Enuma Elish

The Enuma Elish is the Babylonian Epic of Creation, in which Tiamat and Absu, the primeval forces of chaos and order, produce the elder gods. The gods slay Absu and live on his corpse. Tiamat swears vengeance, until finally she's slain by the storm god Marduk.

The myth bares similarity to the Biblical story of creation, as well as the Theogony which describes the origins of the Greek gods. These similarities will be further explored in the sections that follow. The psychological and political characteristics of the epic will also be described. The story of Marduk reveals man's purpose, to bring order to chaos by using the word of truth, as well as marks a shift from the culture of Sumer dominating Mesopotamia to the culture of Babylon becoming the prevalent authority.

The Primeval Waters of Chaos
In the beginning of time, the earth and heaven do not exist because they are not named. Naming is act of creation, of distinguishing something as an individual entity against the formless mass of chaos. While Tiamat and others do use names in spells to perform magical acts later in the story, there is no naming used in this way in the earlier part of the epic. This may imply that to the Mesopotamians, magic involving the use of words is secondary to the power of the eternal waters of chaos.

Two dragons, Tiamat and Absu, are locked together in a sexual embrace, their waters intermingled. This mixture of water is representative of the primordial chaos.

Absu, also known as Abzu or Apsu is the male incarnation of order, structure, and culture. His name, Ab-su, means "Heavenly Ocean of Wisdom" or "Conscious Sea." He represents the upper sweet freshwater, which sits just below the earth, often found by digging, and is safe to drink. He is the father of the gods. Tiamat, otherwise known as Mummu-Tiamat (which likely means Mother Tiamat, Maker Tiamat, Demiurge Tiamat, or Chaos, Tiamat) is Absu' s female counterpart, represeting chaos, nature, as well as the creation/destruction dichotomy. Also known as the "Bearer of Sky and Earth," she may also be a representation of a star or constellation near the ecliptic. She represents the lower bitter saltwater ocean, which is undrinkable, indicating her danger and power. She is larger and more powerful than Absu, for when one mixes saltwater and freshwater, one gets saltwater. Conversely, to the people who wrote the Enuma Elish, it was impossible to extract freshwater from saltwater. Going off of this logic, it seems that Tiamat may have existed prior to Absu because initially, with their waters intermingling, they would be saltwater. She is the mother of the gods, and is an example of the Terrible Mother archetype, representing an uncontrollable female force connected to the unconscious, as well as the Great mother archetype and the Chaos/Dragon archetype. In the act of creation, the female aspect has to be greater than the male aspect. The father contributes only his semen in the act of creation, while the mother must birth the load, in this case birthing the entire cosmos. Tiamat's name is related to the word Tehom, which represents the great deep primordial waters of the Bible. Genesis 1:2 "And the Spirit of God moved over the face of the waters."

Tiamat and Absu are essentially the first generation of gods. This article will also be listing the days of Creation in Genesis alongside the generations of Mesopotamian gods in this epic, in order to examine any parallels. On the first day, God created the heaven and the earth. As well as that, there is also that water mentioned in the beginning of Genesis. This indicates an influence on the Genesis narrative, which was written later.

It makes sense that the world started with an eternal mixture of water, for what could be seen as more eternal than the ocean to ancient man? It is endless, is able to attack and reclaim the land, remains stable even through violent storms, and it always returns when it leaves. By contrast, the celestial bodies such as the sun, moon, and stars all seem less constant, as they disappear, reappear, and move across the sky without a definite resting place.

