Daniel R.

Charland
12/6/16

On Effects of Different Creation Myths and their Corresponding Cosmologies on

the Government of Ancient Egypt.

Where do humans come from? Why does the earth exist? These and similar questions

have been asked by people all through recorded history. The results of these questions have

been many different answers in the form of myths from all over the world. Myths have evolved

into an essential part of human culture that shapes who people are and how they live. While

many interesting insights into a culture can be gleaned from most kinds of myths, perhaps the

most important myths are creation stories. This is because creation myths set up the entire

cosmos of the mythology and determine some of the rules for the stories that follow. This is not

unlike a postulate in logic, which sets up a rule for any logical conclusions that follow. Because

of the impact that the belief in a cosmology has on a civilization, it influences the majority of

aspects of the civilization. Being such a large and diverse topic, this paper cannot cover all

aspects of this claim. Instead, this paper will give an argument for one of the many possible

points to be made for this case. The point to be articulated shall be that there is a connection

between some of the major shifts in governmental form in ancient Egypt with shifts in the

corresponding cosmology. This point has been selected because it is a prime example from the

ancient world of the beliefs of the people heavily influencing the very structure and head of the
government, the pharaoh. Also, over the centuries, Egypt had evolution in both its religion and

government which affected each other’s structure. This paper will attempt to give insight into

the shifts between the polytheistic and monotheistic religions, and the connection that they

shared with similar shifts in the Egyptian government.

Egypt, Polytheism, and Monotheism.

The great myths of Egypt that are remembered the most are those from the

polytheistic beliefs that dominated the majority of Egyptian history. What is important to

keep in mind when looking at this form of religion, is that, unlike modern religions, the

Egyptian polytheism had no founder or dogma. Instead, it was the result of the evolution

of the local animal deities that were developed by tribes from as early as the fourth

millennium.1 There was also no truly set pantheon that was regularly worshiped and, as a

result of the evolution of deities from different tribes coming together, there were over a

thousand different gods at one point. In addition, this was further complicated by the act

of the different nomes, which were districts in ancient Egypt, often switching out which

deity was the main god, with the chief deity of one nome being reduced to a subornment

position in the pantheon of another nome. 2 Also, as time passed, some of the gods were

merged together into types of composite gods, creating one god with two different sets of

attributes, such as Osiris-Ra, or Amen-Ra.3

1
Anthony S. Mercatante, Who's Who in Egyptian Mythology (New York: C.N. Potter, 1978), xviii.
2
ibid
3
Ibid, xix
 One of the only forces to have a somewhat unifying effect in what, compared to the

modern era, was a chaos of a national religion was the rule of the dynasties of pharaohs.

When a new dynasty would rise to the throne it would set its chief god as the head of

pantheon and all other local chief gods would be interpreted as either different

manifestations or servants of the royal chief deity 4. Because of this, there are many

inconsistencies in Egyptian mythological stories and writings when they are taken from

different eras and locations. Although a polytheistic society for most of its history, the

position of a single god as the chief and most important of the gods, combined with this

tendency for the chief god to be swapped out by whoever was in charge, actually gave the

religion the potential for something similar to, if not actual, monotheism at some points in

its history. This paper will chronologically follow the changes in Egypt from a more

monotheistic faith in the god Ptah and the rise of the pharaohs, the polytheistic rule of the

pharaoh dynasties with emphasis on the chief god named Ra, and the brief return of

monotheistic ideas under Akhenaten along with its political connections.

The Story and Politics of Ptah.

The myth of Ptah is believed to have originated from before the time of the first

pharaoh dynasties.5 According to the myth, the god Ptah came across a patch of land in the

vast Primeval Waters and from his place on that land, he caused order and light to exist in

the midst of the chaotic waters. In addition to this, he also created eight gods, which were

4
ibid
55
Sproul, 86
four pairs consisting of a male and a female who would be in charge of the four aspects of

eternity, darkness, air, and water. 6

Ptah is an example of the previously mentioned tradition of making a local god the chief

of all the gods when someone from the area rose to power. From very early times, Ptah had been

regarded as a craftsman god, a patron who provided inspiration for creators and architects. This

story simply raises him a few levels to being the architect of reality.7 Ted Peters of Loyola

University makes the claim that the wording of the myth itself grants Ptah much greater power

over other deities, either giving him their aspects, or crediting him as their creator which would

make them lesser creatures to Ptah.8 This does indeed bring this creation story and

corresponding cosmology closer to monotheism than a traditional pantheon, although it can be

argued that it is little different from Ra or any other chief god taking priority over other deities.

