Enûma Elish
Encyclopedia
The is the Babylonian creation myth (named after its opening words). It was recovered by Austen Henry Layard
in 1849 (in fragmentary form) in the ruined Library of Ashurbanipal
at Nineveh
(Mosul
, Iraq
), and published by George Smith
in 1876.
The Enûma Eliš has about a thousand lines and is recorded in Old Babylonian on seven clay tablet
s, each holding between 115 and 170 lines of text. Most of Tablet V has never been recovered, but aside from this lacuna
, the text is almost complete. A duplicate copy of Tablet V has been found in Sultantepe
, ancient Huzirina, located near the modern town of Şanlıurfa
in Turkey
.
This epic is one of the most important sources for understanding the Babylonia
n worldview, centered on the supremacy of Marduk
and the creation of humankind for the service of the gods. Its primary original purpose, however, is not an exposition of theology
or theogony
but the elevation of Marduk, the chief god of Babylon
, above other Mesopotamian gods.
The Enûma Eliš exists in various copies from Babylon and Assyria. The version from Ashurbanipal's library dates to the 7th century BCE. The composition of the text probably dates to the Bronze Age
, to the time of Hammurabi
or perhaps the early Kassite
era (roughly 18th to 16th centuries BCE), although some scholars favour a later date of ca. 1100 BCE.
The title, meaning "when on high" is the incipit
. The first tablet begins:
The epic names two primeval gods: Apsû
(or Abzu) and Tiamat
. Several other gods are created (Ea and his brothers) who reside in Tiamat's vast body. They make so much noise that the babel or noise annoys Tiamat and Apsû greatly. Apsû wishes to kill the young gods, but Tiamat disagrees. The vizier, Mummu, agrees with Apsû's plan to destroy them. Tiamat, in order to stop this from occurring, warns Ea (Nudimmud), the most powerful of the gods. Ea uses magic to put Apsû into a coma, then kills him, and shuts Mummu out. Ea then becomes the chief god, and along with his consort Damkina
, has a son, Marduk
, greater still than himself. Marduk is given wind to play with and he uses the wind to make dust storms and tornadoes. This disrupts Tiamat's great body and causes the gods still residing inside her to be unable to sleep.
They persuade Tiamat to take revenge for the death of her husband, Apsû. Her power grows, and some of the gods join her. She creates 11 monsters to help her win the battle and elevates Kingu
, her new husband, to "supreme dominion." A lengthy description of the other gods' inability to deal with the threat follows. Marduk offers to save the gods if he is appointed as their leader and allowed to remain so even after the threat passes. When the gods agree to Marduk's conditions he is selected as their champion against Tiamat, and becomes very powerful. Marduk challenges Tiamat to combat and destroys her. He then rips her corpse into two halves with which he fashions the earth and the skies. Marduk then creates the calendar, organizes the planets, stars and regulates the moon, sun, and weather.
The gods who have pledged their allegiance to Tiamat are initially forced into labor in the service of the gods who sided with Marduk. But they are freed from these labors when Marduk then destroys Tiamat's husband, Kingu
and uses his blood to create humankind to do the work for the gods. Babylon is established as the residence of the chief gods—the chief gods who made much babel or noise. Finally, the gods confer kingship on Marduk, hailing him with fifty names. Most noteworthy is Marduk's symbolic elevation over Enlil
, who was seen by earlier Mesopotamian civilizations as the king of the gods.
, and in earlier Ancient Near Eastern (Canaanite and Mesopotamian) myth.
Genesis 1:1-3 can be taken as describing the state of chaos immediately prior to God's creation:
However, these parallels do not necessarily suggest that Hebrew beliefs about the nature of God and creation can be completely explained as having their origins in the creation myths of the time. Rather, many biblical scholars see the Genesis texts as polemically addressing the Babylonian worldview. For example, Conrad Hyers, from Princeton Theological Seminary, argues that the composition of the Genesis 1 creation account is not "a matter of borrowing, as one might borrow an egg here and a cup of sugar there, or even a new recipe. The aim is not to appropriate a superior form, or to make an eclectic compromise, or even to improve upon pagan cosmologies. It is rather to repudiate the divinization of nature and the attendant myths of divine origins, divine conflict, and divine ascent. Even the great Marduk, who was said to be born of the gods, victorious over chaotic forces, and elevated to supremacy among the gods, was no god at all."
Austen Henry Layard
Sir Austen Henry Layard GCB, PC was a British traveller, archaeologist, cuneiformist, art historian, draughtsman, collector, author, politician and diplomat, best known as the excavator of Nimrud.-Family:...
in 1849 (in fragmentary form) in the ruined Library of Ashurbanipal
Library of Ashurbanipal
-External links:. In our time discussion programme. 45 minutes....
at Nineveh
Nineveh
Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, and capital of the Neo Assyrian Empire. Its ruins are across the river from the modern-day major city of Mosul, in the Ninawa Governorate of Iraq....
(Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
), and published by George Smith
George Smith (assyriologist)
George Smith , was a pioneering English Assyriologist who first discovered and translated the Epic of Gilgamesh, the oldest-known written work of literature.-Early life and early career:...
in 1876.
