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8 Interesting African Creation Myths The World Should Know About

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The Creation Myth of Lower Egypt

Ra, the sun god, arose from Nun, a chaotic body of water that was the only thing in existence. He independently gave birth to Shu, the god of air, and Tefnut, the goddess of water. They then produced Geb and Nut, the god of the earth and the goddess of the sky, respectively. The first humans to exist were from Ra’s tears, but most of them were destroyed when they rebelled against him. Ra’s resentment towards the earth led him to return to heaven and leave Shu to rule the earth. Nut and Geb soon married and gave birth to Osiris, Horus, Set, Isis and Nepthys. Osiris represented good while Set represented evil; the two had a rivalry that has rightfully earned a story of its own.

Heaven

The Akan of Ghana

Nana Nyame, the primary creator, lived in the sky while Abrewa and her children lived on earth. For some time, they reached God by way of preparing food. But God was not fond of this practice so he relocated to a higher sphere to create more distance. As a result, Abrewa asked her children to build a tower out of mortars. When only one mortar was needed to reach God, she told her children to replace the mortar on top with the mortar on the bottom. This resulted in the tower collapsing and many of her children suffering.

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