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Of Mud and the Divine: Creation Myths of the Middle East: Part Two
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12146 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
3 / 1994 |
2,963 Words |
| Author
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Ewa Wasilewska
Ewa Wasilewska is assistant professor of anthropology at the
University of Utah, specializing in the Middle East and
Central Asia, with a focus on ancient religions. She is
neither a Muslim nor an Islamic scholar. She is a frequent
contributor to the Culture section and the author of Creation
Stories of the Middle East (Jessica Kingsley Press, 2000).
Maulana Muhammad Ali's translation of the Qur'an--which is
widely considered to be written with the required "gift of
inner purity"--was used for all quotations. Due to the length
of the Qur'an, only selected suras have been cited. The author
would like to thank Jennifer Graves for her assistance and
critique of the draft text. |
The Genesis story of the creation consists of at least two different traditions generally defined as the Priestly and the Yahwistic, that freely borrowed ideas derived from much older sources: the traditions of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and other areas of the ancient Middle East. Genesis is thus a syncretic account whose inconsistencies are especially visible when the events of human creation are described. This compilation of two sources into one account contributes to some confusion with regard to traditional understandings of the origin of life on earth. Moreover, in Genesis, the older Yahwistic tradition follows the more recent Priestly account and apparently had to be adjusted to impose a more or less logical order on the events of the original creation.
There is no agreement, among scholars, on the exact dating of any of the accounts in the Old Testament. However, the Priestly tradition (which runs from Gen. 1:1 to 2:4a) is generally ascribed to the post-Exilic period of the fifth century B.C., and the Yahwistic tradition (beginning at 2:4h) is considered to be older, possibly composed in the eighth century B.C. or even earlier. Each tradition is a product of a different author, or group of authors, from specific and differing sociocultural and economic environments. Consequently, the philosophical foci expressed by these accounts also differ. In general, the Priestly tradition emphasizes the ritualistic and institutionalized elements of religion; the Yahwistic account focuses on the role of Yahweh, his chosen people of Israel, and mankind.
The Yahwistic tradition offers little detail with regard to the events of the creation process, simply stating that God "made earth and heaven," then proceeded directly to the main emphasis: the origin of humankind. Nonetheless, the Yahwistic tradition is somewhat unclear as to the purpose of Adams creation. It seems that God decided to make him when the earth was still a desert, not a flourishing land as known from other accounts, including those of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Then, the garden was created for the man so he could "cultivate and take care of it."
Genesis begins with the Priestly account, which more fully describes the events of the creation of the universe.
Moreover, the Priestly account presents an order of creation that clearly reflects Sumero-Babylonian traditions. Trees and animals were created before humans. People were brought into being by the Creator to rule over the plant and animal realms and to use them for the betterment of the world. The Koran expresses the same idea
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