mythic aspects of the process of adam's creation in judaism and islam

8/9/2019 Mythic Aspects of the Process of Adam's Creation in Judaism and Islam

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Maisonneuve Larose

Mythic Aspects of the Process of Adam's Creation in Judaism and IslamAuthor(s): Leigh N. B. ChipmanSource: Studia Islamica, No. 93 (2001), pp. 5-25Published by: Maisonneuve & LaroseStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1596106 .Accessed: 02/04/2014 16:50

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Studia slamica, 001

Mythic Aspects of the Process ofAdam's Creation

in Judaism and IslamIn memoriam ava Lazarus-Yafeh

Introduction

Thispaper imstoexamine arious ales f howGodcreated damfromclay as an exampleof mythopoetic ctivity n Islam. Comparison f theJewish, slamic nd Gnosticmaterial elating o the creation f Adam nthese hree eligions ill how hat slam, ar rom ejecting yth utright,in fact tands n the middle f a continuum hose extremes re Judaism(generally egarded s lacking n myth) n the one hand and Gnosticism(generally egarded s highlymythical) n the ther.

Thestudy f myth asenjoyed enewedcholarly ttentionnrecent ears,and ntire ooks havebeendevoted othe iscussion f the uestion What smyth?"' here s general greement hat myth n the omparative-religious(orcomparative-literary)ense s not lie or a fiction, heusualmeaning fmyth n everyday peech. eyond hat onsensus, onfusion nd controversy

reign. he definition f mythmost uited othepurpose f this aper s thatused n folklore: sacred arrative hich xplains owtheworld nd huma-nity eached heir resent tate.2 his definition ncompasses hetwo most

*This rticle sbased na chapter fmyMAthesis, MythicndGnostic spects f he tory f he reationofMan, omparing idrash nd slamic iterature" TheHebrew niversityf Jerusalem, 999), upervisedyProf. avaLazarus-YafehndDr.MeirM.Bar-Asher.would ike o hank r. Bar-Asher or is willingnessobegin upervisingthesis hat as near ompletion,ndfor isunfailing elpfulnessndgood dvice ver ince.I would ike o hank avidCook nd LindaBarron, ho ead arlier rafts f his aper.

A note n translations:uotations rom he Qur'anuseR. Bell,TheQur'an:Translated ith critical e-arrangementf he urahs Edinburgh,937-39). llother rabic materialsmy wn ranslation,sare itationsof Hebrewmaterial hat onot pecificallyite translator.

I. Somesurveys f the ubject re W.G.Doty,Mythography:heStudy f Myths nd Rituals Tuscaloosa,1986);L.Patton ndW.Donigereds.),MyAthndMethodCharlottesville,996), .Coupe,MythLondon, 997).2. In contrast o egends, hich re narrativesold s true tories et nthe eriod fter he reation f he world

and ofolk ales,whichhe udience ealizes refictional.ee on this .Dundes, MadnessnMethod, lus Pleafor rojectivenversion,"n:L. Patton ndW. Donigereds.),Myth nd Method Charlottesville,996), . 147.Folklore otif-numbersre aken rom . Thompson, otif-IndexfFolkLiterature,ev. d. Indianapolis,966).

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LEIGHN.B. CHIPMAN

important omponents f any myth: arrative nd explanation. eoplehave

always ried ounderstandheworld nwhich hey ive, ndmyth sanexpres-sionof this earch orknowledge hich s not necessarily istorical, ut anprovide s with nswers oourbasic xistential uestions.3hese nswers akethe orm f tories hat re regarded y he ulture elling hem s the asisforitsmanners ndmorals. hey suallynvolve igher eings, nd ften certainversion f the mythwill be preserved n the culture's criptures r recitedduring estivals. myth s not necessarily n explanationn the sense ofmaking learer omething ot nderstood;ather, t s an nterpretation,par-ticular ayofperceivingheworld.

Islamhastraditionallyeen tself s a religion asedondivinely-revealedlaw the hari'a), rather han n myth. triving oachieve pure ndperfectmonotheism,heguardians f the hari'a regarded yth s a remnant f thepaganpast, nd storytellersqussas)who xpanded nd passedon old taleswere often egardedwith uspicion.4 owever, he commentators n theQur'an and Hadithwereunable o refrain rom xpanding hemythic le-ments ontained nrevelation, hile oets ndmystics agerly eapt nto heocean of ancient mythological raditions nd nterpreted hem n their wnways.Thispaperwill not tudy hemystical radition;tspurpose s to findsparks f myth ithin he radition hat pparently as hostile o t.

A centralmethodologicalool n this hunt will be comparison f earlyIslamic extswith ewishources. ntil ecently udaism as considered heanti-mythic eligion ar excellence. his view was most orcefullyxpres-sedby he enowned ible scholar . Kaufmann, ccording owhom, srae-lite religion oesnot merely ppose myth, ut s unable o understand tsessence.5While he uestion f myth n Judaism as been controversial ormany ears, more nd more cholars re now of the pinion hatmyth oesindeed xist within udaism ossibly ue to a change n the perception fmyth, hich sno onger een s a tale from he iographies f thegods, utrather s a narrative hat tabilizes nd organizes hevarious omponents fa certain ulture ithin he rameworkf meaning nd values.6

Much of the discussion f myth n Judaism as revolved bout he ha-racter f God. t s appropriate o widen his iscussion o nclude he igureof Adam, heFirst Man, for he is (paradoxically r not) an almost uper-human eing,meant o serve s an example nd paradigm or s, his chil-dren, n our ives. n this ontext, t s worth oting . Schweid's ummaryof S. Hirsch's ormulation f Jewishmyth n his ReligionsphilosophieesJudentums: yth xists oth within udaismnd within aganism, ifferentin content ut quivalent n position nd role. Paganmyth s an expression

3. A. Schimmel, eciphering he igns f God Charlottesville, 994),p. 125.4. TheEncyclopedia f slam,new dition Leiden, 960-to ate), .v. "Kass."5. Y. Kaufmann,sraelite eligionJerusalem ndTel-Aviv, 954), assinm.6. I. Gruenwald, The Unpreventable resence f Myth Opening ssay," n: H. Pedaya ed.) Eshel

Beer-Sheva : Myth nJudaism Beersheba, 996), p. 3.

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MYTHICASPECTS OFTHEPROCESS OFADAM'SCREATION NJUDAISMAND SLAM

of natural orceswhich ubmit o the lind onsistency f Fate,whileJewish

myth s historical, xpressing hemoral ruth f human piritual xistence.Thus, he tory f Creation, he tories f the Patriarchs an all be seen asparadigmatic istoricalmyths xpressing he aws of the history f theJewish eople.7slam, oo, sesmyth s a paradigm or istory, ith he er-iod of the ProphetMuhammad nd the first eneration f Muslims ftentaking heplaceof the primordial ra of Creation n other ultures.8

Anothermethod f searching or he parks f myth akesus to the pre-Islamic eriod, nd to theGnostic eligion. hisreligion, ossibly heminim(sectarians) f the Sages,flourished n the Middle East in the second tofourth enturies E. It is a matter f some

controversys to whether he

Gnosticswere heretic hristians, ews r pagans.Their reation myth ssimilar o speculations urrent lready n the first entury CE, basedonGreek hilosophy nd echoes of which we can find n the writings f PhiloJudaeus. his myth erived, ltimately, rom hePlatonic reationmythappearing n the Timaeus, ombinedwithGenesis.Myth s essential o theGnostic ystems,9nd certain mythic lements n rabbinic hought anbestbe understood s polemic gainst heGnostics. ome of these deas reappearin the Muslimmaterials o be examined ere.

