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A creation myth (or creation story) is a cultural, religious or traditional myth which describes 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
• Leviathan ( Book of Job 38–41 creation myth)
• 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
• Maya creation of the world 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 myth (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 story (Bushmen)
• 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

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
• 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 (Classical Greco-Roman)
• 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 myth (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)
• Māori myths (Māori)
• Rangi and Papa (Māori)
• Sureq Galigo (Buginese)

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.