The Creation of the First Gods
The coupling of the World Parents, Tiamat and Absu, produces the first of their children, the gods: Lahmu and his sister Lahamu; this is the first separation of order out of chaos. The union of opposites is required for creation of any kind, such as female and male being prerequisites to the creation of life; chaos and order are necessary in order to give rise to the gods, which can be viewed as primordial forces of nature. This idea of unified opposites can also be found in the Yin and Yang of Taoism. It could be speculated that this wasn't necessarily an intentional act of creation, but perhaps more of a simple chain reaction. Regardless, it's an abstract form of creation, the formation of divine spiritual beings out of very little material. The tale indicates the emergence of a new cosmic order; around the time this myth was written, agriculture had changed society to the extent that values had changed and it was necessary for the cosmogony to reflect these new beliefs. Lahmu's name has been interpreted as "Hairy One" or "Muddy One" and may have been a kind of divinity that existed in numbers up to fifty. The twins may have been representative of muddy silt, but it is more generally accepted that both Lahamu and Lahmu were representative of constellations, parent stars, and/or the Zodiac. They are the second generation of gods. On the second day of Biblical Creation, the sky and ocean are made.

Lahmu and Lahamu produce Anshar, the Sky Father, and Kishar, the Earth Mother. It is noted that they surpass their parents in power. This is a common motif in mythology, of gods being stronger than their parents. The Greek Theogony is an obvious example. It's a symbol of perpetual change, the new supplanting the old. They are the third generation of gods. On the third day of Biblical Creation, the land was formed and separated the seas. Anshar and Kishar couple in order to create Anu, the god of heaven. He alone is the named member of the fourth generation of gods. On the fourth day of Biblical Creation, God creates the heavenly bodies: the sun, moon, and stars. Here can be seen another parallel between the two myths. Anu has two sons, Enlil, otherwise called Elil or Nunamner and Ea, also known as Enki or Nudimmud. Enlil was known in earlier times as the Supreme God of the Sumerian pantheon. Enki was the god of the earth, water, wisdom and the Sumerian Creator God. He is also the god of incantations; when he speaks, things are created, much like YHWH in Genesis 1. Enki also demonstrates attributes of a Trickster God. He taught humanity the arts and skills of civilizations, according to one Sumerian myth. These two are among the fifth generation of gods. On the fifth day of Biblical Creation, God creates beasts of the sky and sea, as well as sea monsters. This is of little relevance here, but the fifth day of creation will be referenced again in the section on Tablet 5.

The Disturbance of the Waters
The gods are careless and make a lot of noise. They build things and disturb Tiamat and Absu. Absu calls on his vizier Mummu for advice. Mummu is named the firstborn of Absu and Tiamat, though he was not named previously; his name has been interpreted as meaning "confusion" or "maker." Mummu advises the World Parents to slay their children. Tiamat rejects the idea, preferring instead to wait and allow them time to mature and settle down. Absu, however, joins forces with Mummu with the intent to destroy the gods.

Tiamat warns Enki of the plan to kill him and his kin. Recklessly, Enki locks Mummu away and kills Absu, thus slaying the orderly part of the chaos that made them; this represents the collapse of traditional belief systems, something very common to Mesopotamia. This can be viewed as a mythological parallel to Freud's theory of the primeval murder: there was once a savage tribe with a violent and cruel father who drives his sons away in order to hoard the females to himself; they then joined together and returned to kill and eat their father, thus symbolically gaining the power of the person who they most feared and admired.

From Absu's corpse, Enki creates a home for the gods. This is the second creation event in the Enuma Elish. If one thinks of gods as the things that drives us, they are partially determined by the dead cultures that the current state is built upon. Culture itself rests upon the corpses of dead cultures and structures. Tiamat is upset over the death of Absu, but she remains passive, reluctant to anger. Enki and his consort Damkina, also known as Ninhursag, Ninmah, Damgalnuna, or Aruru, couple within Absu to produce Marduk, Jupiter, the Supreme God of Babylon, the storm god, and the god of sovereignty. Mesopotamian Emperors were considered to be avatars of Marduk, and thus his traits are meant to represent those of the perfect individual and leader. He's strong, tall and powerful. He has incredible hearing; he can listen and pay attention. He also all-seeing, with eyes all around his head, which again indicates his ability to pay attention; he has vision. He's eloquent and can speak magic words; things obey the command of his word, which allows him to make incredible things happen through speaking. With his will, he makes the constellations in the sky disappear and reappear. Symbolically, these are the traits of the perfect leader and the perfect individual: he uses the word of truth to speak good habitable order into chaos. He is of the sixth generation of gods. In the sixth day of Biblical Creation, God creates Man. This will be revisited in the sixth tablet.