Gnosticism as a religion omposed f many ects and religious ys-tems.'0 hemain ource hat havedrawn pon n this aper s the ongver-sionof The Apocryphon fJohn, which ppears n codices I and V of theCopticGnostic ibrary ncovered t Nag' Hammadi n Upper gypt. ear-son defines his work s a mythopoetic xegesisof texts from Genesisconcerned ithAdam'screation Gen. 1:26ff., en.2:7),a Gnostic ynthe-sis of several non-Gnostic ewish xegetical raditions elating o thesetexts." n TheApocryphon f John, heDemiurge, hecreator od of thismaterial orld nd the on of Sophia Wisdom the owest piritual ivinebeing), nnounces hat e s the nly od. As a result, heavenly oicepro-

claims hat There s Man and the on of Man,"and the Demiurge nd the7. E. Schweid, De-Mythologizationnd Re-Mythologizationf Judaism Myth nd Judaism n the

thought f Kaufmann, uber nd Beck)," n: H. Pedaya ed.) EshelBeer-Sheva : Myth n Judaism Beer-sheba, 996),p. 344.

8. For an overview f slam's attitude omyth nd history ee M. Forward, Islam," n: J. Holm andJ. Bowker eds.),Myth nd History London, 994),pp.97-118.

9. Gedalayahu troumsa onsiders nosticism's mportance or hehistory f religions s its being helastflowering f mythic houghtnthe ncient orld nd an attempt o reverse he rocess f de-mythologi-zation egun y theprophets f srael ndthe Greek hilosophers. ee G. Stroumsa, nother eed: Studiesin GnosticMythologyLeiden,1984),p. 1.

10.The questionwhether nosticism as in fact separate eligion, r was merely tendency hatappeared n a number f religions nd belief ystems n ateantiquity, s the ubject f debate. ee, on oneside: B. Pearson, Introduction",n idem.,Gnosticism, udaism nd Egyptian hristianity Minneapolis,1990),pp. 6-9 and references here: . Layton, heGnostic criptures NewYork, 1987),pp. xxi-xxii; nthe ther: M.A.Williams, ethinking Gnosticism": n argument ordismantling dubious ategory Prin-ceton, 996).

I1. B. Pearson, Biblical xegesis n Gnostic iterature," n idem.,Gnosticism, udaism nd EgyptianChristianityMinneapolis, 990),pp. 33-34.

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LEIGHN.B.CHIPMAN

archons, eingswho akepart nruling hisworld, re vouchsafed glimpse

of the Anthropos, he piritual irstMan who s also the upreme od.TheDemiurge nd rchons ecide ocreate dam n the mage f theAnthropos,and create the animateAdam," a non-material eing which has a soul(psyche) utno spirit pneuma).At this tage,Adam s incapable f move-ment nd ies onthe round, ntil ophiapersuades heDemiurge obreathehis spirit ntohim.Thus, hedivine park hat ophiastole n order ogivebirth o the Demiurge asses from im o Adam. The archons mmediatelyunderstand hat hey avecreated being uperior othemselves nd mpri-son him n a material ody.12 In otherwords,Adam s composed f body,soulandspirit, ith oth he body nd soulthe reations f the orces ulingthisworld nd through hich eis enslaved o Fate. Within he oul s thespirit, lso called he spark," art f the ivine owerwhich as fallen ntoourworld nd the bodywas created o ensure hat t remains ere. n a stateofnon-salvation,he pirit ithin he ody nd oul s not ware f tself ndisdepicted s paralysed, sleeporpoisoned; t doesn't now" i.e., -gnos-tic, s it were).Awakening nd salvation re achieved hrough nosis.

Legends bout hecreation f Adam are found n threemaingenres fIslamic iterature: ur'anic ommentarytafsir), istory ta rikh) nd toriesof the prophets qisas al-anbiya'). Tafsir s usually connected ommen-

tary, n which he holy ext s systematicallynterpreted, entence y sen-tence, hrase yphrase nd ometimes venword yword.14 Asrepresenta-tives f this genre, choseMuqatilb. Sulayman d. 150/767),'" Tabari d.310/923)'6 and bn Kathir d. 774/1373). As far s the Muslimhistorianswere oncerned, herewas no real difference etween eporting he reationof the world, et alone that f Adam, nd reporting vents rom he ime ftheProphet nd ater both kinds f reports akhbar)were onsidered is-tory. have dduced heversions f the arlyhistorians abari,Mas'udi d.345/956)' andMaqdisi (fl. 355/966)19 f the reation f Adam later is-torians ended orepeat hese arly nes, t leastregarding he hemes hatinterested e.Qisasal-anbiya', he tories f the pre-Islamic) rophets, sthe namegiven oa number f works etelling hebiographies f Biblicalprophets including ersonages ot egarded s such n the Bible but onsi-deredprophets n Muslim radition), ew Testament ersonalities uch sJesus, achariah nd John he Baptist, nd prophets rom hepre-Islamic

12. TheApocrvphonfJohn Codex I),pp. 15-25 = B.Layton, TheSecret ook AccordingoJohn," nidem, heGnostic cripturesNewYork, 987), p.39-44).

13.H.Jonas, heGnostic eligionBoston, 963), .44.14.TheEncyclopediaf slam Leiden, 913-1936),.v. Tafsir."

15.Forhisbiography,ee TheEncyclopediaf slam, ew ditionLeiden, 960-), .v. Mukatil."16.For detailed iography,eeF. Rosenthal, heHistory f l-Tabari Albany, 989), ol.1,pp.5-134.17.Forhisbiography,eeE12, .v. IbnKathir."18.Forhisbiography,eeE12, .v. Mas'udi."19. Forhisbiography,eeE12, .v. Makdisi, utahhir .Tahir;" . Adang,Muslim riters nJudaism nd

the ible Leiden, 996), .50.

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MYTHICASPECTSOFTHEPROCESSOFADAM'SCREATION NJUDAISMANDISLAM

Arabian radition, ogether ith ther vents n which iousheroes r ene-

miesof God were nvolved.20 he twomost amous xpositors f this enreare the Qisas al-anbiya' by Kisa'i2' and 'Ara'is al-majalis by Tha'labi(b. 1035/427).22

With egard othe Jewish ources, egends bout he reation f Adamare scattered hroughout abbiniciterature. referred o sources ppearingin Torah Shelemah23 nd in the notes o Ginzburg's he Legendsof theJews,24n addition o a systematic eading f GenesisRabbah25nd Pirqede-Rabbi liezer.26

The process of Adam's creationBoth n Judaism nd slam man s conceived s having spiritual nd a

material omponent. he spiritual omponent s what llows man to riseabovethebeasts.Here willexamine ow Jewish nd Muslim ources es-cribe heprocess f Adam's creation nd from whatmaterials ewascrea-ted. (The process of embryonic evelopment, ften discussedby thesesources within he framework f traditions bout Adam's creation,27sbeyond he copeof this rticle.) here eems o be a "main narrative" f the

creation f Adam from lay and the breathing f ife nto his body,whichappears n almost ll the sources xamined ere,while secondary arra-tives,"which re notpart f themain ne, ppear rom ime o time.

20.EI2,vol.5, p. 180.21. For possible dentificationsf this uthor, eeEI2,s.v. "Kisa'i;"A.Schussmann,Stories f the ro-

phets n Muslim radition: ainly n the basis of Kisasal-anbiya'by Muhammad . 'Abdallah l-Kisa'i,"(unpublished h.D.diss.;Jerusalem, 981),pp.6-8 [inHebrew].

22.Forhisbiography, eeEI,s.v. "Tha'labi."23. M. Kasher ed.),Humash orah helemah Jerusalem, 926),vol. 1.24. L. Ginzburg, heLegends f heJews Philadelphia, 909),vols. (text), (notes).25. GenesisRabbah s an exegeticalmidrash n the book of Genesis. t comprises artly imple xpla-

nations f words nd phrases, ndpartly ggadic nterpretations, ometimes nly lightly elated o the ibli-cal text. ased on the names f the agesandthe vents mentioned herein, enesisRabbah susually atedto ater han 00 CE,but ncludes arliermaterial. G. Stemburger,ntroduction otheTalmud nd Midrash[Edinburgh, 996], p.277-279)Citations f Gen.Rabbah re from .Neusner, enesisRabbah:TheJudaicCommentaryotheBookof Genesis.ANewAmerican ranslation Atlanta, 985),vol. 1.

