ANCIENT COSMOLOGIES

Katie Bauer
Bible 106
Illustrated Essay

      "Society existed in and had its meaning within the cosmos."1 The cosmoses of Biblical times were incredibly significant to the people of those times. The people of ancient biblical times had several main ideas when it came to the cosmos. The ancients understood the world around them by what they saw and what they heard. Generally the ancients of the Near East believed that there was some creator who made life come into existence. Thus, some creator had to exist before all things. The Egyptians referred to this creator as Nun. The Hebrews called him Yahweh. In Mesopotamia he was known as Marduk. Most people of ancient times believed that every part of the cosmos has been structured and placed into careful order by some creator, some God. The people living in the Near East at the time all held several similar beliefs concerning the cosmos. They believed the cosmos was a "closed, three-storied whole, all parts of which are under the control of divinity, either polytheistically or monotheistically conceived."2 The three regions of the cosmos consisted of the sky or heavens, the water and land, and the underworld. The ancient world was centered on their God or gods and the will of this God or these gods. "The cosmogonic picture intends, above all, to call the believers to worship and to praise this deity who has been responsible for creating the whole well-structured world."3 The Hebrews, Egyptians, and Messopotamians of Biblical times shared similar views of their cosmos but their views also differed in several ways.

      Before exploring the Hebrew ideas concerning the cosmos one must first understand that Jews did not actually develop their own specific cosmologic beliefs.4 On the contrary, Hebrew people accepted many surrounding people's views of the cosmos and changed these to fit with Hebrew beliefs.5 Instead of focusing on the cosmos, Hebrew people looked to God.

      "Judging by the classical Jewish writings, Jewish preoccupation was with the god of the cosmos not with the cosmos itself. There was, to be sure, a profound interest in natural phenomena but chiefly as pointers to God who initiated them and whose glory was revealed through them."6

      The Hebrews focused most of their attention on the creator of the cosmos more than the cosmos itself.

      The ancients understood their world in three basic regions; the heavens, the land, and the underworld. The Hebrews, Egyptians, and Messopotamian all had similar conceptions of their universe. To all of these groups, the heavens were located above the dome of the sky. They all believed the earth was a flat disc with ends that could be reached if one could travel far enough. The separation of the water and the land was one of the first parts of the creation for each of these groups. Another general understanding of these three groups of people was that the underworld was located under the earth and was the destination of all people after life. The people of Biblical times understood their world in these three basic parts.

      "And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so." (Genesis 1:6-7) "In the Hebrew creation story the firmament was established by God for the orderly purpose of separating the waters above from those below."7 The firmament was thought to be a solid substance resting on pillars.8 Hebrews understood the "heaven of heavens" was above both the firmament and the waters, and it was the dwelling place of God.9 The sun, moon, and stars, positioned in or just beneath the sky, were thought to travel every day from one end of the firmament to the other end. The sun, moon, and stars would circle the flat earth for each day.

      In Egypt, the universe was thought to be all that the sun encircled.10 The sun was a god to the Egyptians know as either Ra or Re. The sky goddess Nut gave birth to Ra, who passed below her body every day, was swallowed at sunset, and passed through the inside of her body at night. The Egyptians thought the sky was made of iron, the substance used regularly for ritual purposes.11 The Egyptian word for firmament was related to the word for iron. The iron firmament reflected the beauty of Ra as he passed beneath the canopy of sky. Stars were thought to be small holes in the canopy from which Ra could be seen at night. Another Egyptian perspective of the stars was that they were the "gods sailing on crescent-shaped barques along the belly of the goddess."12 Egyptians believed in the east, where the sun rose, there was a place of purification known as the Field of Reeds or Duat. In the west there was thought to be a place of paradise known as the Field of Hetep or Imhet. The Field of Hetep was a well-watered area with many grains and fruits, a place where the dead could indulge in all their earthly desires.13 The sky to the ancient Egyptian was the domain of the gods.

      The people of Mesopotamia believed the sky was an original element from the beginning of time. They thought the gods held their court in the sky in the heavenly places. The sky was the Messopotamian heaven. The gods lived on the stars where they held their court and lived on stars in the same way that humans lived on earth. The sun was mainly a source of power which traveled under the world at night and above during the day, in the same way the moon traveled above and below the earth.14

      The second major region of the ancient's world was the land. Generally, the Hebrews, Egyptians, and Messopotamian's had very similar beliefs concerning the land they lived on. All of these groups believed the earth was a flat disc which the heavenly bodies rotated around. They all believed it was limited in its extent. The Mesopotamians believed the water and land were two primeval elements, existing from the beginning.15 In Egypt the people believed the earth was the god Geb lying on his back while the sky goddess, Nut, arched her body over his. Hebrews believed the earth was created by God in one day. Both the Hebrews and the Mesopotamians believed in a great region of water located under the earth's surface. The Hebrews called this water Tehom, and the Messopotamians called it Apsu. These great waters were the origin of the many streams and other bodies of water.

      All ancient groups of people believed in some kind of underworld where all people went when they died. The Hebrews, Egyptians, and Mesopotamians believed this was located under the ground. Hebrews believed the underworld was a place called Sheol. Sheol was the abode of the dead. It was a deep dark pit of mourning and sorrow.16 In Sheol there is neither work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom. (Ecclesiastes 9:10) There is complete silence, there is no praising. Sheol is the waiting place for the dead before the day of judgment. Sheol was basically the ancient Hebrew understanding of death.

      In Egypt, the ancient people believed the underworld was not like the notion of hell but rather it was simply a passage way to go through before entering eternal life, like the gods. There was a fear of the underworld among ancient Egyptians because it was said they must deal with such troubles as living upside down and eating excrements. However, there were different spells provided which would protect a person against such problems in the underworld.17 The underworld was the home of many minor deities in the forms of animals, humans and hybrids. These minor gods would either wreak havoc on the dead or aid and comfort them.18 The Egyptian underworld, however, was simply a passage way, not permanent like for the Hebrews and Mesopotamians.

      In Mesopotamia, the underworld was located under the vast Apsu. Their underworld was inhabited by many gods and goddesses and was ruled by one god or goddess depending on the tradition of the people. It was generally believed that the human spirits went to the underworld when they died.19 Some people believed the underworld was simply the cosmic water under the earth. The god of the underworld was Ea. Messopotamian beliefs of the underworld vary according to different texts.

      All three cultures held to their own specific beliefs about their world and how it came into existence. The people of Messopotamia traced everything back to a single primeval element which was either earth, water or time. Messopotamian people thought life came from the marriage of heaven and earth.20 In Egypt the people believed within Nun, the inconceivable and chaotic nothing, there arouses a primeval hill, Atum. "Atum spat forth Shu and Tefnut, Life and Order, to expand himself and to prepare the realm for life and offspring.21 The Hebrews understood that the world came from God and he created everything in it and so they worshiped him. God's glory was seen in his vast creation. In the Psalms, David said "Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth."(Psalm 108:5) It was understood that God created the world and all that is in and above and below the earth.