Kingu, otherwise known as Qingu, is born from Tiamat around this time as well to be her associate, much like Mummu was to Absu. He is also considered her husband, filling the role of Absu. He is sort of like a demonic prince, a proto-Satan for reasons that will soon be made known.

Marduk is given power of the winds, with which he creates a wave that disturbs the waters of Tiamat once again. Note that both of the conflicts in the Enuma Elish begin with the disturbance of Tiamat's waters. Some of the gods, including Kingu, jealous of Marduk's glory, complain to Tiamat and encourage her to avenge her fallen mate, Absu and she decides to wage war. There is another connection here to Genesis; the violent return of the primordial waters is reminiscent of the Biblical Flood narrative.

She creates eleven monsters: venomous fanged serpents, dragons, vipers, the mushussu dragon, a lahmu-hero, ugallu-demons, raging hounds, scorpion-men, umu-demons, fish-men, and bull-men. At least some of these creatures represent zodiac signs. Most of the monsters are chimeric, being made of parts that belong to different creatures; they are symbolic of the potential dangers that lurk in the chaotic wilderness. Kingu, the worst monster of them all, is promoted to general of Tiamat's army and given the Tablets of Destiny by Tiamat, thus proclaiming him leader of the gods, determiner of fates.

The Anunnaki Attempt to Subdue Tiamat
Enki hears of Tiamat's plans for war and warns his grandfather Anshar, who immediately blames Enki for the slaying of Absu and disturbance of Tiamat. At Anshar's order, Enki tries to placate Tiamat, but he returns cringing. Anu then tries to defeat Tiamat, but was unable to withstand her.

Supreme Gods of the conflicting and contributing tribes of Mesopotamia each reflected the highest ideals of their respective culture. As these cultures would battle each other both physically and through language and communication, their gods would likewise compete, battling chaos in order to establish a hierarchy to learn which proposition rules everything.

Thus, a meeting is called in Ubshukinna, also known as Upsukkinnaku, the assembly hall of the gods. Marduk is asked by the assembly to battle Tiamat. He agrees to do so on the condition that the other gods promote him to Supreme God and allow him to be the determiner of destinies.

Marduk is Elected Supreme God
Enki consults his adviser Gaga who instructs him to fetch Lahmu and Lahamu, tell them of the looming danger and Marduk's willingness to confront it. Lahmu, Lahamu and the other Igigi are dismayed and reluctant, but agree to Marduk's conditions after a night of drinking and becoming drowsy.

The Igigi are the lesser gods of the Mesopotamian pantheon, gods of the sky and heaven. The Anunnaki are the more powerful deities, gods of the underworld, the Absu. They are also known as the "attendant deities," presumably due to their attendance in Ubshukinna.

The Hero Slays the Dragon
Marduk, the Hero archetype is given several weapons to use in his battle against Tiamat, the Chaos/Dragon archetype. Lightning bolts, flame, a mace, a bow and arrow, and a net made of seven winds. Upon his confrontation of the army of chaos, Kingu and the other gods and monsters in her army flee in terror. Tiamat rushes in and cast a spell, and here she does attempt to speak an incantation, to use the word to change reality, but Marduk throws a lightning bolt into her mouth and she could not bite down. He captures her in his net; he thus puts chaos in an enclosed structure, what could be called psychologically a conceptual scheme. In order to put chaos in a box, one must exemplify the most important traits of Marduk: attentiveness and speaking well. The use of the net is also a metaphor for tool use; it's made of winds, a element of nature, much as how human beings use nature to build tools in order to further confront natural threats.

He puts his "Evil Winds" into her, and they fill and burst her belly. He shoots an arrow through her heart and bashes her head in with a mace. He casts down her corpse and stands on it triumphantly. This is a return of the Freudian primeval murder theory in mythological terms.

