In the ancient world something came into existence when it was separated out as a distinct entity, given a function, and given a name.8 So the Ritual of Amun from the second half of the second millennium identifies creation as beginning “when no god had come into being and no name had been invented for anything.”9 The first god arises on his own from the primeval waters (separates himself from them) and then separates into millions.10 Out of this fairly restrictive sense of ontology emerges the oxymoron of nonexistent entities.11 Prior to creation there was a unity expressed by the statement
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