Narrating the beginnings

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Contents Contributors Introductory Remarks Cosmogony in Progress. The Creation Myths from Rgvedic to Brāhmanic Texts 1 Introduction 2 Cosmogony in the RV: the books of the families 2.1 The Cosmogonic Act 2.2 The Generation of the Cosmos 3 The Speculative Cosmogony of Book 10 Bibliography Explaining the Emergence of Social Institutions in Ancient Mesopotamia: The Sumerian Myth Enki and the World Order 1 Introduction 2 The Text’s Composition and Structure 2.1 Praise of Enki 2.2 Enki’s “organization” of the Sumerian world 2.3 Inanna’s protest against Enki’s “organization” 3 In Lieu of a Conclusion: Enki and the World Order as Literary Concern About Sustainability or as Dream of a Utopian State Bibliography The Facets of the Diamond. Notes on Ancient Egyptian Cosmogonies Bibliography Of Gods and Men: Bridging the Gap between Cosmogony and the Heroic Age in Early Greek Legendary History Bibliography Evil in Genesis and Other Ancient Near Eastern Creation Stories 1 Introduction to the Question 2 Evil in Ugaritic and Mesopotamian Texts 3 Evil in the Garden (Genesis 2-3) 4 The Fallout in Genesis in Comparison with Atrahasis 5 After Genesis: Evil of the Creator and the Cosmic Enemies Bibliography The Emergence of the World in Early Greek Theogonies from Hesiod to Acusilaus* 1 Introduction 2 Oceanus and Tethys in the Iliad 3 Hesiod’s Theogony 4 Later theogonies: Alcman, the Titanomachy and the Theogonies of Epimenides and Musaeus 5 Two prose cosmogonies: Pherecydes of Syros and Acusilaus of Argos 6 Conclusion Bibliography The Myth of the Supreme Creator in Arabian Lands* 1 In the beginning 2 Creation or Creator ? 3 In search of the supreme creator Bibliography Völuspá, the Uncertainty of Norse Creation Myths and some Babylonian Parallels 1 Introduction 2 Ár var alda þar er Ymir byggði 3 Of dwarves and men 4 Of men and trees Bibliography Primary Sources Secondary Sources The Creation of the World According to Lakota Sioux Belief 1 Oral tradition and basic religious beliefs 2 The Creation of the Universe as handed down by J. R. Walker 3 The concept of a continuous process of creation 4 Final remarks Bibliography Concluding Remarks: The Sun Was a Green Egg Bibliography