26. Pirqede-Rabbi liezerrepresents he rewritten ible" genre, etelling he vents f the Bible n acontinuous ndcoherent ashion. owever, t continues opreserve ertain lements f midrash e.g.,givingthenames f traditionists; ot ttempting oharmonize ifferent raditions). irqede-Rabbi liezer s dated

to the ighth r ninth entury E, and ontainsmany eferencesoMuslim ule.However,many ery ldtra-ditions, oo, represerved ere; ossibly omplete hapters avebeentaken ver rom arlier ources lmostwithout hange. Stemburger, bid., p.329-330)Citations f Pirqede-Rabbi liezer arefrom. . Friedlan-der, irke e Rabbi Eliezer.TheChapters f RabbiEliezer heGreat NewYork, 1981).

27. The Qur'anicverses escribing dam's creation rom drop nutfa) elate o embryonic evelop-ment. ee, e.g., 16:4,23:14.

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LEIGHN.B.CHIPMAN

The main narrative

The-main arrative f he rocess fAdam's reation an be broken owninto maller arts, nd thus t can be seenthat ll or some of a limited um-berof components ppear n the ources,with ccasional ariants:

(1) God orders hat ust for he reation f manbe brought ohim, ndEarth efusesvariants: . Gabriel lone s sent obring hedust; .Gabriel,Michael nd theAngel f Death re sent; . the Angel f Death lone s sent;d. Iblis s sent).

(2) Dust s taken rom arious laces variants: . Dust s taken rom llthe arth; . Dust s taken rom pecific laces;c. Dust s taken rom holyplace;d. The dust nfluences dam's descendants; . The dust s particularlygood).

(3)Themolding f man frommud.(4)An etymologicalegendwhy s the firstman's name Adam?(5)God createsAdamwithHis hands.(6)Adamremains mmobile or orty ears.(7) During his ime, blis (= the devil) threatens dam and enters is

body.(8)God forces he oulto enter he body.

(9) Thesoul/spirit s breathed nto he bodyvia the head/nose.(10) Adamhastily ries o rise nd s unable o do so.(11) Adam neezes nd says l-hamd i-allah.

Some of these omponents re common oJewish nd Muslim ourcesalike, nd ome ppear nonly ne of these raditions,s the ollowingableshows:

Source 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11BT - a,b - -JT - cGen.R - - - - + - +PDRE - a,c - - - + - - + - +MDHG - c,e - + - - - - +Jerah. aMuqatil - c,d,e + - - - + + + +Tabari b, ,d a,d + + + + + - + + +Mas'udi b d + + - + + - - + +Maqdisi - b,d + + + + - + + + +

Kisa'i b b,d - + - + + + + + +Tha'labi b d + - - + - + + + +

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MYTHICSPECTS FTHEPROCESS FADAM'SREATIONNJUDAISMNDSLAM

Abbreviations: T = Babylonian almud;JT = Palestinian almud;Gen.R = Genesis

Rabbah;PDRE=

Pirqede-Rabbi

liezer;MDHG= Midrash

ha-Gadol; Jerah. Chronicles f Jerahmeel.29(1) God orders hat ustbe brought hatHe may createAdamfrom t;

Earth efuses.Thissubject,whichwasgreatly eveloped yMuslim radition, oesnot

appear n early midrashim, ut only n a relatively ate source, he Chro-nicles fJerahmeel:

Godthen alled Gabriel nd aidunto im: Go andbringMe dust rom hefour orners f the arth, nd will reateman ut of t." Gabriel henwent ogather ust rom he arth, ut he arth rove im way nd would not llowhim o take ust rom t.Gabriel hereuponaid:"Why, earth, ost hou othearken othe voiceof the Lord,whofounded hee pon hewaters ithoutprops ndwithout illars?" heearth epliednd aid: I amdestined obecomeacurse, nd obe cursed hrough an, nd f God Himself oes not ake he ustfromme,no-one lseshall ver o so." WhenGod saw this Hestretched orthHishand, ook f he ust nd reated herewithhe irst an n the ixth ay.

Here we have the motif f the ngels' objection othe reation f man,32

on the ne hand, nd on the ther, dditional onfirmation hatGodhadnopartners n the reation.Tabari ites hree ersions f thismotif n his Tafsir all are repeated n

the Ta rikh), ach with tsown ignificance. he first ersion ppears n thecommentary n Qur'an 2:30:

[atradition oing ack o bn Abbas d. 68/686) nd ther ompanionsof the rophet:]..and hen od sent Gabriel o the arth n order obringmud rom er, nd arth aid: MayGod avemefrom ou akingnythingfrom e r harming e." o he returned ithoutakingnd aid: Lord, he

requested our rotectionnd grantedt to her." od then entMichael,andEarth equested od's protection, nd he granted t to her, eturned nd28. Midrash a-Gadol s the argest ompilation f nidrashinz n thePentateuch hat as survived. t s

considered o havebeencomposedn Yemen n the hirteenth entury yDavid ben Amram, ho ompiledthe nterpretation f every erse ccording o the midrashic, almudic nd gaonic raditions,nd especiallyMaimonides'nterpretation, eaving hem ogethernto singlewhole. Stemburger,ntroduction, . 354)

29.Jerahmeel en Solomonwas a scribe enownedor isaccuracy, hoprobably ived n taly r Spainduring he leventh r twelfth entury. e collated number f minormidrashim o create "re-written ible,"calledTheChroniclesfJerahmeel, rom he reation f heworld o the estruction f the econd Temple.H.Schwartzbaum,Prologemon,"n:M.Gaster, heChroniclesfJerhameel NewYork, 971], p.3-9)

30. A1241.5.2? Man madefrom laybrought y Angel f Death.Motif-numbersnding nare taken

from .M.El-Shamy, olkTraditions f heArab World: Guide o Motif lassificationBloomingtonndIndianapolis, 995).vol. 1.31. M. Gaster, heChronicles fJerahmeel NewYork, 1971),p. 15.32. A1217.1- Angels pposecreation f Man.A fuller iscussion f the ngels' objection oAdam's

creationwill appear n my rticle Adam nd the ngels: n examination f mythic lements n Islamicsources," orthcoming.

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LEIGH .B.HIPMAN

saidwhatGabriel ad aid. Godthen ent he Angel f Death ndEarthasked or od'sprotectionndhereplied:MayGod aveme rometurningwithout ulfillingis ommand.""

This version ppears n Mas'udi,3"and n an extended orm, n Kisa'i3?"and Tha'labi.36n these ales, s in many thers elating o the reation fman, here s also reference o the uestion f death theAngel f Death'sparticipationn the rocess f Adam'screation hows hat ife nd death reintertwined. isa'i evennotes hat heAngel f Deathreceived ispositiondue to his merciless ithstanding f Earth'spleas."7

The second ersion, hich ppears nthe ommentary n 2:3 1,goesbackto Ibn Abbas.Here t s told hatGod sent heAngelof Death n the firstplaceandhecarried ut hismission uccessfully.8 The third ersion, hichappears n the ommentary n 17:61, lso goesback to Ibn Abbasand svery imilar othe econd ersion, xcept hat nstead f theAngel f Death,God sends blis to bring imAdam'sdust."9 his tradition ndswith blis'refusal o bow down o Adam nd provides n explanation or blis' feelingof superiority he, having rought hedust o God, took part n Adam'screation. In the Gnosticmyth, heEarth er se does not participate nAdam'screation, ut he rchons, he ulers f the world dentified ith hefallen ngels nd with atan's band, re the nes who createAdam.)

