Discussions of creation narratives that parallel Genesis often focus on more familiar texts like Enuma Elish or Atrahasis. However, other lesser-known sources offer intriguing parallels to the Hebrew Bible’s depiction of creation. These texts, found in Egyptian and Akkadian traditions, demonstrate creation stories centered on the act of speaking, the concept of separation, and the recognition of a created order. They raise questions about how different regions in the ancient Near East understood and communicated how the world came into being. The similarities are not always consistent, prompting further questions of why certain themes appear in some places and not in others.
Some narratives from Egypt emphasize a distinct approach: creation unfolds through a god’s will, or heart, conceiving the idea and the voice commanding it into reality. This concept, described by sources discussing Ptah’s role in Egyptian theology, highlights a spoken creative force that echoes the way the Hebrew Bible describes divine speech bringing everything into being or order. Egyptian accounts also center on fundamental dualities—such as earth and sky—and stress that all gods and provisions for life originated from one creator’s purposeful act. Do these parallels of speaking creation into existence point to shared concepts and traditions, or to an independent development of similar principles?
Akkadian texts like the “Song of the Hoe” present their own way of explaining cosmic order. They speak of a divinity hastening to separate heaven from earth and ensuring that humans could flourish in the space created. Scholars have observed that these divisions of the cosmos in Mesopotamian thought bear a resemblance to the Hebrew Bible’s references to the separation of sky and water, even though the language used in the Hebrew bible is less graphic. Differences in tone, coupled with shared ideas about dividing or structuring the cosmos, invite a closer look into how each tradition imagined an ordered world emerging from a previously chaotic state.
Another point of convergence comes to light when exploring how each tradition characterizes the creator’s assessment of the final product. An Egyptian source portrays Ptah as completing all of his handiwork and being fully satisfied, paralleling the biblical portrayal of God calling creation “very good.” Both descriptions suggest a certain fulfillment or approval of the finished world. Yet one text’s notion of resting in a formalized, sacred pattern (as found in the Hebrew Bible’s Sabbath pattern) does not clearly appear in parallel Egyptian material, prompting further questions about the unique traditions and practices driving each culture’s reason for depicting “creation” in the way they do.
Sight, hearing, breathing - they report to the heart, and it makes every understanding come forth. As to the tongue, it repeats what the heart has devised. Thus all the gods were born and Ptah's Ennead was completed. For every word of the god came about through what the heart devised and the tongue commanded. Thus all the faculties were made and all the qualities determined, they that make all foods and all provisions, through this word, to him who does what is loved, to him who does what is hated. Thus life is given to the peaceful and death is given to the criminal. Thus all labor, all crafts are made, the action of the hands, the motion of the legs, the movements of all the limbs, according to this command which is devised by the heart and comes forth on the tongue and creates the performance of every thing. (The Memphite Theology)
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was without shape and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the watery deep, but the Spirit of God was hovering11 over the surface of the water. God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light! (Genesis 1:1-3)1
A comparison of the Memphite Theology’s description of Ptah creating through the spoken word and the account in Genesis underscores a shared tradition of divine speech bringing the universe into existence, or at least into a state of order.2 In the Egyptian text, sight, hearing, and breathing convey information to the heart, which then gives shape to every aspect of creation. The tongue is presented as the medium that translates what the heart has devised into the physical realm, ensuring that every being and activity emerges according to this intent. This conceptual framework highlights an interesting distinction between internal conception and external realization, pointing to a process in which the divine mind forms an idea that is subsequently activated through speech.
A similar dynamic appears in the Hebrew Bible, where God’s spoken command, “Let there be light,” serves as the catalyst for creation. The act of articulating a desire results in a tangible outcome, reflecting the notion that words possess creative power. Observations from both accounts raise questions about how ancient cultures understood the capacity of divine speech to bridge the gap between idea and reality. While each text expresses this concept in culturally specific terms, the parallel focus on a deity’s utterance as the agency of creative action offers a focal point for further inquiry into how speech and thought interrelate in different religious narratives.
More well-known Babylonian narratives often depict the creation of the cosmos through conflict and the physical manipulation of primeval matter or divine beings, as seen in stories involving the god Marduk battling and dividing Tiamat. While elements of this tradition can be found throughout the Hebrew Bible, the first chapter of Genesis significantly softens this in lieu of creation through the spoken word. Still, we cannot say that this attitude is unique to the Hebrew Bible, given the Memphite Theology presents a comparable emphasis on speech as a primary creative force. This highlights how important it is to broaden horizons when investigating cultural and literary touchstones.