What is interesting about Ptah is that it is possible that the theology of his creation through the

spoken word may have contributed to the idea of the royal decree and the ushering in of the age

of the pharaohs in the first place.9 Thus, the famed polytheistic mythology and dynastic

government may have ironically been started in the first place with monotheism, with the idea

of one all-powerful creator translating into the governmental concept of one all-powerful ruler.

6
Ibid, 86-87
7
Ted Peters, "Monotheism and Kingship in Ancient Memphis: A Study in Egyptian Mythology," Perspectives In
Religious Studies 4, no. 2 (1997): 156.
8
Peters, 157-159
9
Peters, 162
 The Ra Creation Story and its Political Consequences.

Because the amount of cults and versions of the polytheistic religion is too vast to

be covered here, this section of the paper will focus on the god Ra as the leader of the

Egyptian gods, in both a creation story as well as the belief in his fight against chaos. By

this point in history, Ra, the sun god, had already become a sort of composite god with

Atum, the previous creator god.10 According to the ancient text known as “The Book of the

knowing the evolutions of Ra”, Ra came into being before all else, and granted order over

the primeval abyss of water known as Nu. 11 The text also attributes Ra to, in a sense,

dividing himself into three beings, Ra himself, Shu, god of air, and Tefnut, goddess of

moisture. 12 Because Ra retains his status as the god of the sun, these three beings possibly

represented to the ancient Egyptians the foundations of all life: light/heat, water, and air,

which all living things need.

Besides just being the creator of order, Ra was often credited in the Egyptian

religious practices with maintaining cosmic order on a daily basis. The text known as “The

book of knowing the creations of Ra and the overthrowing Apophis” tells a similar creation

story to the previously mentioned one, despite being dated at around two -thousand years

later.13 This is evidence that at some point, a main major narrative was indeed established ,

to some degree at least, for the polytheistic cosmology. This story, however, adds in the

additional layer of battle between order and chaos, and was performed in temple ritual as

10
Barbara C. Sproul, Primal Myths: Creation Myths around the World (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1979), 80.
11
Ibid, 82
12
Ibid, 80
13
Ibid, 88
a reminder and analogy of the constant struggle for the fate of existence that occurred

every day.14 The belief was that Ra would travel on his sun boat, giving light to the world

during the day and then travel under the earth at night, at which point the serpent Apophis

would try to overpower him. Every night, Ra would defeat the darkness and chaos of

Apophis and sail over the horizon to bring the next day.15 The symbolism of this was at

least twofold. On the individual level, it represented the cycle of life, death, and

rejuvenation that is part of the human race, while the governmental aspect represented

the pharaoh’s rule of order over chaos, light over darkness, and movement over

stagnation.16

How then, did these concepts about the universe affect the structure of Egypt? The

religious aspect of Egypt was very influential in the government, so influential that the

pharaoh himself was considered to be divine 17, a possible increase from the concept

connected to Ptah. It was the pharaoh who was considered the son of Ra and the

incarnation of the god on earth, thus lending credence to his rule. 18 However, in this

polytheistic society, the pharaoh was not the only powerful religious figure. The priests of

the gods, especially Ra, had much influence because it was believed to be their job to

ensure that Ra succeeded in his nightly battle with Apophis and thus were, to an extent,

14
Ibid, 87-88
15
Mercatante, 13-14.
16
Jan Assmann, The Mind of Egypt: History and Meaning in the Time of the Pharaohs (New York: Metropolitan
Books, 2002), 208
17
Or at least have a strong connection to the gods. Due to the shifting religious ideas over the centuries, it cannot
be guaranteed that the pharaoh was considered fully divine through the entire history of Egypt, but it is known
that the pharaoh Djedefra was the first to have his own name incorporated with that of Ra as a sign of equality or
oneship with the sun god. See Ian Shaw, The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2000), 96.
18
Mercatante, 130
responsible in the eyes of the Egyptians for the continuation of the sunrise. This not only

applied to the spiritual dangers, however, but the rituals were also extended to the

pharaoh’s political enemies. 19 Of course, there were also priests for the other gods of the

Egyptian religion and they performed a variety of different duties, but those that served Ra

were considered the most important and held the most political influence. Ideally in this

system, the priests and the pharaoh would work together for the good of Egyp t in the eyes

of the gods, but such was not always the case, particularly when one Pharaoh decided to

change the rules.

Aten, the Brief Return to Monotheism.

