Creation of life from clay

{{Short description|Miraculous birth theme in multiple mythologies}}

File:Constantin Hansen Prometheus.jpg Creating Man in Clay by Constantin Hansen]]

File:The Great Canterbury Psalter - Psalm 93.png]]

File:Chnum-ihy-isis.jpg (right) is a creator god who forms humans and gods out of clay. Here Isis (left) gives life.]]

The creation of life from clay (or soil, earth, dust, or mud) appears throughout world religions and mythologies, some of the earliest occurring in the creation myths about the origin of man in the cosmology of the ancient Near East. The idea occurs in both biblical cosmology and Quranic cosmology. The clay represents an unformed, chaotic material which is shaped and given form by the gods in a creative process. A related motif is the use of clay to seed or create the world.{{Cite book |last=Leeming |first=David Adams |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Creation_Myths_of_the_World/vkTPEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=RA1-PA312&printsec=frontcover |title=Creation myths of the world: an encyclopedia |date=2010 |publisher=ABC-Clio |isbn=978-1-59884-174-9 |edition= |location= |pages=312–313}} In southwest Asia, the clay-shaping was cast as a magical act. In the same way that humans would use clay to make terracotta images of their gods, so the gods moulded humans out of clay in their godlike form. They were described as obtaining this material by pinching off pieces of wet mud.{{Cite book |last=Stavrakopoulou |first=Francesca |title=God: An Anatomy |date=2023 |publisher=Picador |isbn= |location= |pages=277}}

The most famous example of this is in the biblical Book of Genesis (2:7), where Adam is made out of dust, an idea that appears across the Bible (Job 10:9; Psalm 90:3; 104:29; Isaiah 29:16, etc.). The idea is also found in the Epic of Gilgamesh where the goddess Aruru creates Enkidu from clay, in Egyptian mythology where Khmun makes man out of clay, and various Greek texts crediting Prometheus (one of the Titans) with doing the same.{{Cite book |last=Kuruvilla |first=Abraham |title=Genesis: A Theological Commentary for Preachers |date=2014 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-7252-4872-4 |location=Eugene |pages=57}} Later, the concept would influence art history, such as the impact it had on the work of Giorgio Vasari.{{Cite book |last=Cheney |first=Liana De Girolami |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kKNNEQAAQBAJ&newbks=0&lpg=PP1&pg=PA129#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=Giorgio Vasari: The Quest of a Painter |date=2025 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |pages=129–130}}

List of examples by region and culture

=Ancient Near Eastern=

The Epic of Gilgamesh states that the goddess Aruru created humans and animals out of clay. The epic goes on to narrate how Aruru also creates Enkidu out of a pinch of clay.{{Cite book |last=Atkins |first=Peter Joshua |title=The Animalising affliction of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4: reading across the human-animal boundary |date=2023 |publisher=T&T Clark |isbn=978-0-567-70619-5 |series= |location= |pages=140}}

The Sumerian myth of the Ninhursag states that humans were fashioned from clay to serve the gods (see Enki and the Making of Man) as part of a competition. In the Akkadian version, the Epic of Atrahasis, Enki advises that a god is killed and that Nintur (the birth goddess) mix his flesh and blood with clay to create humans. A similar idea is seen in the Enuma Elish, where Enki creates man out of the blood of a slain revel god.{{Cite book |last=Publishing |first=Britannica Educational |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Mesopotamia/lc6cAAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA172&printsec=frontcover |title=Mesopotamia: The World's Earliest Civilization |last2=Kuiper |first2=Kathleen |date=2010 |publisher=Britannica Educational Publishing |isbn=978-1-61530-208-6 |series=Britannica Guide to Ancient Civilizations |location=Chicago |pages=172}}

The Babylonian Epic of Atrahasis states that humans were created by Nintu (Ninhursag) from mixing clay with the blood of a sacrificed god.{{cite book |last1=Dalley |first1=Stephanie |title=Myths from Mesopotamia: creation, the flood, Gilgamesh, and others |date=1989 |page=4 & 15 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-283589-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/mythsfrommesopot0000unse_o9l9/page/4/mode/2up?q=blood}}{{cite book |last1=Foster |title=Atrahasis Epic |url=https://www.livius.org/sources/content/anet/104-106-the-epic-of-atrahasis/}} In context, the elder gods forced the younger gods to do all the hard labor so the younger gods devised a plan to create humans to do their bidding instead. The sacrificed god Ilawela (also written as Geshtu-(E), Geshtu, Gestu, or We-ila) is a minor god of intelligence (the text states this quite clearly: "Ilawela ...had intelligence").{{cite book |last1=Dalley |first1=Stephanie |title=Myths from Mesopotamia : creation, the flood, Gilgamesh, and others |date=1989 |page=15 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-283589-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/mythsfrommesopot0000unse_o9l9/page/14/mode/2up?q=intelligence}}

