FLOOD, THE. Many peoples relate that floods accompany the end of a world. According to one Egyptian text, the world will disappear in the Nun, the divine water where the first god was formed (The Book of Going Forth by Day 175). For the Aztec and the Maya, the universe goes through several eras, separated from each other by the invasion of waves. India has successive creations, in which everything is abolished by a vast expanse of water; this water then constitutes the ocean from which the next creation will arise (Mahābhārata 3.188.80, 3.189.42).

Several tales associate humans with this universal drama. The god Faro of the Bambara holds back the waters that will one day submerge the earth, to make way for the future world; warned of this occurrence, people must arm themselves with objects that will ensure their salvation. Iranian texts evoke the snows and...