Creation Stories: Landscapes and the Human Imagination

An accessible exploration of how diverse cultures have explained humanitys origins through narratives about the natural environment

Drawing from a vast array of creation mythsBabylonian, Greek, Aztec, Maya, Inca, Chinese, Hindu, Navajo, Polynesian, African, Norse, Inuit, and morethis concise illustrated book uncovers both the similarities and differences in our attempts to explain the universe.
 
Anthony Aveni, an award-winning author and professor of astronomy and anthropology, examines the ways various cultures around the world have attempted to explain our origins, and what roles the natural environment plays in shaping these narratives. The book also celebrates the audacity of the human imagination.
 
Whether the first humans emerged from a cave, as in the Inca myths, or from bamboo stems, as the Bantu people of Africa believed, or whether the universe is simply the result of Vishnus cyclical inhales and exhales, each of these fascinating stories reflects a deeper understanding of the culture it arose from as well as its place in the larger human narrative. See more