THE FLOOD OF IFE
(Yoruba – Nigerian myth)
Obatala was a god of sky and the creator of mankind as well as the founder of the first Yoruba city called Ife. The people built huts as Obatala had done and soon Ife prospered and became a city. All the other gods were happy with what Obatala had done, and visited the land often, except for Olokun, the ruler of ocean.
She had not been consulted by Obatala and grew angry that he had usurped so much of her kingdom. When Obatala returned to his home in the sky for a visit, Olokun summoned the great waves of her vast oceans and sent them surging across the land.
Eshu demanded sacrifice be made to Obatala and himself before he would deliver the message. The people sacrificed some goats, and Eshu returned to the sky. When the prophecy-god Orunmila heard the news, he climbed down the golden chain to the earth and cast many spells causing the flood waters to retreat, dry land reappeared and so, ended the great flood.
EGYPTIAN FLOOD MYTH:
(From the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Book of Going Forth by Day, translated by Raymond Faulkner)
People had become rebellious. The god Atum said he will destroy all he made and return the earth to the Primordial Water (Nun) which was its original state. Atum will remain, in the form of a serpent, with Osiris. Unfortunately the version of the papyrus with the flood story is damaged and unclear.
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