101 Myths of the Bible: how ancient scribes - Conscious Evolution TV

46
yth #19:
God formed Adam from the dust of the earth.
The Myth: And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Gen. 2:7)
The Reality: The biblical editors confused the birth of Atum (the Heliopolitan
Creator deity) in Egyptian mythology with the birth of the first human.
Genesis says that God created the first man from the dust of the earth and
breathed life into him through his nostrils. Mesopotamian myths make some similar
claims but they differ from Genesis in two significant details: 1) the gods created man
from a mixture of clay and the blood of a slain deity, and 2) they did not infuse him
with divine breath. So, while the Mesopotamian story might have influenced the biblical
account, the details suggest otherwise.
In Egyptians myths, we find a closer parallel to the biblical account. While Egyptians
have several inconsistent stories about the Creation of humanity, they are not
mutually exclusive. Different portions of humanity could have been created at different
times by different methods. In most versions, though, gods created humanity
through some sort of sculpting process. In one well-known tradition, the god Khnum
makes humanity on a potter’s wheel, indicating a clay-based origin as in Genesis. In
another version, the crafts god Ptah builds man, although the process isn’t described.
In addition to the sculpting process, an essential part of the Egyptian belief about
life is that it comes from breathing life into the nostrils, as indicated in the Genesis
account. In Coffin Text 80, for example, Atum (the Heliopolitan Creator) gave birth
to Shu (the Sky) through his nostrils and identified Shu as the life force. Also in that
text, Nun (a personification of the flood) tells Atum to put his daughter to his nose so
that his heart will live. And elsewhere in that text, Shu, the life force, says:
I will lead them and enliven them,
through my mouth, which is Life in their nostrils.
I will lead my breath into their throats …