The Enûma Eliš has about a thousand lines and is recorded in Old Babylonian on seven clay tablet
Clay tablet
In the Ancient Near East, clay tablets were used as a writing medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age....
s, each holding between 115 and 170 lines of text. Most of Tablet V has never been recovered, but aside from this lacuna
Lacuna (manuscripts)
A lacunaPlural lacunae. From Latin lacūna , diminutive form of lacus . is a gap in a manuscript, inscription, text, painting, or a musical work...
, the text is almost complete. A duplicate copy of Tablet V has been found in Sultantepe
Sultantepe
The ancient temple-complex, perhaps of Huzirina, now represented by the tell of Sultantepe, is a Late Assyrian archeological site at the edge of the Neo-Assyrian empire, now in Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey...
, ancient Huzirina, located near the modern town of Şanlıurfa
Sanliurfa
Şanlıurfa, , often simply known as Urfa in daily language , in ancient times Edessa, is a city with 482,323 inhabitants Şanlıurfa, , often simply known as Urfa in daily language (Syriac ܐܘܪܗܝ Urhoy,Armenian Ուռհա Owr'ha, Arabic الرها ar-Ruhā), in ancient times Edessa, is a city with 482,323...
in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
.
This epic is one of the most important sources for understanding the Babylonia
Babylonia
Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...
n worldview, centered on the supremacy of Marduk
Marduk
Marduk was the Babylonian name of a late-generation god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon, who, when Babylon became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of Hammurabi , started to...
and the creation of humankind for the service of the gods. Its primary original purpose, however, is not an exposition of theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
or theogony
Theogony
The Theogony is a poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogies of the gods of the ancient Greeks, composed circa 700 BC...
but the elevation of Marduk, the chief god of Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
, above other Mesopotamian gods.
The Enûma Eliš exists in various copies from Babylon and Assyria. The version from Ashurbanipal's library dates to the 7th century BCE. The composition of the text probably dates to the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
, to the time of Hammurabi
Hammurabi
Hammurabi Hammurabi Hammurabi (Akkadian from Amorite ʻAmmurāpi, "the kinsman is a healer", from ʻAmmu, "paternal kinsman", and Rāpi, "healer"; (died c...
or perhaps the early Kassite
Kassites
The Kassites were an ancient Near Eastern people who gained control of Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire after ca. 1531 BC to ca. 1155 BC...
era (roughly 18th to 16th centuries BCE), although some scholars favour a later date of ca. 1100 BCE.
Summary
When the seven tablets that contain this were first discovered, evidence indicated that it was used as a "ritual", meaning it was recited during a ceremony or celebration. That celebration is now known to be the Akitu festival, or Babylonian new year. This tells of the creation of the world, and of Marduk's triumph over Tiamat, and how it relates to him becoming king of the gods. This is then followed by an invocation to Marduk by his fifty names.The title, meaning "when on high" is the incipit
Incipit
Incipit is a Latin word meaning "it begins". The incipit of a text, such as a poem, song, or book, is the first few words of its opening line. In music, it can also refer to the opening notes of a composition. Before the development of titles, texts were often referred to by their incipits...
. The first tablet begins:
| When the sky above was not named, | |
| And the earth beneath did not yet bear a name, | |
| And the primeval Apsû Abzu The abzu also called engur, literally, ab='ocean' zu='to know' or 'deep' was the name for fresh water from underground aquifers that was given a religious quality in Sumerian and Akkadian mythology... , who begat them, |
|
| And chaos, Tiamat Tiamat In Babylonian mythology, Tiamat is a chaos monster, a primordial goddess of the ocean, mating with Abzû to produce younger gods. It is suggested that there are two parts to the Tiamat mythos, the first in which Tiamat is 'creatrix', through a "Sacred marriage" between salt and fresh water,... , the mother of them both, |
|
| Their waters were mingled together, | |
| And no field was formed, no marsh was to be seen; | |
| When of the gods none had been called into being. |
The epic names two primeval gods: Apsû
Abzu
The abzu also called engur, literally, ab='ocean' zu='to know' or 'deep' was the name for fresh water from underground aquifers that was given a religious quality in Sumerian and Akkadian mythology...
(or Abzu) and Tiamat
Tiamat
In Babylonian mythology, Tiamat is a chaos monster, a primordial goddess of the ocean, mating with Abzû to produce younger gods. It is suggested that there are two parts to the Tiamat mythos, the first in which Tiamat is 'creatrix', through a "Sacred marriage" between salt and fresh water,...
. Several other gods are created (Ea and his brothers) who reside in Tiamat's vast body. They make so much noise that the babel or noise annoys Tiamat and Apsû greatly. Apsû wishes to kill the young gods, but Tiamat disagrees. The vizier, Mummu, agrees with Apsû's plan to destroy them. Tiamat, in order to stop this from occurring, warns Ea (Nudimmud), the most powerful of the gods. Ea uses magic to put Apsû into a coma, then kills him, and shuts Mummu out. Ea then becomes the chief god, and along with his consort Damkina
Damgalnuna
Damgalnuna was a mother goddess in Mesopotamian mythology. She first appears as a consort of Enlil in Sumerian mythology, and later becomes the Akkadian Damkina, consort of Enki/Ea and mother of the god Marduk....
