Another demon, Hirauyakasipu, had obtained a boon (blessing) from Brahma ensuring that he could not he killed by any man or beast. Safeguarded he persecuted all including his son. Prahlada (his son) called on Visnu for help. Visnu burst from a pillar of the demons' palace in the form of a half man and half lion and slew Hirauyakasipu.

A demon named Bali gained control over the world and commenced a course of asceticism (self denying) by which his supernatural power so increased that he menaced even the gods. Visnu appeared before him as a dwarf asking for a blessing of two strides, when granted the god became a giant and the two strides covered the earth, heavens and middle air.

Sumerian Cosmology 8,000 to 1000 BCE?
From verses scattered throughout hymns and myths, one can compile a picture of the universe's (anki) creation according to the Sumerians. The primeval sea (abzu) existed before anything else and within that, the heaven (an) and the earth (ki) were formed. The boundary between heaven and earth was a solid (perhaps tin) vault, and the earth was a flat disk. Within the vault lay the gas-like 'lil', or atmosphere, the brighter portions therein formed the stars, planets, sun, and moon. (Kramer, The Sumerians 1963: pp. 112-113) Each of the four major Sumerian deities is associated with one of these regions.

An, god of heaven, may have been the main god of the pantheon prior to 2500 BC, although his importance gradually waned. (Kramer 1963 p. 118) Ki is likely to be the original name of the earth goddess, whose name more often appears as Ninhursag (queen of the mountains), Ninmah (the exalted lady), or Nintu (the lady who gave birth). It seems likely that these two were the progenitors of most of the gods. According to "Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld", in the first days all needed things were created. Heaven and earth were separated. An took Heaven, Enlil took the earth, Ereshkigal was carried off to the netherworld as a prize, and Enki sailed off after her.

TABLET I
When on high the Heavens had not been named, firm ground below had not been called by name, nothing but 'Primordial Apsu' the Begetter, (Fresh) Water and 'Mummu Tiamat', she who bore them all, (Salt Water) their waters commingling as a single body.

No reed hut had been matted, no marsh- land had appeared, uncalled by name, their destinies undetermined. Then it was that the Gods were formed within them. Lahmu ('mud') and Lahamu ('Mrs. Mud') were brought forth, by name they were called before they had grown in age and stature.

Anshar ('Upper Firmament') and Kishar ('Lower Firmament') were formed, surpassing the others. They prolonged the days, added on the years.

Anu was their heir, the rival of his fathers; Yes, Anu, Anshar's first-born, was his equal. He begot in his image Nudimmud ( Ea ).

This Nudimmud was the master of his fathers; of broad wisdom, understanding, mighty in strength, mightier by far than his grandfather Anshar. He had no rival among the gods, his brothers.

Ifá Myth
If we take the Creation Myth of Ifá, Obatala climbs down the chain from Heaven to Earth. The chain is symbolic of the double helix which is the form found within genes used to store DNA (Also known as Hermes Staff, the Staff of Tehuti Or the Caduceus). Top: Yoruba depiction of Obatala.

The Menphite Theology
The Menphite Theology is an inscription on a stone, now kept in the British Museum. It contaim the theological, cosmological and philosophical views of the Egyptians. It is dated 700 B. C., and bears the name of an Egyptian Pharaoh who stated that he had copied an inscription of his ancestors. This statement is verified by language and typical arrangement of the text, and therefore assigns the original date of the Memphite Theology to a very early period of Egyptian history, i.e. the time when the first Dynasties had made their new capital at Memphis: the city of the God Ptah, i.e., between 10000 and 35OO B.C. (Intellectual Adventure of Man by Frankfort, p. 55).

The Primate of the Gods Ptah, conceived in bis heart, everything that exists and by His utterance created them all. He is first to emerge from the primeval waters of Nun in the form of a Primeval Hill. Closely following the Hill, the God Atom also emerges from the waters and sits upon Ptah (The Hill).

(2) Huh and Hauhet, i.e., the boundless and its opposite.
(3) Kuk and Kauket, i.e., darkness and its opposite.
(4) Amun, i.e., (Amon) and Amaunet, i.e., the hidden and its opposite.
(Egyptian Religion by Frankfort, p. 20; 23. Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man by Frankfort, p. 21).