Author
BAŞARAN, Abdullah
Publication Place
Hits University -
Hits University
Subject
Cosmogony, Creation, Mythology, Phenomenology, Philosophy, Water
Type
Book
Language
ara,eng,tur
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Leitir Library
Library Asset ID
ISSN: 2757-6949, EISSN: 2757-6949, DOI: 10.14395/hid.1057646
Record ID
cdi_doaj_primary_oai_doaj_org_article_10da6c39f61a4dff9ef9e52f14f5cbae
Library Location
DOAJ Directory of Open Access Journals
Notes
Creation narratives contain an essential aporia, an impasse: Are created things, that is, the universe, created somewhere, or is space among the created things? In fact, creation narratives are also a spatial fiction: "Where" the creation took place as well as the stages of creation are told; Because every myth, every narrative has to occur in a "certain place". A landscape is created by explaining the order in which the sky, earth, lands and seas, mountains, plains, springs, rivers, and more special places and regions were created; Then, human beings are placed on this stage. It is as if the place where people will stay and spend their lives is a prerequisite for being human. But these stories not only describe the space in which humans will be placed, they also display the absence of a being without space. Space always exists; It somehow exists in the first place, without needing to be created. For example, the Babylonian epic Enuma Elish involves the creation of space and creation in space simultaneously: Apsû (fresh water) and Tiāmat (salt water) mix with each other and initiate creation “before the gods are yet there” and even before “nothing” exists. Thus, the waters not only create the things that come after them (even the gods who will carry out the creation), but also create the appropriate positions for the gods to create these things. This situation shows us the following: Apsû and Tiāmat built a matrix, a space, at the beginning of the universe; so that everything that will happen later will appear and settle in this place, in this place. Similarly, Chaos, the predecessor of Kosmos in Greek mythology and philosophy, contains all kinds of potentials that will separate from each other at the beginning of the universe. Since the chaotic scene of this origin of the universe precedes the things that will come into existence, philosophy, in its first steps, begins to investigate what this origin might be. The first answers express this origin in “spatial” terms: water, Apeiron, the chaotic state of unity, or the disordered Chaos itself. We also encounter the structure of a spatial thing (especially "water") that precedes the creation of the universe in Turkish creation epics and Abrahamic religious texts such as the Old Testament and the Quran. However, it should be noted that this way of reading creation narratives is clearly the opposite of creation ex nihilo. For example, when we carefully read the Old Testament, we see that before the command to “be light,” there were already primordial waters on which God's Spirit could wander. The waters exist here originally as a fertile source and a bed on which everything is laid. We encounter a similar situation in the Holy Quran: In many repetitive verses regarding the creation of the universe, the only god Allah ascends to the Throne after creating the heavens and the earth. Moreover, we read in one verse: “[Allah] … created the heavens and the earth in six days, while His Throne was on the water.” (Hud, 11/7) The fact that God's Throne is on water is a state of affairs, a description of the situation. The waters mentioned here mean something completely different from many declarations in the Qur'an, "We created living things from water": That is, these primordial waters are not only something created within or together with the universe when it was created, but they also emerge as a space that enables creation during creation. By making a reading of various mythologies and creation narratives, this article proposes a different understanding and interpretation of the dilemma of space regarding the origin of the universe (cosmogony), that is, the problem of whether the space already exists for creation to occur in a particular place and space. The purpose of this article is to point out the vital and philosophical value of leaving existential dilemmas unresolved by focusing on undecidability, in-betweenness, and the influence of the dilemma of space on the human world of meaning, rather than determining a priority or superiority between the creation of space and the creation of the universe in space. Creation narratives accommodate an aporia within themselves: were the created things, i.e., the world, created in a place; or, was “place” among the created things? It is certain in this matter that creation narratives are also a construction of a place. It is narrated “where” creation took place, for myths and stories have to happen in “a certain place.” A landscape is drawn by giving an account of in what order created such places (sky, earth, land and sea, mountains, plains, springs, rivers, and more specific regions), and then human beings are placed in this scene. That is to say, the place in which human beings will reside, as it were, is a pre-condition for being a human. Yet these stories do not only describe the place into which the human beings are to be situated but also attest that there is no “becoming” without place. Place always is: it somehow exists in the beginning without the need of being created. The Babylonian creation myth Enuma Elish, for instance, involves the creation “of” place as well as the creation “in” place: “When no gods whatever had been brought into being” yet and even when there was “nothing” to come to exist, Apsu (fresh water) and Tiamat (salt water) intermingle and begin the course of creation. As a consequence, not only were the following gods to be created but also the locations “proper” for the gods to create. This makes it clear that Apsu and Tiamat initiated a matrix in the beginning of the world, so that everything that follows appears and resides within this place. Likewise, in Greek mythology and philosophy the Chaos as the predecessor of the Cosmos holds all the possibilities that will differentiate in the beginning of the world. Since this chaotic setting of the origin precedes all the course of action, philosophy in its early steps searches for what this origin might be. The first answers put this inquiry in “platial” terms: water, Apeiron, chaotic situation of unity, or the unordered Chaos itself. This pattern of something platial (especially “water”) preceding the creation of the world can also be traced in Turkish mythologies and the Abrahamic religious texts such as the Old Testament and Quran. But it should be noted that this reading of creation narratives is a clear rejection of the ex nihilo. As we carefully read the Old Testament, to illustrate, before the “Fiat lux!” command, there had already been the primordial waters for the Spirit of God to hover over. The waters are originally a procreative source and an empty room everything is spread within. We read a similar case in the Quran: in many repetitive verses concerning the cosmogony, the only God, Allah, establishes Himself above the Throne after creating the heavens and the earth. But a specific passage (11/7) writes, “It is He who created the heavens and earth in six days… and His Throne had been upon water.” That the Throne of God is “upon” water is a description of a “state”. And the waters mentioned here tell us something quite different from the Quranic statement that “We created living beings out of water”: that is, these primeval waters not only emerge as a thing created with or within the world created but also appear as a place that makes creation possible. This essay offers a novel understanding and interpretation of the dilemma of the concept of place through a reading of various creation narratives: rather than a determination of a primacy between the creation of place and the that of the world in place, it aims at expressing the vital values of undecidability, the state of being in-between, and leaving the existential dilemmas unresolved.
Detaylı Başlık
Mekânın Yaratılışı, Mekânda Yaratılış: Yaratılış Anlatılarında Evrenin Aporetik Kökeni
