Flood myths are stories found across different ancient civilizations, often featuring a cataclysmic flood brought about by divine forces as punishment for human misdeeds. These stories typically involve a massive flood wiping out the existing world, making way for a fresh start.
While the Bible contains the most famous flood narrative, this myth is a recurring theme across many ancient civilizations, including pre-Columbian major cultures like the Mayas, the Incas or the Aztecs.
Notable Pre-Columbian Flood myths
Popol Vuh, The Mayan Flood myth
In Mayan mythology, the story of a great flood is intertwined with the gods’ attempts to create humanity. According to the Popol Vuh, the sacred Mayan text, the gods made several attempts to create humans from different materials. One of their early creations, made from wood, lacked a soul and was unable to properly worship the gods.
Displeased with this failure, the gods sent a catastrophic flood to destroy these wooden beings. The flood was also accompanied by other natural disasters such as rains of resin and attacks by animals. These wooden figures were either wiped out or transformed into monkeys, reflecting the gods’ dissatisfaction with their creation.
After the flood, the gods tried again and succeeded in creating human beings from maize, a material central to Mayan culture. This marked the successful creation of humanity, who would go on to properly honor and serve the gods.
Bochica, Colombia’s ancient Flood myth
In the mythology of the Muisca people of Colombia, the god Bochica plays a central role in their flood myth. According to the story, the Muisca people had angered the gods with their immoral behavior, prompting the goddess Chía to send a devastating flood to punish them. The floodwaters ravaged the land, submerging villages and causing widespread destruction.
Bochica, a wise and benevolent god, intervened to save humanity. He appeared on a rainbow and used his staff to break the rocks at Tequendama Falls, allowing the floodwaters to drain away. After the flood, Bochica punished Chía by banishing her to the sky, where she became the moon, and he taught the survivors how to live righteously. This myth emphasizes both the destructive and restorative powers of the gods, with Bochica symbolizing the restoration of order and balance.
Unu Pachakuti: The Inca Flood Myth
In Inca mythology, the flood known as Unu Pachakuti (“water that overturns the world”) tells of a divine punishment sent by the god Viracocha. According to the myth, Viracocha created a race of giants to populate the world, but they became corrupt and disobedient. In his anger, Viracocha decided to destroy them with a great flood.
Only two people survived the flood by seeking refuge in a large cave, where Viracocha saved them to preserve humanity. After the floodwaters receded, Viracocha created a new, smaller race of humans from stone to inhabit the earth. This myth highlights the theme of destruction and rebirth, with the flood serving as a means to cleanse the world of its earlier, flawed inhabitants.
Aztec Flood Myth: Coxcox
In Aztec mythology, the flood story centers around Coxcox, also known as Tata, and his wife, Nene. According to the myth, the gods sent a great flood to destroy humanity due to its wickedness. Coxcox and Nene were the only humans to survive. They escaped the floodwaters by hollowing out a large cypress tree and using it as a boat.
After the flood subsided, their boat came to rest on a mountain called Colhuacan. To repopulate the earth, the god Tezcatlipoca instructed them to eat only maize. Eventually, they had many children, but all of them were born mute. It was only after a divine intervention that the children were able to speak, but they spoke different languages, scattering across the world, which the Aztecs believed explained the diversity of languages among humanity. This flood myth, like others, emphasizes themes of destruction, survival, and the rebirth of civilization.