List of creation myths

A creation myth (or creation story) is a cultural, traditional or religious 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, although not necessarily in a historical or literal sense. They are commonly, although 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

• Cheonjiwang Bonpuri (a Korean creation myth)
• Enûma Eliš (Babylonian creation myth)
• Greek cosmogonical myth
• Jamshid
• Kumulipo
• Leviathan (Book of Job 38-41 creation myth)
• Mandé creation myth
• Pangu
• Raven in Creation
• Serer creation myth
• Sumerian creation myth
• Tungusic creation myth
• Unkulunkulu
• Väinämöinen
• Viracocha

Earth diver

• Ainu creation myth
• Cherokee creation myth
• Väinämöinen
• Yoruba 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 (Christianity, Islam and Judaism)
• Kabezya-Mpungu
• Māori myths
• Mbombo
• Ngai
• Popol Vuh

World Parent

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

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

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

• Mongolian creation myth
• Tungusic creation myth

East Asia

• Ainu creation myth (Japan)
• Au Co (Vietnamese)
• Chinese creation myth
• Cheonjiwang Bonpuli (Korean)
• Dangun creation myth (Korean)
• Japanese creation myth
• Nüwa (Chinese)
• Pangu (Chinese)
• Samseonghyeol legend (Korean)

Indian subcontinent

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

Europe

• Greek cosmogonical myth
• Pelasgian creation myth (Greek)
• Väinämöinen (Finnish)
• Völuspá (Norse)
• Raelian creation myth (French)

Middle East

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

Pacific Islands/Oceanic

• Kumulipo (Hawaiian)
• Māori myths
• Rangi and Papa (Māori)
• Sureq Galigo (Buginese)

In mythopoeia

See also: Category:Fictional creation stories

In mythopoeia an artificial mythology is created by the writer of prose or other fiction. The authors in this genre integrate traditional mythological themes and archetypes into fiction. Some also feature creation myths:

• Ainulindalë from Tolkien's The Silmarillion