Kisa'itooreports version ccording o whichGod sentGabriel,Michaeland eventually heAngelof Death, o take dust from heEarth.However,Kisa'iadds an explanation or arth's bjection:When blisheard f God'splan ocreate new ndhonorable reature, e went own oEarth nd nci-ted her not to give dust for his reature, laiming hatGod was about ocreate being hatwould ebel gainst im nd uffer ellfire.40 Ironically,this wouldbe Iblis' own fate, ue to his opposition oAdam.)This tale,which ndswith alf f thehandful f dust rought rom arth ytheAngelof Death beingplaced n Paradise nd the ther alf n Hell,deals not nlywith he

problemf death n the world, ut lso with he question f pre-

destination: ll of humanity's ateswere lready oreordainedt Adam'screation. n the arallel ersion eported yTha'labi, blisdoesnot ake artin the roceedingsnd God Himself nforms arth hat He is about o createfrom er beings, ome of whomwill obey Him and some of whom willrebel.41

33.Tabari, ami'al-bayan an ta wil vy l-Qur'an Cairo,1954),vol. 1,p. 203 hereafter: abari, af-sir). cf. dem., nnales t-Tabari, d. M.J. eGoeje Leiden,1879;repr. 964), eries1,pp.91-92.

34. Mas'udi,Muruj l-dhahabwa-ma'adin l-jawahir, d. Ch.Pellat Beirut, 979).39.35. Kisa'i, Vitae rophetarum, d. I. EisenbergLeiden,1923),pp. 22-23.

36.Tha'labi, Arais al-majalis Cairo,1340AH),p. 18.37. Kisa'i, p. 23.38.Tabari, afsir, ol.1,p. 214.39. Ibid., vol. 15,p. 116. Cf. Annales, eries1,p. 88.40. Kisa'i, pp.22-23.41.Tha'labi,p. 19.

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MYTHIC ASPECTSOF THEPROCESSOFADAM'S CREATIONNJUDAISMAND SLAM

According oSchwartzbaum,here s a connection and even parallel- between his tory ndthe ales bout he ands f angelswhoopposed hecreation f the world.One of the mostwidespreadmyths ells f the rea-tion f the world y a creator odwho orders everalmessengersusuallythree) odive nto heprimordial cean norder o retrieve ud rom he eabed. n most ases,the irst womessengers ail nd only he hird ucceedsin carrying ut his task, ndreturns ith he mudfrom hich he arth willbe created.42Whilenon-Semitic ersions f thismyth eal with he reationof the Earth, heSemitic ersions eal with he reation f man. The basicidea common o all versions s that he messengers f the Creator od haveto gather lay/mud/dust tc.; while woof them ail, he hird s successful.The author f the myth ishes o showhow the material" or he reationof Earth or of Man was gathered.43 isa'i's version f the story, whichemphasizes he lose connection etween he Angel f Death nd the rea-tion f Adam, xpresses he dea that he ycleof ife nd death s eternal,with he mplication hat eath s necessary est he arth ecome vercrow-ded." In the gaddah appearing n Gen. Rabbah 8.4,the irst wobands fangels hat pposedAdam'screation reequivalent othe wo ingle ngelsappearing ntheMuslim egend. he third and,which upports he reationof man, s equivalent o the hird ngel,who ucceeds ncollecting hedust

required orAdam's creation. chwartzbaum onsiders he midrash n theChronicles f Jerahmeel n attempt ocompromise etween heTalmudictradition f three andsof angels nd the Muslim radition f three ingleangels nvolved n Adam'screation.45

Schwartzbaumlso notes hat n theBook of Enoch dated . 200 BCE -100CE),Raphael s the ord f Sheol, heunderworld a point f similaritywithKisa'i's creation tory. n the ame waythat he hird ngel, Azra'il, spraised y Godfor athering ust nd s rewarded ybecoming heAngel fDeath, o Labbiel,whoseband agrees o the creation f Adam, s named

Raphaelnd becomes ord of

healing Heb. refu'oth;f.

refa'im shades,ghosts). he ate midrash mphasizes,n ccordance ith he almudic egend,that nly heopposing ngelswereburned, hile heir eaders, abriel ndMichael,were aved. This, oo, onforms ith he Muslim radition.6

(2)Dust s taken rom arious laces.47Both heJewish nd theMuslim raditions gree hat he ust rom hich

Adamwascreatedwas taken rom he ntire orld. heydisagree s to the42. H. Schwartzbaum,Jewish ndMoslem ources f Falasha reationmyth," nR. Patai t l. (eds.),

Studies nBiblical nd Jewish olklore Bloomington, 960),p. 41.43. Ibid.,p. 42.44. Ibid.,p. 44.45. Ibid.,p. 49.For detailed iscussion f these raditions,ee "Adam nd the Angels: n examination

of mythic lements n slamic ources," orthcoming.46. Schwartzbaum,Jewish nd Moslem ources," . 50.47.A1241.5 Man was made rom arth rought rom our ifferent places;A.1241.5.? - Physical nd

personality ttributes temperament) re determined y characteristics f the dust rom which hefirstmanwas created.

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LEIGHN.B. CHIPMAN

significance f this nd as to the pecific laces from which he dustwas

taken.While heMuslim raditionsuoted bove ontinue y tating hat heAngel of Death/Iblis athered ust from very kind of soil and of everycolor, nd therefore uman eingshave different haracteristics nd theirskin has different olors, irqe de-Rabbi liezer tells us that he dust wasindeed aken rom ll the world nd was of ll colors, ut he ifferent olorsbecame ifferent rgans nAdam'sbody, nd the ustwasgathered rom llover the world o that heEarth ould never efuse urial y claiming hatsomeone's ust ame from omewhere lse.48Perhaps his s a reflection fthedifferent ealities onfronting hevarious uthors: slamwasrequired ocopewith he apid bsorption f onverts rommany aces ndhad n deo-logy f the quality f ll believers, hileJudaism fter he irst entury Ehad to deal with state f exile and wanderings. dditionally, he epeatedidea that he qualities f the dust fromwhichAdam was created soil thatwassalty, ood, ocky tc.)foreshadow he haracter ndqualities f humanbeings oday, eems o ndicate belief npredestination.

Another roup f raditions ivedetails bout he laces forigin f he ustusedto make ifferent rgans n Adam'sbody.The head or theheart suallyreceives hehonor f being reated rom oly ust, aken ither rom he andof srael49r from ecca.5oA sub-group mphasizes hat he dustwas taken

from hemost oly lace: he ltar f theTemple r theKa'ba,5respectively.(In either ase,thiswouldbe the very lace n which Adamhimself fferedsacrifices oGod.)Kister ites dditional raditionsf this ind nd considersthem form f praise raditionsfada'il l-buldan rfada'il l-amakin). laceshavecharacteristicualities, hich nfluence hepeople iving here. Vadetsuggests hat here re different ategories f angelsfor achcountry, hileAdam s an absolute xpression f the niverse53the deaof man s micro-cosm,whichwas heldby heGnostics, lso.

Finally, here re traditions hat mphasize hat he dust from whichAdamwas createdwasdust f high uality. Jewish radition onnects histo the dea that he dust was taken rom he placeof the ltar f the futureTemple,55 hileMuslim ources aise he ssue within he ramework f dis-cussionsof the meaning f various words describing he material romwhichAdamwascreated.56 heclaim hat dam was created rom he inest

48.Pirqede-Rabbi liezer, . 77.49. BT, Sanhedrin 8a-b.50. Kisa'i,p. 24;Tha'labi,p. 19.51.Muqatil, ol.4, p. 522.52. M.J. Kister, Legends n tafsir nd hadith iterature: he creation f Adam nd other tories," n

A. Rippin ed.),Approaches o the History f he nterpretation f heQur'an Oxford, 988),pp. 101-102.

53. J.-C.Vadet, La cr6ation t 'investiture e l'homme ans a sunnisme u la 16gende 'Adam hezal-Kisa'i," tudia slamnica 2 (1975),p. 30.54.Midrash a-Gadol, . 78.55.JT, Nazir .4, cf. Pirqede-Rabbi liezer, p.35, 38, 65;Midrash a-Gadol, . 78.56.Muqatil, ol.2,p.428;Tabari, afsit; ol.14,pp.27-30; bnKathir, l-Tafsir l-kabir Beirut, 966),

vol.4, pp. 159-160.

