Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preliminary Materials / M.J. Geller and M. Schipper -- Chapter One. Introduction / Mary Douglas -- Chapter Two. Mesopotamian Creation Stories / W. G. Lambert -- Chapter Three. Creation Stories In Ancient Egypt / Stephen Quirke -- Chapter Four. You Can’t Get Here From There: The Logical Paradox Of Ancient Indian Creation Myths / Wendy Doniger -- Chapter Five. Stories Of The Beginning Origin Myths In Africa South Of The Sahara / Mineke Schipper -- Chapter Six. Modern Jewish Attitudes To The Concept Of Myth / Wout Jac. Van Bekkum -- Chapter Seven. Extract From Genesis 1–2 Translation And Commentary, Norton, Ny 1996 / Robert Alter -- Chapter Eight. The Bible In The Making: Slavonic Creation Stories / Florentina Badalanova -- Chapter Nine. Arab Creation Stories Beyond The Pale / Abdullah Al-Udhari -- Chapter Ten. Lurianic Creation Myths / Daphne Freedman -- Index / M.J. Geller and M. Schipper.

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Imagining Creation is a collection of views on creation by noted authors from different disciplines. Topics include creation accounts and iconography from Mesopotamia and Egypt, and cosmologies from India and Africa. Special attention is devoted to creation in the Scriptures (Bible and Koran) and related oral traditions on Genesis from Slavonic Europe, as well as Kabbalah. Some of the creations myths are earlier and some later than the Bible, while a number of the discussed texts offer alternative approaches to the beginnings of the universe. The contributions provide many new perspectives on the origins of man and his world from diverse cultures. The volume is the proceedings of a symposium on creation stories held at University College London. This book is also available in paperback.