Not only did the lord make the world appear in its correct form — the lord who never changes the destinies which he determines: Enlil, who will make the human seed of the Land come forth from the earth — and not only did he hasten to separate heaven from earth, and hasten to separate earth from heaven, but, in order to make it possible for humans to grow in ‘Where Flesh Came Forth,’ he first suspended the axis of the world at Dur-an-ki. (Song of the Hoe)
God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate water from water.” So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. It was so. God called the expanse “sky.” There was evening, and there was morning, a second day. (Genesis 1:6-8)3
The Akkadian text sometimes known as the “Song of the Hoe” features a divine creator who makes the world take shape in an ordered manner and ensures space for human life by suspending the axis of the world. This action includes a clear act of delineation between heaven and earth in a way that does not rely on a direct struggle with preexisting forces. Similarly, the biblical account in Genesis depicts the separation of sky and water through a divine command, also highlighting a more measured and intentional division rather than violent confrontation.4
In contrast, stories featuring Marduk include physical verbs such as tearing and slitting, describing the formation of the cosmos through the dismemberment of a primordial being. Both the “Song of the Hoe” and Genesis present a much more peaceful process (even while retaining some elements of the violent creation tradition) involving the delineation of cosmic boundaries.
The use of relatively abstract verbs for “separating” in the Hebrew text, alongside the calm methodology in this specific Mesopotamian reference, highlights a lesser-known shared tradition that the cosmos was shaped by a decisive but controlled act. Examining these parallels can help add perspective in light of a complex network of cultural and literary influence, while still recognizing that each tradition preserves its own distinctive viewpoint on the origins of the world
Thus it is said of Ptah: He who made all and created the gods. And he is Tatenen, who gave birth to the gods, and from whom everything came forth, foods, provisions, divine offerings, all good things. Thus is recognized and understood that he is the mightiest of the gods. Thus Ptah was satisfied after he had made all things and all divine words. (The Memphite Theology)
Then God said, “I now give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the entire earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the animals of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has living breath in it—I give every green plant for food.” It was so. God saw all that he had made—and it was very good! There was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day. (Genesis 1:29-31)5
Another notable parallel emerges in the Memphite Theology’s portrayal of a creator god who not only fashions other deities but also provides for every aspect of existence. In this text, Ptah is identified with Tatenen—the primordial source of life—and is described as bringing forth all foods, offerings, and beneficial provisions. By the end of his creative work, Ptah observes the result and experiences satisfaction, marking the completion of his efforts and underscoring his status as the mightiest among the gods. In the Hebrew Bible, God likewise reviews the newly formed cosmos, declaring it “very good.” This moment of divine approval mirrors the sense of fulfillment found in the Memphite Theology.
Given these points of contact with lesser-known ancient Near Eastern creation traditions, the only remaining truly distinctive feature of the first chapters of Genesis lies in the link between the act of creation and a sanctified period of rest, Sabbath, an element absent from other known ancient texts. This correlation introduces an additional dimension in the Hebrew narrative, suggesting that ceasing from labor was integral to created order and may be the primary driving force of why the Hebrew people developed their own creation narrative even while incorporating so many details from surrounding traditions.6
Hays, Christopher B. Hidden Riches: A Sourcebook for the Comparative Study of the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East (p. 66) Westminster John Knox Press, 2014
Chambers, Nathan J. Reconsidering Creation Ex Nihilo in Genesis 1 (pp. 28-40) Eisenbrauns, 2020
Hays, Christopher B. Hidden Riches: A Sourcebook for the Comparative Study of the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East (p. 66) Westminster John Knox Press, 2014
I think we should take into account the account of Exodus 39–40 in retrospect to Genesis 1–2. There, Moses' tabernacle is presented in parallel to the creation in Genesis 1, suggesting that the creation in Genesis 1 is itself a cosmic sanctuary, with Eden functioning as a Holy of Holies and Adam and Eve as high priests. This is the same conclusion reached by, for example, John Walton. God creates through the word seems to suggest God's real power over creation, whose command is immediately obeyed, although Walton thinks that here creation means stipulating function and not bringing something into existence ex nihilo