Contrary to common misconception, the Babylonian creation epic Enuma Elish says that humans were created from a combination of blood and bone, and not clay. Marduk instructed Enki (Ea) to do this, which he did using the blood of Tiamat's fallen consort, Kingu.{{cite book |last1=Luckenbill |first1=D.D. |url=https://archive.org/details/jstor-528577/page/n9/mode/2up |title=The Ashur Version of the Seven Tablets of Creation |date=October 1921 |publisher=The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures |page=21}}
The Book of Genesis 2:7 states that man was made out of dust.{{cite book |last1=Fishbane |first1=Michael |title="Adam" entry in Vol 1 Gale Encyclopedia of Religion |date=1987 |page=29}}

In the cosmology of the Quran, man is said to have been created from clay (Quran 23:12), referred to by the Arabic ṭīn. Adam is also said to have been made from dust (turāb). Like other traditions, the concept has negative connotations in the Quran, and the use of this matter to make Adam is cited as justification by Iblis (Satan) to reject God's command to prostrate to him.{{Cite book |last=Decharneux |first=Julien |title=Creation and contemplation: the cosmology of the Qur'ān and its late antique background |date=2023 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-079401-4 |series=Studies in the history and culture of the Middle East |location=Berlin Boston (Mass.) |pages=234–236}}

=Egyptian=

In Ancient Egypt, it was the Egyptian god Khnum that was most commonly associated with the creation of humans. Khnum is said to create human children from clay{{cite book |last1=Leeming |first1=David Adams |title=The Oxford companion to world mythology |date=2005 |page=116 |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont0000leem/page/116/mode/2up?q=khnum}} before placing them into their mother's womb.{{Cite web |title=Khnum {{!}} Ram-Headed, Creator, Nile River {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Khnum |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}} Khnum was the crafter of all living things, including some gods, on the potter's wheel: "You are the master of the wheel, who is pleased to model on the wheel . . . you have made humans on the wheel, you have created the gods; you have modelled the small and large cattle; you have formed everything on your wheel each day, in your name Khnum the potter".

=Greek=

In Greek mythology, according to Pseudo-Apollodorus,[http://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html#7 Bibliotheca 1.7.1] Prometheus molded men out of water and earth. Near the town of Panopeus, the remaining used clay was allegedly still present in historical times as two cart-sized rocks that smelled like a human body.[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D10%3Achapter%3D4%3Asection%3D4 Pausanias, Description of Greece 10. 4. 4]Dougherty, C. (2006). Prometheus. Abingdon: Routledge. Myths about Prometheus were inspired by Near Eastern Myths about Enki.West, S. (1994). Prometheus Orientalized. Museum Helveticum, 51(3), 129-149.

Also in Greek mythology, Prometheus moulds a clay statue of Athena, the goddess of wisdom to whom he is devoted, and gives it life from a stolen sunbeam.David Jonathan Hildner, Reason and the Passions in the Comedias of Calderón, John Benjamin's Publishing Co. 1982, [https://books.google.com/books?id=d7dQAP-tIusC&dq=%22La+Estatua+de+Prometeo+%22+Calderon&pg=PA67 pp.67-71]

Pandora, from Greek mythology, was fashioned from clay and given the quality of "naïve grace combined with feeling".{{cite web| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xOrbH_P8MBMC| title = Les hommes de Promethée, poëme. Par m. Colardeau| last1 = Colardeau| first1 = Charles Pierre| year = 1775}}

=East Asian=

According to Chinese mythology, (see Chu Ci and Imperial Readings of the Taiping Era), Nüwa molded figures from the yellow earth, giving them life and the ability to bear children.Handbook of Chinese Mythology, by Lihui Yang et al., Oxford University Press, 2008, pp. 170–172.

The Ainu historically believed that Kamui built the Ainu on the back of a giant fish using clay, sticks, and water.Leeming, David Adams. Creation Myths of the World: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, 2010. [https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.691.2968&rep=rep1&type=pdf External link] p. 10-11

=South Asian=

File:Goddess Parvati and her son Ganesha.jpg

The Birhor of India believe that a leech was responsible for bringing the creator god mud which would later be made into humans.{{cite book |last1=Leeming |first1=David A. |title=Creation Myths of the World [2 volumes]: An Encyclopedia [2 volumes] |date=18 December 2009 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-59884-175-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vkTPEAAAQBAJ&q=%22Creation+Myths+of+the+World%22+leeming |language=en}}

The Gondi people believe that Nantu (the moon) was made of mud that Kumpara spat onto his son.

The Garo people in India believe that a beetle gave clay to the creator god Tatara-Rabuga, who made humanity from it.