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MYTHIC SPECTSFTHEPROCESS F ADAM'SREATIONNJUDAISMNDSLAM

material, rom ust aken rom he mostholyplace,maybe aimedpolemi-cally t Gnostic oncepts f the ody s created nd activated ydemons: nthis ast conception here s complete emonization f the body,57 hile nJewish nd Muslim radition hebody s afforded espect.

(3)Themolding f manfrommud.59Thisprocess s indeedmentioned nJewish ources e.g.Pirqe de-Rabbi

Eliezer), ut what ppears here s no more han list of whathappened nevery our f theFriday n which ll of Adam'shistory akes lace:

Thedayhad welve ours;nthe irst our e collected he ust or thebody f]Adam,nthe econdhour] e formedt nto mass, nthe hird[hour]Hegave t ts shape, n the fourth hour]He endowed t with reath,in the fifth hour] estood n his feet, n the ixth hour] e calledthe ani-malsby their] ames, n the seventh hour] ve was oined to him, n theeighth hour] heywere ommanded oncerning hefruits f the ree, n theninth hour] heywent p to [their] ouch s two nd descended s four, nthe enth hour] hey ransgressed is commandment,n the leventh hour]theywere udged, n the welfth hour] heyweredriven orth, s it s said,"So he drove ut heman." Gen.3:24)"'

In contrast, uslim ources ell muchmore etailed nd complex toryof a long ndmulti-staged rocess uring he ourse f which ust ecomesmud, hemud erments nd stinks, nd finally ries ndbecomeshard lay.Sometimes achstage astsforty aysor forty ears. The purpose f thesetales s to demonstrate hegreatness f God,whomolded hard nd unyiel-dingmaterial:

Afterwards heAngelof Death raised t = the dust) o Allah and Allahcommanded im o make t nto mud, ndhe fermented t nd kneaded twithbitter nd sweet and

saltywater until t became

mud,therefore heir

=human eings')qualities re varied"' .. Then He kneaded t withAdam'smud, hen eft t for orty ears ntil t became ticky, oftmud.ThenHe leftit for orty ears ntil t became lay ikepottery tensils. ndthat s the rymudwhich s noisywhenyou trike t with our and, hat s, t producessound, o that t would be known hat hismatter nvolved killed work ndpower al-san' wa-'l-qudra) ndnotnature nd cunning al-tab' wa-'l-hila),for ndeed rymud s not flexible nd s not asilymolded.62

57.G. Filoramo, History f GnosticismOxford, 990),pp.91-92.58. For the Gnostic ttitude othebody, nd to matter n general, ee P. Brown, heBody nd Society:

Men,women nd sexual renunciationn earlyChristianityNewYork, 1988),pp. 106-112. owe this efe-rence o DavidCook.59. A1241- Man created rom lay earth).60.Pirqede-Rabbi liezer, p.77-78.61.Tha'labi,pp. 18-19.62. Ibid.,p. 19.

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LEIGH N.B. CHIPMAN

This version, y Tha'labi, s the most detailed, ut Muqatil,Tabari,

Mas'udi and Maqdisi 3all refer othis engthy rocess. hecreation f maninGnosticmyths, oo, sa multi-stagednd laborate rocess: irst he rea-tion f the pirit rom even lements ythe even rchons, he he reationof every rgan n the bodyby demons, nd finally hedetermining f thedemons esponsibleor ctivating hebody.' Perhaps heuse of the xpres-sion tin azib sticky nd smellymud) s an echoof the Gnostics'negativeattitude oward hebody nd matter?

(4)An etymologicalegend why s the firstman's nameAdam?6'Midrashha-Gadolcites three uggestions or n etymology f Adam's

name, umming pJewish raditions n thismatter: R. Judah' says: Heisnamed] fter he arth adama)fromwhich ewas taken. . Eliezer67ays:Adam ashes efer), lood dam),bile mara).R. Joshua en Qarha68ays:Becausehe s flesh nd bloodhe was called Adam."' Thefirst ption s theonly ne found nMuslim ources:Adam eceived is namebecausehe wascreated rom hecrust adim"7 r adama)7'of the Earth.Gnosticwritingsalso know his tymology, hich hey robably ookfrom ewish ources:Adamwas so called becausehecrawled pon he arth adama).72

(5) God createsAdamwithHishands."7Among heearly Jewish ources, hismotif ppears xplicitly nly n

Aboth e Rabbi Nathan.74 an not having een reated yDivineWord utby God's Hands s meant o glorify im nd raisehim bove all other rea-tures. his s sometimes tated xplicitly as in this radition, oing ack oIbn Ishaq (d. 150/767): Allah createdAdamfrom hecrust f the arth(adamat al-ard), from ticky lay, from tinkingmud, with His hand, norder ohonor im nd to glorify is matter amr)7' bove the other rea-

63.Muqatil, ol.1,p. 97;Tabari, afsir, ol.1,pp.202-203;Mas'udi, 39;Maqdisi,Kitab l-bad' wa-'I-ta'rikh, d. Cl.Huart Paris, 1899),vol.2, pp.81-83.

64. TheApocr.phon

ofJohn Codex I), p. 15,1.13-p. 9,1.6 (= Layton, p.39-43).65. Z183.0.1 - Meaning f a name.66. R.Judah ar Ezekiel: Babylonianmora,d. 299 CE. Prominent eacher t the cademy t Pumbe-

ditha. Stemburger,ntroduction, . 88)67. R. EliezerbenHyrcanus: tannawho ived round he urn f the first entury E, sometimes al-

led R. Eliezerthe Great. irqe de-Rabbi liezer s attributed ohim Encyclopedia udaica Jerusalem,1971],vol.6, pp.619-623).

68. R. Joshua enQarha: tanna f the middle f the econd entury E, the eacher f R. Judah hePrince. ayings ransmittedn his name re mainly f aggadicmaterial Encyclopedia udaica, ol. 10,pp.281-282).

69.Midrash a-Gadol, . 77.70.Thus nTabari, afsir, ol.1, . 214andvol. 15,p. 116;Mas'udi, 39:Maqdisi, ol.2,p. 83;Kisa'i,

p. 23.71.Thus nTabari, afsir, ol.1,p. 208;cf.Annales, eries1,p. 93.72. TheHipostasis f heArchons, . 88,1. 16 = Layton, . 70).73. A1210- Creation f Man by theCreator.74. Aboth eRabbiNathan, d. S. Schechter, London, 887;repr. ewYork, 1997),version , ch. 1,

p. 8.75.Amnran be understood s the divine ispensationnd plan for he world n general, nd here, or

humanity n particular. f. J. Baljon, The amnr f God in the Quran,"Acta Orientalia Copenhagen) 3(1954):7-18. thank avid Cook for his eference.

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MYTHIC SPECTS FTHEPROCESSF ADAM'SREATIONNJUDAISMNDSLAM

tures" 6 andsometimes t s implicit, s in this radition, hich ppears n

Tabari's commentary n Qur'an, 38:75-76 nd goes back to 'Abdallahb.'Umarb. al-Khattab: Allahcreated our hings ithHis hand: heThroneand Paradise nd the Pen and Adam. Afterwards esaid to eachthing eand it was.""77n contrast, or the Gnostics, Adam's creation by theDemiurge, he reator f this world, nd the uling rchons, s in no wayasource f pride r honor.Man is worthy f respect nly due to the divinespark assed o him by Sophia.78

(6)Adamremains mmobile or orty ears.79Jewish nd slamic raditions gree nsaying hat dampassed hrough

stage n which e was an nanimate, nliving ody golem).ThusGen.Rab-bah,for xample, ays: 'AndHebreathed nto is nostrils' Gen.2:7):Thisteaches hat e set him pas an unformed ass Heb.:golem), illing p thespaceof the earth o the firmament. hen he tossed he soul into him."80Muslim ources"' onnect his tage o a Qur'anic verse, 6:1: "Has therecomeuponman period f timewhenhe wasnothing orthmentioning?"Thistime s the period n which Adamwas an nanimate ody. omeadd tothedry escription hedetail hat he ngels eared im t this tage:

[atradition oing ack o bn Abbas nd ther ompanionsf he ro-

phet:] .. then llah reated imwith is hands .. and reated im n theshape f man, ndhewas clay ody or orty ears f he uration(mniq-dar) fFriday, nd he ngels assed y him ndwere fraid hen heyawhim. nd more han he est bliswas fraid...82

Kisa'iandTha'labi ddthe lacewhere dam ay nthis tate: e waspla-cednext o the gate f Paradise, reciselyn the potwhere he ngels assedbydaily."3 ha'labi lso says hat hile Adam ay nanimate,he ain f orrowfell n him or orty ears, nd he ains f oyfor single ear. his s the ea-son,he says, hatAdam'sdescendants avemany orrows nd are drawn opleasure nd happiness" yet nother nstance f the oncept hat ncidentsthat appenedo Adamduring iscreationnfluence isdescendants.

