 Nature and significance       In like manner, artistic
expression in archaic or “primitive” societies, often related to
ritual presentation, is modelled on the structure of the
cosmogonic myth. The masks, dances, and gestures are, in one way
or another, aspects of the structure of the cosmogonic myth.
This meaning may also extend to the tools man uses in the making
of artistic designs and to the precise technique he employs in
his craft.    Types of cosmogonic myths   Creation by a supreme
being        Creation through emergence       Creation by world
parents   When on high the heaven had not been named  Firm
ground below had not been called by name,  Naught but primordial
Apsu, their begetter,   Their waters comingling as a single
body;      Creation from the cosmic egg     Creation by earth
divers     Doctrines of creation  Some of the major types of
creation myths have been presented above. It is from myths of
this sort and their dominant themes that theological and
philosophical speculation have been de