and Plants;
fifth, Animals; and sixth, Man. After the Creator had finished his work,
he rested.[7:2]

The Avesta account of the Creation is limited to this announcement, but
we find a more detailed history of the origin of the human species in
the book entitled _Bundehesh_, dedicated to the exposition of a complete
cosmogony. This book states that Ahuramazda created the first man and
women joined together at the back. After dividing them, he endowed them
with motion and activity, placed within them an intelligent soul, and
bade them "to be humble of heart; to observe the law; to be pure in
their thoughts, pure in their speech, pure in their actions." Thus were
born Mashya and Mashyana, the pair from which all human beings are
descended.[7:3]

The idea brought out in this story of the first human pair having
originally formed a single androgynous being with two faces, separated
later into two personalities by the Creator, is to be found in the
Genesis account (v. 2). "Male and female created he them, and blessed
them, and named their name Adam." Jewish tradition in the Targum and
Talmud, as well as among learned rabbis, allege that Adam was created
man and woman at the same time, having two faces turned in two opposite
directions, and that the Creator separated the feminine half from him,
in order to make of her a distinct person.[7:4]

The ancient _Etruscan_ legend, according to Delitzsch, is almost the
same as the Persian. They relate that God created the world in _six_
thousand years. In the first thousand he created the Heaven and Earth;
in the second, the Firmament; in the third, the Waters of the Earth; in
the fourth, the Sun, Moon and Stars; in the fifth, the Animals belonging
to air, water and land; and in the sixth, Man alone.[8:1]

Dr. Delitzsch, who maintains to the utmost the historical truth of the
Scripture story in Genesis, yet says:

"Whence comes the surprising agreement of the _Etruscan_ and
_Persian_ legends with this section? How comes it that the
_Babylonian_ cosmogony in Berosus, and the _Phoenician_ in
Sanchoniathon, in spite of their fantastical oddity, come in
contact with it in remarkable details?"

After showing some of the similarities in the legends of these different
nations, he continues:

"These are only instances of that which they have in common.
_For such an account outside of Israel, we must, however,
conclude, that the author of Genesi