The Sun Boat

An Egyptian myth about 4000 years old tells us that a sacred boat carried the sun god Ra. Each morning the boat rose over the eastern horizon and slowly sailed across the heavenly ocean. At night the boat sank below the western horizon and continued its journey through the underworld until once again it rose in the east and began a new day. When Ancient Egyptians, harvesting wheat near the Nile River, looked at the sun, they pictured the god Ra - or Re, as he is often called – in his boat. The sky had always been a source of wonder. Ancient peoples the world over knew almost nothing about what the stars and planets were, or how they moved through space.

The Egyptian mythmakers wove a creation story that was linked to the annual flooding of the Nile. In the beginning there was nothing but a vast world-ocean called Nun. The Sun god, then known as Atum, created himself out of the waters. At first Atum made a small mound of Earth to stand on and it became the land. He created the lesser gods, one to rule over moisture and another to rule over the atmosphere. Each year from July to October the Great Nile River overflowed its banks. When the floodwaters lowered, fine muddy soil, called silt, was left heaped along the flood plain. The first appearance of the mounds of silt reminded people of the small mound of earth Atum had created to stand on. Warmed by the sun, this rich, river earth nurtured by so many kinds of life, both plants and animals.

The World Tree Yggdrasill

In the beginning there was nothing, a Norse myth written down about CE 1200 tells us "There was no sand nor sea, nor soothing waves,

No earth anywhere, nor upper heaven,

A gaping chasm and grass and grass nowhere"

Then the gods Woden/Odin and Thor shaped the world. Earth was flat and in the centre grew the great tree of life, Yggdrasill. The ash tree was watered by the three magic springs that never ran dry and the foliage was always thick and green.

The "world tree" of the Norse connected sky, earth and underworld. From the top, an eagle surveys the world. Below, an evil serpent gnaws on the tree roots. Mimir, a giant, guards the fountain of wisdom. The three fates – past, present, and future – braid the thread of life.

The Golden Egg