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An ocean in the sky shows up quite a lot in depictions, for example Psalms 148:4:

Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!

But finding good evidence for it in Egyptian and Mesopotamian mythology, etc is hard. It does appear to be in the Book of Genesis, however.

4
  • What do you mean by ocean in the sky? Mar 15, 2018 at 16:38
  • See Psalm 148:4 Mar 15, 2018 at 17:45
  • 1
    @ReggieO'Donoghue I added a quote for you this time, but in the future please edit all elaborations into the question itself.
    – Semaphore
    Mar 18, 2018 at 1:50
  • See my answer to a question on Hermeneutics.SE.
    – user1079
    Apr 19, 2018 at 14:02

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Not sure if my entry helps because its not connected with Near East but there are mentions in the ancient texts of the East (Hindu tradition) such as Padma Purana or Srimad Bhagavtam, where you will find detailed description of 7 great oceans in the Universe. They are not specifically in the "sky" as you mentioned if you are referring to our sky here on Earth. But there are regions in creation that are referred to as "Spiritual sky" in these texts.

Out of these 7 Oceans, the 4 primary ones are:

  1. Ksira sagar (also called Milk Ocean due to the color of the water)
  2. Karana sagar (also called Causal Ocean as it has a role to play in the creation of material world)
  3. Garbodaka Ocean (fills half of the universe)
  4. Ananta Shesha Sagar (plays a role in the dissolution of the universe)

More reading: https://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/the-4-transcendental-oceans

There are also many mentions of "River Viraja" which is a river that divides the material world from the spiritual world. It is said that millions of universes float on these waters. There is a description of the connection it has with the soul also. It's says that upon the death of the body, the souls of the perfected beings pass through the higher realms of the universe, penetrates the wall of this universe, goes beyond River Viraja, through planets that lie on the other side before its final destination in the spiritual sky.

Here is a link where you can read more: https://vaniquotes.org/wiki/Viraja_is_a_river_that_divides_the_material_world_from_the_spiritual_world

Hope this helps.

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