Andamanese Mythology women were fashioned from clay (while the men emerged from split bamboo).Radcliffe-Brown, Alfred Reginald. The Andaman Islanders: A study in social anthropology . 2nd printing (enlarged). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1933 [1906]. p. 192Witzel, Michael E.J. (2012). The Origin of The World's Mythologies. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 309-312

=Southeast Asian=

In Vietnamese mythology, the Ngọc Hoàng and the Twelve Bà mụ created people from clay.{{cite book|last= |first= |author-link= David Leeming|title= Oxford Companion to World Mythology|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=iPrhBwAAQBAJ&dq=Vietnamese+creation+myths&pg=PA394|year= 2009|publisher= Oxford University Press|isbn= 978-0195387087|page= 394|quote=}}{{cite web |url= http://truyenxuatichcu.com/than-thoai-viet-nam/than-thoai-ong-troi.html |title= Thần thoại Ông Trời - Thần thoại Việt Nam |trans-title= Mythology of Ông Trời - Vietnamese Mythology |language=vi |publisher= TruyệnXưaTíchCũ.com |access-date= 27 May 2022}}

=Central Asian=

Central Asian mythology, including Altaic and Mongolian, have stories about how the god Ulgen created the first man, Erlik, from clay floating on the surface of water. {{Cite web|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095405797|title = Altaic Mythology}}

Buryatian mythology has the god Sombov create humans from clay and wool.

=African=

The Yoruba culture holds that the god Obatala, likewise, created the human race from clay.{{Cite web | url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100243353 | title=Obatala is Tempted with Palm Wine }}

The Efé people have a creation story in which the first man was made of clay and skin.

According to Malagasy mythology, the sky deity Zanahary and the earth deity Ratovantany created the Malagasy people by breathing life into clay dolls.

The Songye people have a creation myth involving two gods, Mwile and Kolombo, creating humans out of clay as part of a rivalry.

Some of the Dinka of Sudan believe Nhialac, the creator, formed the humans Abuk and Garang from clay. The clay was put into pots to grow, and eventually came out as fully-grown adults. Other narratives attribute the creation of humanity to Nhialac blowing his nose or believe that humans came from the sky and were placed upon a river as full-grown adults. Leeming, David Adams. Creation Myths of the World: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, 2010. [https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.691.2968&rep=rep1&type=pdf External link] p. 95-96

The Dogon people believe the Earth goddess was made when Amma flung earth into the primordial void.Leeming, David Adams. Creation Myths of the World: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, 2010. [https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.691.2968&rep=rep1&type=pdf External link] p. 312

In a Madagascar myth, two gods create human beings: the earth god forms them from wood and clay, the god of heaven gives them life. Human beings die so that they may return to the origins of their being.{{cite book |last1=Long |first1=Charles |title="Ancestorys: Mythic Ancestors" in Vol 1 Gale Encyclopedia of Religion |date=1987 |page=326 |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/ancestors-mythic-ancestors#:~:text=In%20a%20myth%20from%20Madagascar,the%20origins%20of%20their%20being.}}

=Polynesian=

In Hawaiian tradition, the first man was composed of muddy water and his female counterpart was taken from his side parts (story may be partially or entirely Christianized).{{cite book |author1=Abraham Fornander |author-link=Abraham Fornander |author2=Thomas Thrum |title=Fornander Collection of Hawaiian Antiquities and Folk-lore |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j8MqAQAAIAAJ&q=Kumuhonua |publisher=Bishop Museum Press |year=1920 |page=335}}

Tane, in Polynesian mythology, created the original woman from red clay.

=Norse=

In Skaldskaparmal, the god Thor encounters a giant named {{ill|Mokkurkalfe|sv|Mökkurkalfe}}, who was made from clay.{{cite book |last1=Gemynthe |first1=Finn |title=Jætternes Saga. Vor ældste slægtshistorie |date=2023 |publisher=Lindhardt og Ringhof |isbn=978-87-28-42752-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3tjXEAAAQBAJ&dq=mokkurkalfe&pg=PA269 |language=da|page=269}}

=Americas=

According to the beliefs of some Indigenous Americans, the Earth-maker formed the figure of many men and women, which he dried in the sun and into which he breathed life.Almost Ancestors: The First Californians by Theodora Kroeber and Robert F. Heizer

Iñupiat mythology has Raven create a human out of clay, who would later become Tornaq, the first demon.
According to Inca mythology, the creator god, Viracocha, formed humans from clay on his second attempt at creating living creatures.Steele, P. R., & Allen, C. J. (2004). Handbook of inca mythology. In Handbook of Inca mythology (pp. 53-54). Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO.

The Aymaran creation myth involves the making of humans from clay.

In fiction

The superhero Wonder Woman was sculpted from clay by her mother Hippolyta and given life by the Greek gods.Wonder Woman: The Complete History by Les Daniels, published by Chronicle in 2000, {{ISBN|0811829138}}The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore, published by Knopf in 2015, {{ISBN|0804173400}}The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes by Michael L. Fleischer, published in 1976, {{ISBN|9780020800804}}

In science

The role of clay minerals in abiogenesis was suggested in a 2013 paper titled Clay Minerals and the Origin of Life.{{Citation|last=Brack|first=A.|title=Chapter 10.4 - Clay Minerals and the Origin of Life|date=2013-01-01|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B978008098258800016X|work=Developments in Clay Science|volume=5|pages=507–521|editor-last=Bergaya|editor-first=Faïza|series=Handbook of Clay Science|publisher=Elsevier|doi=10.1016/B978-0-08-098258-8.00016-X|access-date=2019-08-19|editor2-last=Lagaly|editor2-first=Gerhard}}