Cosmic ocean

A cosmic ocean, cosmic sea, primordial waters, or celestial river is a mythological motif that represents the world or cosmos enveloped by a vast primordial ocean. Found in many cultures and civilizations, the cosmic ocean exists before the creation of the Earth. The cosmic ocean can also represent or embody the chaos that some myths perceive as predetermined. The primacy of the water in some creation myths corresponds to the cosmological model of land surrounded by the world ocean. The sky is often thought of as something like the upper sea. The emergence of our Earth with its air and visible eruptions of fire from a pre-existing chaos or even freshwater ocean like the Mesopotamian Abzu is usually presented as an elementary factor of a first cosmic order, followed by the narrative of a flood catastrophe. Current research shows that these globally widespread flood myths – described in the epic Athrahasis as the gods' intention to destroy their human creations – probably have a real background, namely the relatively sudden rise in sea level at the end of the last ice age. The cosmic ocean takes form in the mythology of Yazidism, Ahl-e Haqq, Alevism, Ancient Egyptian mythology, Ancient Greek mythology, Canaanite mythology, Ancient Hindu mythology, Ancient Iranian, Sumerian, Zoroastrianism, Ancient Roman mythology and many other world mythologies.