A selection of historical conundrums answered by experts

How did the ancient Egyptians believe that the world began?

The ancient Egyptians – the civilisation that flourished on the banks of the Nile from c3100 until Cleopatra’s death in 30 BC – recognised about 1,500 gods. Their many cults provided varied explanations for the creation of the world, all considered equally valid. These followed the same basic plan: a chaotic time before creation was followed by the emergence of a creator god who made other gods and people and, in so doing, created order. However, the method described varied from cult to cult.

A person living in Memphis (now south of Cairo) would have learned the creation story featuring the craftsman god Ptah. Having created himself using intelligence and the spoken word, Ptah created the gods and the people. Someone living at Hermopolis Magna (al-Ashmunein) would learn from the priests of Thoth; for them, life started with four frog-headed gods and four snake-headed goddesses swimming in the primeval waters until a celestial goose laid an egg on a ‘Mound of Flame’. On the island of Elephantine (Aswan), it was believed that the gods, people and their souls were created from mud by the ram-headed potter god Khnum.

The best-known creation myth belongs to the cult of the sun god Re of Heliopolis (northern Cairo). In the beginning, nothing existed but the waters of Nun. Deep within Nun there floated an egg holding a spark of life. Suddenly the egg cracked open and a mound rose up. Seated on that mound was Atum, god of light. Atum used his body fluids to create twin children, Shu (atmosphere) and Tefnut (moisture). The twins produced Geb (earth) and Nut (sky); this brother and sister then became the parents of the powerful deities Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephthys. Meanwhile, Atum cried, and his tears became the people of Egypt.

Professor Joyce Tyldesley, University of Manchester

A reconstructed tomb fresco depicts the Egyptian sky goddess Nut arched over her brother Geb (reclining), while held up by their father, Shu – all key figures in an ancient Egyptian creation myth

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