The Ancient Egyptian Source of the Bible's Book of Genesis

There are many people who might think this post is blasphemy. In fact, that select group of people would probably include most of my family. I'm sure they'll continue to pray for my eternal soul. However, I'm sure that they all agree that there are quite a few uncanny similarities between the book of Genesis and an earlier treatise from a "pagan" religion.

In order to describe these similarities, I'll reprint the opening section of the Book of Knowing the Creations of Ra as Ptah. It is said that it was written (or more possibly written down) for a priest named Nes-Amsu around 312 B.C. It has been in the British Museum since around 1865. Thanks to Dr. Maulana Karenga for the vibrancy of the translation:


I. Ra's Description of His Creations
Thus said Ra, the Lord of All, Lord of the Utmost Limits (Neb-er-tcher), after He had come into being: I am the one who came into being as Khepera. He who comes into being and brings into being. When I came into being, being itself came into being. All beings came into being after I came into being. Many were the beings that came forth from the commands of my mouth. Heaven had not yet come into being. Nor had earth come into being. Nor had the ground been created or the things which creep and crawl upon it. I raised up being in the primordial waters as inert things. I found no place on which to stand. I formed it from the desire in my heart; I laid the foundation through Maat. I created forms of every kind. Many were the forms which issued forth from the commands of my mouth. Not yet had I established Shu, the power and principle of light and air. Nor sent forth Tefnut, the power and principle of moisture. There existed no one who acted together with me. I conceived it in my own heart. And there came into being a vast number of forms of divine beings as forms of offspring and forms of their offspring from them ...


I came forth from among the plants which I created and I created all things which creep and crawl and all that exists among them. Then by the power and principles of light and air and the power and principle of moisture, heaven and earth were brought into being, and by earth and heaven [Ausar, Heru, Set, Ast and Nbet-Het] were brought into being from the womb, one after another, and they gave birth to the multitudes in this land (brackets mine).


Now let's review the description of creation in the book of Genesis. The most striking similarities will be placed in bold:

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, let there be light and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day. And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

And God said, let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.


And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.


And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Clearly the Book of Knowing the Creations of Ra as Ptah is an earlier version of the story of creation in the Book of Genesis. In and of itself, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. After all, the first five books of the bible are also known as the Jewish Torah, right? It is accepted that Judaism is the forerunner of Christianity. However, acknowledging that both are children of an African, “pagan” spiritual form would be a problem! The Udjat will continue to describe passages which have undeniable Kemetic origin. If this Kemetic origin becomes understood by the masses; only two results can occur. Either it will shake the very foundations of the three “major” religions creating conflict and strife; or all of humanity will reconcile its Ancient Afri-Kemetic origin. Maybe we’ll all be better for it. “Honor thy mother and thy father that your days may be long upon the face of the earth.” Sounds a little different under this context, huh? Shem em Hetep (Go forth in Peace)!