was not until his successor that Aten would be the only god acknowledged via state worship. During the reign of Amenhotep III's successor, Amenhotep IV, the Aten became
6396-429: Was lifted in favor of a return to the traditional ancient Egyptian pantheon. The point of this transition can be seen in the name-change of Tutankh aten into Tutankh amun indicating the loss of favor in the worship of the Aten. While there was no purge of the cult after Akhenaten's death, the Aten persisted in Egypt for another ten years or so until it seemed to fade. When Tutankhamun came into power, his religious reign
6478-498: Was morning, the [ x ] day," for each of the six days of creation. In each of the first three days there is an act of division: day one divides the darkness from light, day two the "waters above" from the "waters below", and day three the sea from the land. In each of the next three days these divisions are populated: day four populates the darkness and light with sun, moon, and stars; day five populates seas and skies with fish and fowl; and finally, land-based creatures and mankind populate
6560-417: Was one of tolerance, with the major difference being that the Aten was no longer the only god worshiped within official, state capacity. Tutankhamun made efforts to rebuild the state temples that were destroyed during Akhenaten's reign and reinstate the traditional pantheon of gods. This seemed to be "a move based publicly on the doctrine that Egypt's woes stemmed directly from its ignoring the gods, and in turn
6642-416: Was sometimes used to refer to the moon. High relief and low relief illustrations of the Aten show it with a curved surface, therefore, the late scholar Hugh Nibley insisted that a more correct translation would be globe, orb or sphere, rather than disk. The Aten was the disc of the sun and originally an aspect of Ra , the sun god in traditional ancient Egyptian religion. While the Aten was worshiped under
6724-469: Was the apparent abandonment of all other gods on the state level, especially Amun-Ra , prohibition of idolatry, and the debatable introduction of quasi- monotheism by Akhenaten. The syncretism is readily apparent in the Great Hymn to the Aten in which Re-Herakhty, Shu , and Aten are merged into the creator god. Others see Akhenaten as a practitioner of an Aten monolatry , as he did not actively deny
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