Firmament in the context of "Cosmic egg"

*Perkʷūnos (Proto-Indo-European: 'the Striker' or 'the Lord of Oaks') is the reconstructed name of the weather god in Proto-Indo-European mythology. The deity was associated with fructifying rains, and his name was probably invoked in times of drought. In a widely attested Indo-European mythic pattern, the thunder-deity engages in combat with a multi-headed water-serpent in order to release the life-giving waters that had been confined or obstructed.

*Perkʷūnos was often associated with the oak tree, probably because such tall trees are frequently struck by lightning. His domain may have been conceived as the forested mountains, designated as *Perkʷūnyós. A term for the sky, *h₂éḱmō, appears to have signified a "heavenly vault of stone" (comparable to the notion of firmament), but it could also denote a "stone-made weapon" (akin to a thunderstone). In this latter sense, the word was at times employed to refer specifically to the thunder-god's weapon. Another designation for his weapon, *mel-d-(n)-, can be reconstructed from the comparative traditions. The term originally denoted the "thunder-god's hammer" and, likely by semantic extension, has come to signify "lightning".

The cosmology of the ancient Near East refers to beliefs about where the universe came from, how it developed, and its physical layout, in the ancient Near East, an area that corresponds with the Middle East today (including Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia, the Levant, Anatolia, and the Arabian Peninsula). The basic understanding of the world in this region from premodern times included a flat earth, a solid layer or barrier above the sky (the firmament), a cosmic ocean located above the firmament, a region above the cosmic ocean where the gods lived, and a netherworld located at the furthest region in the direction down. Creation myths explained where the universe came from, including which gods created it (and how), as well as how humanity was created. These beliefs are attested as early as the fourth millennium BC and dominated until the modern era, with the only major competing system being the Hellenistic cosmology that developed in Ancient Greece in the mid-1st millennium BC.

Geographically, these views are known from the Mesopotamian cosmologies from Babylonia, Sumer, and Akkad; the Levantine or West Semitic cosmologies from Ugarit and ancient Israel and Judah (the biblical cosmology); the Egyptian cosmology from Ancient Egypt; and the Anatolian cosmologies from the Hittites. This system of cosmology went on to have a profound influence on views in early Greek cosmology, later Jewish cosmology, patristic cosmology, and Islamic cosmology (including Quranic cosmology).

In Slavic mythology, Perun (Cyrillic: Перун) is the highest god of the pantheon and the god of sky, thunder, lightning, storms, rain, law, war, fertility and oak trees. His other attributes were fire, mountains, wind, iris, eagle, firmament (in Indo-European languages, this was joined with the notion of the sky of stone), horses and carts, and weapons (hammer, axe (Axe of Perun), and arrow). The supreme god in the Kievan Rus' during the 9th-10th centuries, Perun was first associated with weapons made of stone and later with those of metal.

Quranic cosmology is how the Quran views the nature of the cosmos, especially its origins, development, and structure. In the Quran, the cosmos originates in an act of creation by God of the heavens and the earth over the course of six days, with the earth being created first, and the heavens second. The layout of the cosmos includes a solid firmament (called the heaven), below it being a flat earth compared to a spread-out bed. A cosmic ocean is found both above the heaven and below the earth. The number of heavens is seven, with possibly seven earths as well, arranged like a stack of plates. Above the highest heaven is the Throne of God.

In the Quran, cosmology is related to themes of purpose, divine will, and an emphasis on the ordering of the world to allow human beings to live on it.

In ancient Near Eastern cosmology, the seven heavens refer to seven firmaments or physical layers located above the open sky. The concept can be found in ancient Mesopotamian religion, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Some traditions complement the seven heavens with an idea of the seven earths or seven underworlds. These heavens or underworlds have been conceived of as realms with deities or celestial bodies (such as the classical planets and fixed stars).

Variants of the seven heavens tradition existed. Ancient Near Eastern cosmology more often described the number of heavens and earths as three, instead of seven. Seven as the number of heavens was the most popular value for Jewish cosmology, but depending on the text, the number ranged from 3 to 365.