According otheGnosticmyth, dam ayon the round fter he rchonscreated im.Although e had an animate ody, e was unable o move untiltheDemiurge ccidentally lewSophia's spirit pneuma) ntohim. 5

76. Tabari, afsir, ol.1,p. 208.77. Ibid.,vol.23,p. 185.78. Filoramo, . 93.79.A2141.3 Man madefrom lay mage nd vivified.

80.Gen.Rabbah, 4:4 Neusner, 56).81.Muqatil, ol.4, p.522;Tabari, afsir, ol.29, . 202.82. Tabari, afsir, ol. 1,p. 203;cf.Annales, eries ,pp.91-92.83. Kisa'i,p. 25;Tha'labi,p. 19.84.Tha'labi, bid.85.TheApocqrphonfJohn Codex I), p. 19, 1. 0ff. = Layton, p.43-44).

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LEIGH N.B.CHIPMAN

(7)During his ime, blisthreatens dam nd enters is body.86This motif oes not appear n the Jewish ources, s

accordingo the

Jewish radition, atan = Iblis)enters he tory nly t a later tage.Muqa-til lready ells hat blis ntered dam's laybody hrough is nus nd xi-ted hrough ismouth, nd aid: "I am fire ndthis s hollow lay.Fire ver-comesclay and I will overcome his man]."87n this way, blis tries oconquer is fear f Adam nd to showhis superiority verhim.Tabari ndMas'udi report hat espite blis fearing dammore han heother ngelsdid,he wouldhit r kickhim, nter im nd goout f him, ndthreaten im:

Ibliswould ome nd kick im, hen damwould ing that s,make

sound and hat s [themeaningf]Allah'swords from lay ike ottery"(Q,55:14),ike omethinglown-uphatsnot olid.After hat,bliswouldenter is mouthnd xit hroughis nus nd nter is nus nd xit hroughhismouth,hen ould ay: You renothing because f his inging andyouweremade or othing f am orule ver ou, willkillyou, nd fyou re orule ver me, will ebelgainst ou.""

Kisa'i adds that blis said that s Adam was hollow,he would have noescapefrom inta foodor wheat)8 perhaps foreshadowing f the way

bywhich blis would nsnare im?In contrast o the Muslim raditions,n the Gnosticmyth hearchons

express heir ear f Adam ndrevenge hemselves y mprisoning im n acorporeal ody nly fter pirit as beenbreathed ntohim ndhe s no on-ger merely clay body.Theblowing nof spirit pneuma) nablesAdam obegin omove, nd at this moment hewatching rchons ealize hat heyhave created being uperior o themselves Sophia's powerhas movedfrom he Demiurge o Adam. n response, he archons engefully orceAdam down o the baseness f material xistence: heyre-form im, outof the gnorance f darkness nddesire, ndtheir ounterfeit pirit... ndhebecame mortal uman eing.""90n otherwords, heouter hellof matterthat ncloses Adam'sspiritwascreated t the econd tage,"9n contrast otheJewish nd Muslim oncept f the bodybeing reated irst.

It would eem hat he differencesn this motif etween heGnosticmythand the Muslim treatment f it derive from he difference etween heimportance f the rchons n this world nd blis' relative mpotence is-ai-

86.A.54.3.1 - Iblisrejects dam.87.Muqatil, ol.1,p. 97.88.Tabari, afsir, ol. 1,pp.201-202.Cf.Annales, eries1,p. 90:Mas'udi,? 39.89. Kisa'i,p. 25.90. TheApocrvphonfJohn Codex I),p. 19,1. 2-p.21,1.15 = Layton, p.44-45).91.Theremaybe a certain arallel o the oroastrian oncept f a double reation f theworld, irst n

thedimension f the pirit me^n6g)nd then n the imension f matter ge^~g).ee S. Shaked, Thenotionsnimn6gnd gFtig n the Pahlavi exts nd their elation o eschatology," cta Orientalia Copenhagen) 3(1971),pp. 59-107

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MYTHICASPECTS OFTHEPROCESS OFADAM'SCREATIONNJUDAISMAND SLAM

vis Allah. According othe Gnostics, hearchons reated hisworld, nd

within t,Man;according otheMuslim iewpoint, llah reated heworld,not blis, nd evengavemankind eapons ordefense gainst blis. n theJewish nd Muslim cheme f things, heworldwas created ya goodandbenevolent od- and the problem s explaining hepresence f evil n theworld; or heGnostics, n the ontrary, heworld s all evilfrom he utset,and t s necessary oexplain owa few lectmay till ome to be saved.92

(8) God forces he oul to enter he body.93The idea that he oulenters hebody unwillingly oes indeed xist n

Jewish radition, ut n relation o Adam's descendants ather han ohehimself one of the ngelsforces he oul to enter he body f every ew-born hild.94n all the Muslim ources xamined ere, he oul s unwillingto enter Adam's bodybecause ts orifices re cramped nd narrow. llahforces t oenter, aying: Asyou ntered nwillingly, o shallyou ome utunwillingly." his story s not ited yTabari, ut ppears nMuqatil"sndMaqdisi,9 nd t seems o havebeenuniversally iked n popular ircles, sit s reported oth yKisa'i"7 ndby Tha'labi,whoquotes nonymousear-nedmen s his source:

The 'ulama' aid:When llahwantedobreath he oul ntoAdam, e

orderedt o go nto im, nd he oul aid:Adeep ntrance,dark ntrance.ThenHerepeated is ommando he oul nd t repeatedtswords,nd oalso third ime, ntil t he ourthime e said: nter nwillinglynd omeout nwillingly."9

It seemsthat his tory's urpose s to explainhumanity's ear f deathandstruggles gainst t.Theremayperhaps e an echoof Gnosticism n thesoul's negative ttitude owards hebody. Tha'labidoes not make hedis-tinction etween oul and spirit hat he Gnostic ystems o, according owhich oth

bodynd soul

originaten the rchons nd

onlyhe

pirits of

heavenly rigin.)(9) Thesoul/spirit s breathed nto hebodyvia the head/nose.99The breath f ife hat God breathed ntoAdam s the physicalmanifes-

tation f the spiritual lements n man. All the sources, oth Jewish ndMuslim, gree that he oul/spirit ntered dam's body through hehead,while ome are more recise y stating hat hebreath ntered hrough henose probably ecausewe do in fact nhale hrough henose.Midrash a-

92. Stroumsa, . 33.93. A185.12 Deityprovidesmanwith oul.

94. See Ginzburg, ol.1,pp. 56-59 nd notes hereto.95. Muqatil, ol. 1,p. 97.96. Maqdisi,vol.2, p. 87.97. Kisa'i,p. 26.98.Tha'labi,p. 20.99. E703.1?- Soul created n Adamfrom od's breath.

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LEIGH N.B. CHIPMAN

Gadolexplains his hoice, aying hat he mouth, yes nd ars re ll iable

to be the rgans f sin. Only henoserejects vil smells nd s attracted ogoodones, n the ameway hat he ighteous lee rom in nd cleaveto theTorah.'"