, has a son, Marduk
Marduk
Marduk was the Babylonian name of a late-generation god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon, who, when Babylon became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of Hammurabi , started to...
, greater still than himself. Marduk is given wind to play with and he uses the wind to make dust storms and tornadoes. This disrupts Tiamat's great body and causes the gods still residing inside her to be unable to sleep.
They persuade Tiamat to take revenge for the death of her husband, Apsû. Her power grows, and some of the gods join her. She creates 11 monsters to help her win the battle and elevates Kingu
Kingu
Kingu, also spelled Qingu, meaning "unskilled laborer," was a god in Babylonian mythology, and — after the murder of his father Apsu — the consort of the goddess Tiamat, his mother, who wanted to establish him as ruler and leader of all gods before she was slain by Marduk. Tiamat gave Kingu the 3...
, her new husband, to "supreme dominion." A lengthy description of the other gods' inability to deal with the threat follows. Marduk offers to save the gods if he is appointed as their leader and allowed to remain so even after the threat passes. When the gods agree to Marduk's conditions he is selected as their champion against Tiamat, and becomes very powerful. Marduk challenges Tiamat to combat and destroys her. He then rips her corpse into two halves with which he fashions the earth and the skies. Marduk then creates the calendar, organizes the planets, stars and regulates the moon, sun, and weather.
The gods who have pledged their allegiance to Tiamat are initially forced into labor in the service of the gods who sided with Marduk. But they are freed from these labors when Marduk then destroys Tiamat's husband, Kingu
Kingu
Kingu, also spelled Qingu, meaning "unskilled laborer," was a god in Babylonian mythology, and — after the murder of his father Apsu — the consort of the goddess Tiamat, his mother, who wanted to establish him as ruler and leader of all gods before she was slain by Marduk. Tiamat gave Kingu the 3...
and uses his blood to create humankind to do the work for the gods. Babylon is established as the residence of the chief gods—the chief gods who made much babel or noise. Finally, the gods confer kingship on Marduk, hailing him with fifty names. Most noteworthy is Marduk's symbolic elevation over Enlil
Enlil
Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent poets of the Victorian era. Her poetry was widely popular in both England and the United States during her lifetime. A collection of her last poems was published by her husband, Robert Browning, shortly after her death.-Early life:Members...
, who was seen by earlier Mesopotamian civilizations as the king of the gods.
Relationship with the Bible
The Enûma Eliš was recognized as bearing close relation to the Jewish creation in Genesis from its first publication (Smith 1876), and it was an important step in the recognition of the roots of the account found in the BibleBible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, and in earlier Ancient Near Eastern (Canaanite and Mesopotamian) myth.
Genesis 1:1-3 can be taken as describing the state of chaos immediately prior to God's creation:
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.
"
However, these parallels do not necessarily suggest that Hebrew beliefs about the nature of God and creation can be completely explained as having their origins in the creation myths of the time. Rather, many biblical scholars see the Genesis texts as polemically addressing the Babylonian worldview. For example, Conrad Hyers, from Princeton Theological Seminary, argues that the composition of the Genesis 1 creation account is not "a matter of borrowing, as one might borrow an egg here and a cup of sugar there, or even a new recipe. The aim is not to appropriate a superior form, or to make an eclectic compromise, or even to improve upon pagan cosmologies. It is rather to repudiate the divinization of nature and the attendant myths of divine origins, divine conflict, and divine ascent. Even the great Marduk, who was said to be born of the gods, victorious over chaotic forces, and elevated to supremacy among the gods, was no god at all."
Editions and translations
- The Seven Tablets of Creation, The Babylonian Legends of Creation, by E. A. Wallis Budge, [1921], at sacred-texts.com
- Seven Tablets of Creation, Luzac's Semitic Text and Translation Series, No 12 & 13, ISBN 978-0404113445 (1973).
- L. W. King, Enûma Eliš: The Seven Tablets of Creation, London (1902); 1999 reprint ISBN 978-1585090433; 2002 reprint ISBN 1402159056.
- Anton Deimel, Enûma Eliš (1936).
- W. C. Lambert, S. B. Parker, Enûma Eliš. The Babylonian Epic of Creation, Oxford (1966).
- D. D. Luckenbill, The Ashur Version of the Seven Tablets of Creation, The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, Vol. 38, No. 1 (Oct., 1921), pp. 12-35 .
External links
- Enuma Elish - The Babylonian Epic of Creation on Ancient History Encyclopedia (includes the original text)
- The Theogonies of Damascius
- http://wikisource.org/wiki/Enuma_Elish
- The full surviving text of the Enûma Elish
- Genesis and Enûma Elish creation myth comparisons
- A cuneiform text of Tablet I with translation and explanation in detail