Sanchuniathon’s cosmogony (1)

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Phoenician cosmogony of Sanchuniathon, as retold by Eusebius, shows many affinities with the Mesopotamian cosmogonies.

Eusebius, Praeparatio 1.10.1-5:
As the beginning of all things he posits dark, windy air, or a wind of dark air, and turbid, gloomy chaos; these were unbounded, and for long ages found no terminus. But when the wind fell in love with its own beginnings and a blending took place, that entanglement was called Desire. This was the beginning of the foundation of everything, yet it did not recognize its own foundation. And from its self-entanglement - the wind’s - came Mot. Some say this was mud, some say the ooze from a watery mixture. And from this came the whole seed of creation and the genesis of all things. And there were certain living things that were without perception, from which came others with perception, and they were called Zophe shamin, that is, Watchers of the Sky. And it was formed like the shape of an egg. And there shone out from Mot sun and moon, stars and ‘great stars’. … And when the air became distinct as a result of heating, and the sea and the earth, there arose winds and cloud and huge precipitations of the celestial waters. And when it divided out and became separated from its own location through being heated by the sun, and then everything met and collided together again in an instant, thunder and lightning were produced. And at the claps of thunder the afore-mentioned percipient creatures woke up, and they trembled at the noise, and male and female were stirred on land and sea.

Source (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Eusebius, Praeparatio 1.10.1-5

Bibliography

Amar Annus

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