The Muslim ources rom abarionwards dd that very rgan f thebody hat he pirit eached ecameflesh nd blood nd started owork."'Kisa'i describes hefirst hings hatAdam saw and heard: And the piritentered rom he rown f hisheadto his eyes, ndAdamopened hem ndbegan o ook at hisclay body nd could not peak, nd sawwritten n theawning f the Throne saradiq al-'arsh): There s no God but Allah andMuhammads the Messenger f God ntruth. hespirit eached is ars ndhe began ohear he ngels'praises n the ir"'02 Adam's first xperienceswere onnected o the worship f God. Kisa'i also states hat his ntire ro-cess lasted ivehundred ears. 03

The Gnostic quivalent f this motif s theDemiurge reathing he piritintoAdam thus he mistakenly ransfers hepower f his mother, ophia,intoAdam nd causeshim o be his superior.'"

(10)Adamhastily ries o rise nd s unable o do so.Thismotif ppears nly n Muslim raditions,05which eport hat efore

the oul/spirit adtime opassthrough ll parts f Adam'sbody ndchange

them nto lesh nd blood,hetried o rise ndwas unable o do so. This motifseems obe aimed t explaining heQur'anic erses Man s apt obehasty"(17:11)and "Man was created f haste" 21:38),as one or both f theseverses nvariably ppears ogether ith t. Thiscouldalsobe an expressionofMan'shelplessnessnthe ace fGod: Man can donothing ithout od'sassistance nd guidance.

(11)Adam neezes nd says l-hamd i-allah .Adam'sfirst eed s to praisehis Creator on this oint heJewish nd

Muslim raditionsre agreed:

Adam tood nhis wo eet nd ooked panddown .. and aw ll thecreatureshat heHoly ne, lessed e He,had reated,ndbegan opraisehis reator's ame.07

And he pirit assedhroughim ntil t eachedis oes nd hentwan-ted o eave hroughhem ut id not ind n opening;hereforet returnedto thehead nd went ut hroughhenostrils,ndhe sneezed rom hat,

100.Midrash a-Gadol, p.78-79.101.Tabari.Tafsir, ol.1,p. 202.cf.Annales, eries ,pp.92-93;Maqdisi, ol.2, p. 87;Tha'labi, .20.102.Kisa'i,p. 26.

103. bid.,p. 27.104.Filoramo, p.92-93.105.Muqatil, ol. 1, p.98; Tabari,Tafsir, ol. 1, pp. 201-202;Mas'udi,A41;Maqdisi,vol.2, p. 87:

Kisa'i,pp. 26-27;Tha'labi, . 20.106.A1319.9 Origin f sneezing: 1537- Origin f ocial etiquette,107.Pirqede-Rabbi liezer, p.35-36.

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MYTHICSPECTS FTHEPROCESSFADAM'SREATIONNJUDAISMNDSLAM

becauset eft hroughhenostrils,nd aid: Praised eGod al-hamdi-

allah) " nd hat ashis irst peech.08According o St. renaeus, ishop f Lyons n the econd entury E, the

Gnostics elieved hat fter ophia's pirit assed ntoAdam,he mmediatelyleft is reators ndpraised damQadmon, isdivine rchetype.'" nthe ameway,AdamQadmia r AdamKasia,theFirstMan of the gnosticMandaeansect, 0 neezes ndblesses he osmic ight hat reated im nd similar hinghappens t the ime f he reation f he irst uman.' We can earn rom histhat ne ofman'smost mportant unctionsstopraiseGod.This dea canalsobe found nthewritings f heNusayri-'Alawiteeligion, hich onsiders tselfto be a splinter f the hi'a andcontainsmanyGnostic lements. n a proto-Nusayriwork,Kitab l-haft a-'l-azilla, heworld hat xisted efore urworld s described. here he ouls called zilla, hadows, r shbah, igures,and alternativelyights) newnothing, ot ven who they hemselves ere,until llah aught hem. he first andmost mportant)hing hat llah aughtthemwasto praise ndglorify im. 2 In addition, fter he reation f Adamin the world f pre-existence, odmade covenant ith im ndhisdescen-dants fter hedivine ypostasisalledtheHijab(veil)had taught hem hatthere s no GodbutAllah.3However, bookwritten nthenineteenthentury

by a Nusayriwho converted oChristianity, aints very ifferent icture.There, he ouls ntheworld f pre-existencerepresented s lights nd tarsthat hought,ike he ngels n orthodoxslam, hat obeingmore onorable(akram) han hemselvesouldpossibly e created. his mistake, nd he ddi-tional in ofnon-recognitionf Alib. Abi Talib s the ncarnation f God astheNusayris onsider im obe), ed to a severe unishment: heywere owe-red oa basedwelling-placedar iflaniyya), here heywere laced nbodiesof flesh nd blood hayakil ashariyya). nly hosewho, n the uture, ouldidentify he ncarnationf Ali would e allowed o return othe pper egions;the restwould ontinue o be reincarnated orever."'14Thesewords ndicateclear elief hat man's urposenthisworld stoknow is Creator nd o praisehim.

108.Muqatil, ol. 1,p. 98.109. St. renaeus, gainst eresies1.30.6 = Layton, . 176).110.The Mandaeans re n ancient MiddleEastern ect, till xisting n raq.Their eligion riginatesn

the irst hree enturies f the Common ra, nd ts ources re till hadowy. he Gnostic haracteristics fthis ect nclude he elief n the llumination f the oul through nowledge f ts divine rigin; cosmolo-gical tructure f vil archons hose urpose s to prevent he oul's ascension hrough heheavenly pheresto be united with he upreme od; a description f Adam'screation imilar othat f Saturninus, n earlyGnostic eacher. on-Gnostic haracteristicsre support f marriage nd complex itual, ncluding ites f

baptism, hat re unknown nother nostic ects. Forfuller iscussion, ee the works f E. Drower.111. E. Drower, heSecretAdam Oxford, 960), pp.26,35.112. al-Mufaddal . Umayr l-Ju'fi, itab l-Haftwa-'l-Azillat, d.A. Tamer nd gn.-A.Khalif6Bei-

rut, 960),p. 30.113. bid., p.31;cf. Kisa'i's description f Adam's wakeningp. 26).114.Sulayman l-Adhani, l-Bakura l-Sulaymnaniyyvan.p.,n.d.),pp. 59-61.

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Within hepaleof Muslim rthodoxy, isa'i and Tha'labi tate xplicitlythatAdamwascreated opraiseGod."15n these raditions,hefirst

tahmnid(saying Praised e God"- al-hamd i-allah) s almost lways inked o nee-zing; his s an etiologicalmyth, eant oexplainwhy nemust ayal-hanmdli-allah fter neezing.

Secondarynarratives

(1)Adam s created ndrogynousIn Gnostic mythological ystems, heAnthropos, he god who is the

divinerchetype

f Adam nd n whosemage

Adam screated, sandrogy-nous,bothmale and female. 116Adam'scorporeal ody s also created hisway,until e s divided nto wo a man nd a woman. '7An echo of thesetalesmaybe found n the following idrashim, rom enesis Rabbah:

SaidR. Jeremiah en leazar:WhenheHolyOne, lessed e He, ameto create he irst an, emade im ndrogynous,s it s said Male ndfemale reated e them nd alled heir ameMan = Adam].'Gen. :2)"SaidR. Samuel arNahman:' "WhenheHoly ne, lessed e He, reatedthe irst an, e created imwith wo aces,hen awed im nto wo ndmade back n one ide nd back nthe ther.""'9

Thedifference etween heGnosticmyth nd hemidrash ies nthe act hatthemidrash's urposestoresolve possible ontradictionnthe wo tories fcreationn the Torah, etween Male andfemalemadeHe them" Gen. 1:27)and Hetook ne ofhis ibs,"Gen. :21)without iving ignificanceo he ri-ginal ndrogynous orm. nlike he Gnosticmyth, hemidrash oes not onsi-der ndrogynyn dealperfect orm. rom his oint f view, heres no diffe-rence etween sawedhim nto wo" nd "male nd femalemadeHe them."Urbach eesthis s adefinite xample f a kind fkilling fmyth," r an lto-

getheroulless

myth,"s no conclusion s derived rom he

rmidrash.'20ere

do see a mythic imension, or f no conclusion s to be derived rom dambeing reated tfirst sandrogynous,f n fact his as no ignificance,hen hybother omentiont?ManymidrashimelatingoAdam aisehim bove he ta-ture f n ordinary an.AccordingoUrbach,21hesemidrashimppear nlyfrom he hird entury E, when he Gnostic ects were ctive. annot hesemotifs, ncludinghe reatment f Adam's ndrogynous ast, eseen s pole-mics gainst nosticism,nd/or ts nfluence?