A look at the polytheism and monotheism of ancient Egypt would not be complete

without at least a brief mention of pharaoh Akhenaten and his religious revolution. Akhenaten

was born under the name of Amenophis IV, a name which contained the name of a composite

version of the sun god, Amun-Ra. After Amenophis IV became pharaoh, he decided that there

was only one god, whom he called Aten. With this change in religions thought in the pharaoh

came a change in his name, replacing his birth name that contained the name of one of the old

gods, he chose to be called Akhenaten to include the name of Aten, his new god. This “new” god,

however, wasn’t entirely new, as the object of worship was still the god of the sun. Akhenaten

simply adapted the symbolism of Ra, as well as a few aspects of other gods, and made the new

divine symbol that of a solar disk with its rays ending in human hands to symbolize activity and

interaction with the human world.20

19
Assmann, 147
20
Cyril Aldred, Akhenaten, King of Egypt (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1988), 7-8.
 Although there is no known creation story attributed to Aten, the political consequences

are of great enough interest for inclusion in this paper. In contrast to the gradually evolving

religions of the ancient world previous to Akhenaten, the religion of Aten had its source in, and

was spread through the will of, the pharaoh. In fact, some people, such as Professor Jan Assmann

of the University of Heidelberg, have credited Akhenaten for being the first actual founder of any

religion known to the present day.21

The new religion spread by Akhenaten placed him at odds with the priests of the temple

of Ra, partially because it was an attack on their political influence and economic status and

centralized more divine power in the pharaoh.22 This is almost somewhat ironic as it had been

the polytheism and concept of Ra that had possibly helped the Pharaoh to ascend to even greater

prominence and political power than from the Ptah tradition in spite of the religious and political

power of the priests that had developed later. Now it was monotheism that, instead of

backtracking to the degree of power held by the pharaoh before Ra, actually centered Akhenaten

in an even firmer position, as he was considered the only one who could properly communicate

with Aten.23 Of course, the priests of Ra also objected to the religious revolution because of

theological reasons such as the pharaoh’s denial of the battle against Apophis along with other

important religions ideas that had been central to the Egyptian way of life. 24 In the end, the

friction that this period of monotheism caused, as well as its dependence of a single man to keep

21
"The Sun Was the Only Witness," Films on Demand, 2002, accessed November 21, 2016,
http://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=104135&xtid=30630.
22
Ibid
23
Ibid
24
Donald B. Redford, "Akhenaten: New Theories and Old Facts," Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental
Research, no. 369 (2013): 27, doi:10.5615/bullamerschoorie.369.0009.
it alive, could not last long, and a resurgence in worship of the traditional polytheistic gods took

place after Akhenaten’s death.

Conclusion.
Because the religion and government of ancient Egypt were so closely linked, oftentimes

changes in one led to changes in the other. The constant evolution of the religion and

government allowed for the already-possible concept of monotheism to take center stage at

times, with the story of Ptah being the possible inspiration for the royal decree and power of the

pharaoh in the first place. The cosmology of Ra placed him as the primary creator and source of

order and light. This was reflected in the position of the pharaoh as the symbol of Ra and the

priests of the temple to assist and carry out the will of Ra as well as the other polytheistic gods.

The great, although short-lived, resurgence of monotheism with the reign of Akhenaten brought

about an even greater centralization of both religious and political power than previously. As

these parts of Egypt’s history are evidence of, creation stories and their corresponding

cosmologies are capable of having a profound influence on some of the most important,

influential, and powerful aspects of the life of a civilization.

Bibliography:
Sproul, Barbara C. Primal Myths: Creation Myths around the World. New York, NY: HarperCollins
Publishers, 1979.

Peters, Ted. “Monotheism and kingship in ancient Memphis: a study in Egyptian mythology.”
Perspectives In Religious Studies 4 no. 2 (1977 1977): 155-168.

Mercatante, Anthony S. Who’s who in Egyptian mythology. New York, NY: Clarkson N. Potter,
Inc., 1978.

Clark, R. T. Rundle. Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt. London: Thames and Hudson, 1978.

REDFORD, DONALD B. "Akhenaten: New Theories and Old Facts." Bulletin Of The American
Schools Of Oriental Research no. 369 (May 2013): 9-34.

The Sun Was the Only Witness. 2002. Accessed November 21, 2016.
http://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=104135&xtid=30630
.
Assmann, Jan. The Mind of Egypt: History and Meaning in the Time of the Pharaohs. New York:
Metropolitan Books, 2002.

Shaw, Ian. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Aldred, Cyril. Akhenaten, King of Egypt. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1988.