African Mythological Commonalities :: African Creation Myths Essays

African Mythological Commonalities unveiling myths vary among African ethnic groups highlighting similarities and differences in belief systems and societal constructs. There are some(prenominal) factors that contribute to creation myths for for each one individual group. Survival issues dominate umteen my ths, suggesting the gunstocks of commonwealth, the ability to cultivate land, and the benefit of existing off of what one has cultivated. Questions of where land came from, the purpose of man, and the tattleship between the former and the created are evaluated. The important issues of each African ethnic group became the focal point of their creation and origin myths. A predominant theme among African creation myth is the peoples relation to the land, as a means of survival and origin. The shilluk myth, An African Story of the Creation of Man and the Yoruba peoples myth, The Creation of the Universe and Ife state that man was first do from clay. Both creation myths indicat e an awareness and a need for report of the physical differences among human beings. The Shilluk myth claims that there are different dingy people because of the varying colors o f clay that Joak, the creator according to this myth, encountered as he wandered the world. The Yoruba peoples myth explains the differences in the shapes of humans as a result of the god Obatala being drunk when he influence man out of clay. In both myth s, the action of the creating god caused the variation in mans physical characteristics. The Shilluk myth attempts to explain why mans eubstance is designed as it is. Each part of the body is designed, according to this myth, to satisfy a purpose related to survival.