115.Kisa'i,p. 26;Tha'labi,p. 20.116.Filoramo, . 58.117.TheRevelation oAdam, . 64, 11. 2ff. = Layton, . 55).118.R.SamuelbarNahman: Palestinianmnoraf the urn f the hird entury E;one of the oremost

transmitters f ggadahof his time. Encyclopedia udaica, ol.14,pp. 812-813).119.Gen.Rabbah, :2(Neusner, 3).120,E.E.Urbach, he ages: Their oncept.snd Beliefs Jerusalem, 975).p. 228.121. bid.,pp. 228-230.

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Thismotif idnot ppear n the Muslim ources.

(2) Adam s created rom he ail bone.According oMuqatil, the first rgan hatwas created n Man was thetailbone, fterwards Allah] ssembled rom t the rest f his creation i.e.,the est f the ody] ndthe ast ofAdam'sorgans obe createdwasthe in-gernail. nd he arth will onsume ll of the orpse'sbones, xcept or hetail bone - save the bones of the prophets and that heEarth will notconsume. rom t men willbe reassembled n the Dayof Resurrection." 2The idea that here s a bone n the body hatnever ots nd from whichnew body will be created fter he Resurrection, lso exists n Jewishsources, s shown y the following tory, rom enesisRabbah:

Hadrian mayhisbones e pulverized askedR. Joshua en Hana-niah,'23From hat ointn he ody ill heHoly ne, lessed eHe,makeman prout p in he esurrection]n he ge o ome?" e said ohim: Hewillmake im prout ut f he ut luz) f he pinal olumn."2

The dea of the uzwasknown, t east mongMiddleEastern ews, ntilmodern imes.125 did not find n Jewish ources on the basis of the ndexof The Legends f theJews), hatAdamwas created rom is tail bone.

Conclusions

Comparison f Jewish, uslim nd Gnosticwritings hows hat n thesubject f the process f Adam's creation, uslim ources have a highermythical ontent handoes the midrash. Most of the components ithmythic ignificance re more ommon r morehighly eveloped n Islam,and there re mythic lements hat xist nly n the Muslim ources.

Themythic dea that od orders he arth o supply imwith ust or hecreation f Manexists nly n one ate midrashic ource,while n the Mus-lim ources t sextensively eveloped, specially nTabari nd the isasal-anbiya' literature. egarding he essence of this dust, hequestions hatinterest hemidrash nd the Muslim ources re different: he mainpointemphasized y all Muslim ources,without xception,126s the nfluence f

122.Muqatil, ol.2, p. 429.123. R. Joshua . Hananiah: tanna f the irst nd second enturies E and one of the eading ages of

thegeneration fer he destruction f the Temple. amous or is polemics gainst heChristiansEncyclo-pediaJudaica, ol. 10,pp.279-281).

124.Gen.Rabbah 8.3 Neusner, .295).Parallel ersions: ev. Rabbah18.1, cclesiastes abbah12.5.125.Drower, bid., . 29, n.5.126. ncluding bn Kathir, hohas no narrative iscussion f the rocess f Adam's creation, resuma-

bly an expression f his unrelenting ampaign gainst ny nterpretation hat oes not tick losely o theQur'anic ext ee N. Calder, Tafsir rom abari o bn Kathir: roblems n the descriptions f genre,' n:G.R. Hawting ndA.-K.Shareef eds.),Approaches o the Qur'an London,1993), . 124.

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LEIGHN.B. CHIPMAN

thedust n the haracteristics f Adam's descendants We are ooking oranswers o the

question:Whyre

peopledifferent?

eanwhile,lmost ll

the midrashic tories, hether hey laim hatAdam's dust wastaken romall the world r whether hey etailwhich lacesgavedust or which rgans,state hat t east part f the ustwas taken rom heplaceof the ltar f thefuture emple here we are ooking or n answer o the question:Whatmakesmanwhathe is? Is his bodypure r defiled? he answer uggestedby hese raditions s that he body sholy ndworthy f respect, certainlya point f polemicwith heGnosticmyth, hich egards hebody s thework f the vilarchons.

As noted bove, heMuslim ources evote great ealof ttention otheprocess f Adam'screation rom stinking ud"by God, nd to blis' entryintoAdam'sbodywhilehe was still nanimate. he midrash oes not eemtohave n dea of struggle etween dam nd Satanbefore he ormer asfully onscious,which s so conspicuousn the Muslim ources nd whichadds nother imension othe haracter f proud blis:Thesetraditions iveus additional nformation hat an explainwhyhe felt uperior o Adam ndrefused o bow downbefore im. n the Gnosticmaterial, here s no needfor struggle ntil dam s made onscious ythe ransfer f the pirit ntohisbody up to that oint, heDemiurge nd archons re clearly is uper-

iors.As for hebreathing f the oul/spirit nto hebody, heMuslim ourcesdescribe he oul's passage hrough hebody nd howmuch imewasspentin eachorgan descriptions hat ecome more nd more etailed s wegoforward n time nd as we pass from cholarly opopular iterature. uchdevelopments not o be found n the midrash, lthough hemidrash oesraise question hatMuslim ources gnore:Whywas the oulbreathed nthrough henose?

Only the Muslim ources ellthat Adam tried o rise n haste nd wasunable o do so, and that e sneezed efore raising od although dam'spraiseof God is a detail hat ppears n the midrash s well).The manydetails nd the ong ales, ometimes ited n several ersions, hich ppearin theMuslim ources, ncomparison ith he horter, ometimes venfrag-mentary, tories f themidrash, ndicate ere ooa greatermythical imen-sion n the Muslimmaterial xamined, ather han n theJewishmaterial.

Oneof the ssues learly rising rom hese raditions s the onception fAdam as the pattern f mankind. dam's first eed was to praiseGod.Man's role s to knowGod's deedsand to praiseHim.This dea is expres-sed in all the sources,Jewish, nostic r Islamic, examinedhere. t is

alwaysrecounted hatAdampraisedGod, either onsciously r inadver-tantly e.g. by saying l-hamd i-allah fter neezing).As Adam s the pat-127.Cf.Hillel's comments hat f tatues f kings, etup n the heatres ndcircuses f the Gentiles, re

considered orthy f respect nd re leaned ndpolished, owmuchmore hould uman eings, reated nGod's image, ake areof their odies,which s that mage Lev.Rabbah33.3).

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tern nd examplefor his descendants, e too, the children f Adam, re

bound o praiseGod.In the amewaythat onsare similar otheir athers, nd what happensto fathers nfluences heir ons, o are we all, Adam's children, nfluencednot nly y Adam's in as Christianity ouldhave t)but y verything hathe underwent uring heprocess f his creation nd immediately fter. 2The fact hatAdam'sexample nfluences is descendantss especially ro-minent n Muslim ources,where ne may lso find hints f belief n pre-destination. ot onlyAdam's deedsare to be imitated y his descendants,but ven the dust fromwhichhe was created nd the vents hat ccurredprior ohisbeing iven ife ffect he haracter f hisdescendants.f we areof different ace and color this s becauseAdam was created f differentcolored lays; f we meet n acquaintance nd greet imwith alam alay-kum this s becauseAdamdidso; if we are capableof earning nd ccep-tingGod's guidance it s becauseAdam was capableof this.

LEIGHN.B. CHIPMANTheHebrewUniversity f Jerusalem

128. or heGnostics,he rocessfAdam's reations the ause f humanity'sresentlight.

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mythic aspects of the process of adam's creation in judaism and islam

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