science

List of creation myths

List of creation myths is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of creation myths rather than just read about it. In short: A creation myth (or creation story) is a cultural, religious or traditional myth which attempts to describe the earliest beginnings of the present world. Creation myths are the most common form of myth, usually developing first in oral traditions, and are found throughout human culture.

Key takeaways

List of creation myths belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of creation myths to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of creation myths from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A creation myth (or creation story) is a cultural, religious or traditional myth which attempts to describe the earliest beginnings of the present world. Creation myths are the most common form of myth, usually developing first in oral traditions, and are found throughout human culture. A creation myth is usually regarded by those who subscribe to it as conveying profound truths, though not necessarily in a historical or literal sense. They are commonly, though not always, considered cosmogonical myths, that is, they describe the ordering of the cosmos from a state of chaos or amorphousness.

Basic type

Creation from chaos

Enûma Eliš (Babylonian creation myth) Eridu Genesis Greek cosmogonical myth Jamshid Korean creation narratives Kumulipo Mandé creation myth Pangu Raven in Creation Serer creation myth Tungusic creation myth Unkulunkulu Väinämöinen Viracocha

Earth diver

Ainu creation myth Cherokee creation myth Iroquois creation myth Väinämöinen Yoruba creation myth Ob-Ugric creation myth

Emergence

Hopi creation myth

Diné Bahaneʼ (Navajo) Zuni creation myth

Ex nihilo (out of nothing)

Debate between sheep and grain Barton cylinder Ancient Egyptian creation myths Genesis creation (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Rastafari) Kabezya-Mpungu Māori myths Mbombo Ngai Popol Vuh

Raven Tales

World parent

Coatlicue Enûma Eliš Greek cosmogonical myth Heliopolis creation myth Hiranyagarbha creation myth Kumulipo Rangi and Papa Völuspá

Divine twins

Proto-Indo-European creation myths

Regional

Africa Ancient Egyptian creation myths Fon creation myth Kaang creation myth (San) Kintu myth (Bugandan) Mandé creation myth Mbombo (Kuba, Bakuba or Bushongo/Boshongo) Ngai (Kamba, Kikuyu and Maasai ) Serer creation myth (cosmogony of the Serer people of Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania) Unkulunkulu (Zulu) Yoruba creation myth (Yoruba people, West Africa)

Americas Caribbean

Taíno creation myths

Mesoamerica Coatlicue (Aztec) Maya creation of the world myth Popol Vuh (Quiché Mayan)

Mid North America Anishinaabeg creation stories Cherokee creation myth Choctaw creation myth Creek creation myth Hopi creation myth Iroquois creation myth Kuterastan (Plains Apache) Diné Bahaneʼ (Navajo) Raven in Creation (Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian) Zuni creation myth

South America Legend of Trentren Vilu and Caicai Vilu (Chilean) Viracocha (Incan) Xolas (Chilean)

Asia

Central Asia Ergenekon Mongolian creation myth Tungusic creation myth

East Asia Ainu creation myth (Japan) Au Co (Vietnamese) Chinese creation myth Japanese creation myth Korean creation narratives Vietnamese creation myth Nüwa (Chinese) Pangu (Chinese)

Indian subcontinent Ajativada Buddhist cosmology Folk Hindu creation myth Hiranyagarbha creation (India) Jainism and non-creationism (India) Meitei mythology (India) Mimamsa eternalism (India) Nyaya-Vaisheshika atomic theory (India) Samkhya-yoga theory (India) Sanamahi creation myth (India)

Europe Slavic creation myth Theogony (Greek) Book of Invasions (Celtic, specifically Irish) Väinämöinen (Finnish) Völuspá (Norse)

Middle East Debate between sheep and grain Enûma Eliš (Babylonian) Eridu Genesis (Sumerian) Genesis creation (Hebrew) Islamic creation myth (Arabic) Leviathan (Book of Job 38-41 creation myth) Mashya and Mashyana (Persian)

Pacific Islands/Oceanic Areop-Enap (Nauruan) Kumulipo (Hawaiian) Lafaek Diak (Timorese) Māori myths (Māori) Rangi and Papa (Māori) Sureq Galigo (Buginese)

Australian The Australian Aboriginal concepts of "The Dreaming" or "Dreamtime".

In mythopoeia

In mythopoeia, an artificial mythology created by writers of prose or other fiction, traditional mythological themes and archetypes are integrated into fiction. Some works of mythopoeia also feature creation myths:

Ainulindalë from Tolkien's The Silmarillion

References

Leeming, David Adams; Leeming, Margaret Adams (1994). Encyclopedia of Creation Myths (2nd ed.). ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-87436-739-3. Leeming, David Adams; Leeming, Margaret Adams (2009). A Dictionary of Creation Myths (Oxford Reference Online ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-510275-8.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of creation myths

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of creation myths claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of creation myths before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of creation myths ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of creation myths

In research: List of creation myths appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of creation myths in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of creation myths is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Creation myths, Mythology-related lists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of creation myths outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “List of creation myths” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study List of creation myths in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what List of creation myths means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain List of creation myths out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is List of creation myths in simple terms?

Why does List of creation myths matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of creation myths?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of creation myths.