Creation stories : landscapes and the human imagination Cover Image

Book

Creation stories : landscapes and the human imagination / Anthony Aveni.

Summary:

Drawing from a vast array of creation myths-Babylonian, Greek, Aztec, Maya, Inca, Chinese, Hindu, Navajo, Polynesian, African, Norse, Inuit, and more-this short, illustrated book uncovers both the similarities and differences in our attempts to explain the universe. Anthony Aveni, an award-winning author and professor of astronomy and anthropology, examines the ways various cultures around the world have attempted to explain our origins, and what roles the natural environment plays in shaping these narratives. The book also celebrates the audacity of the human imagination. Whether the first humans emerged from a cave, as in the Inca myths, or from bamboo stems, as the Bantu people of Africa believed, or whether the universe is simply the result of Vishnu's cyclical inhales and exhales, each of these fascinating stories reflects a deeper understanding of the culture it arose from as well as its place in the larger human narrative.

Record details

ISBN: 0300251246
ISBN: 9780300251241
Physical Description: xii, 220 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.
Publisher: New Haven : Yale University Press, [2021].
Copyright: ©2021.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

Prologue: About storytelling -- Introduction: Creation landscapes -- Part one: Mountains -- 1. Power politics on Mount Olympus -- 2. How China got its tilted landscape -- 3. The four sides of the Navajo Universe -- 4. Five Aztec creations -- 5. Creation battles in the Andean Highlands -- 6. Salt of Earth: Amazonian beginnings -- Part two: Waterways -- 7. Enuma Elish: Controlling the waters -- 8. The Nile from benben to pyramid -- 9. The Mande and the river Niger -- 10. Tlingit origins -- Part three: Caves -- 11. A dreamtime creation from southwest Australia -- 12. An underworld battle and the Maya dawn of life -- 13. Inca ancestors emerge -- Part four: Islands -- 14. A creation story from Polynesia -- 15. How Maui dredged up the Hawaiian islands -- 16. Dobu islanders and palolo worms -- 17. How our islands were made: A Shinto story -- 18. Haundenosaunee island making -- 19. Diving in the mud: A Cherokee creation story -- Part five: Extremes -- 20. Norse creation: Murder on ice -- 21. Arctic Inuit creation -- 22. Tierra Del Fuego: Where the seas clash -- Epilogue: From the ancient Greeks to the big bang.