Overview
The cosmic ocean, also called the cosmic sea, primordial waters or celestial river, is a mythological motif depicting the world or cosmos as being enveloped by a vast primordial ocean. The motif appears across numerous cultures and civilisations, and typically envisages the ocean as existing before the creation of the Earth.
In several traditions, the cosmic ocean represents or embodies primordial chaos. Its primacy in many creation myths corresponds to a cosmological model of land surrounded by a world ocean, with the sky sometimes imagined as an upper sea. The emergence of the Earth, along with its air and visible eruptions of fire, from a pre-existing chaos or freshwater ocean — such as the Mesopotamian Abzu — is generally presented as a foundational element of the first cosmic order.
This narrative is often followed by accounts of a flood catastrophe. In the epic of Atrahasis, for instance, the deluge is described as the gods' intention to destroy their human creations. Current research suggests that the globally widespread flood myths may have a real background, namely the relatively sudden rise in sea level at the end of the last ice age.
The cosmic ocean motif takes form in many world mythologies, including those of Yazidism, Ahl-e Haqq, Alevism, ancient Egyptian, ancient Greek, Canaanite, ancient Hindu, ancient Iranian, Sumerian, Zoroastrian and ancient Roman traditions, among others. Within ancient Hindu cosmology, the primordial waters are a recurring theme in narratives of cosmic origin and dissolution, situating creation within an encompassing oceanic expanse.
References
Adapted from the English Wikipedia article "Cosmic ocean".