The Great Mother being slain by a male god can be seen as a reinforcement of certain patriarchal dominance beliefs, warning that if a woman is to explore her own resources, she may be struck down by a Marduk-like figure. After all, it was Marduk's wave which first provoked Tiamat after the death of Absu, her reaction to which was less than threatening. Written during the reign of Hammurabi, this could also be viewed as a continuation of the process of de-feminization that was prevalent at that time, with many popular goddesses being replaced by male deities. In earlier versions of the myth, Tiamat was the sole symbol of the waters, with Absu being added later.

The motif of a Supreme God killing a dragon and overshadowing other deities is not uncommon. Baal, a storm god like Marduk, emerged to overshadow El, the Canaanite god of Heaven, and his consort Ashera, goddess of the sea. YHWH slays the Leviathan, and culturally usurps Baal, El, and Ashera. Another story similar to the Enuma Elish in this regard is, once again, the Greek Theogony. The Earth Mother, Gaia, and the Sky Father Uranus, are a primordial couple who birth the gods. Their son Cronos, like Ea, slays his father Uranus. Cronos' son Zeus then goes on to unseat his own father.

Marduk chases down and captures Kingu and the monsters and rebel gods, and they are filled with grief. He takes the Tablets of Destiny from Kingu and leaves him in the care of Uggae, the god of death. Marduk ties the eleven monsters to his feet as trophies.

The Creation of the World From Tiamat
Marduk divides Tiamat's body into two, with one half becoming the earth: mountains from her breasts, the sea from her blood, mist from her spittle, and the Tigris and Euphrates, rivers, both of which are mentioned in the Biblical Garden of Eden narrative, flow from her eyes.

The other half of her body he uses to create the sky. It's said that Marduk stretched the firmament and created the Grat Heavenly Abode known as Anduruna or Esharra, which may also be a poetic name for the earth which is not an unreasonable place to expect the gods to dwell; Anu, Enki, and Enlil are all assigned to their rightful positions. The splitting in half of Tiamat to make land and sky parallels YHWH separating the waters from the waters with the land in order make sky and sea. Unlike the first act of creation, which involved very abstract building materials and product, and seemed to lack any definite reason, Marduk deliberately crafts a concrete world from the corpse of a dead foe. Marduk's slaying of Tiamat and making the world of her is essentially a significantly more impressive rendition of the earlier deeds of his father; like Enki, Marduk slays a monster and makes a world of it. Thus, Tiamat is the mother of the world for a second time.

If the creation of the underworld from Absu can be considered a minor act of creation, it could be said that there are two primary creation stories in the Enuma Elish: the creation of the primordial gods from the coupling of Absu and Tiamat, and the creation of the world from Tiamat's corpse. Similarly, there are two creation stories in the Bible, but again, this is based on the mere assumption that the second act of creation is of far less significance, as it seems like more of a stepping stone to the serious conflict with Tiamat and the subsequent creation of the world most relevant to the authors of the work, the one they lived in, and the first creation is required for any of the subsequent events at all.

Further Exploits of Creation
Marduk, now an example of the King archetype, creates the heavenly bodies and positions them in the sky, assigning the gods to their duties; he creates the Sun God, Utu, also known as Shamash, and the zodiac. The fifth tablet in this way mirrors the fifth day of Biblical Creation, when YHWH creates beasts and sea monsters, often connected with the zodiac. Marduk sets designates the years and months, appointing 3 stars for each month, and sets the phases of the moon. He founds the station of Nebiru, the planet Jupiter, also known as Nibir in order to prevent the other heavenly bodies from straying from their designated paths. He then constructs temples for the gods, and they fall at Marduk's feet and worship him.

Just as Enki lives in his adversary's corpse, ruling the underworld, Marduk rules the living world he made from the body of Tiamat. Babylon is established as home of the chief gods. The Enuma Elish proves not only to be a story of light and order conquering darkness and chaos, but of Babylon surpassing Sumer as the dominant culture. Yet another connection to Genesis can be found here: the Bible narrates the origins and founding of the nation of Israel under the guidance of YHWH, and the Enuma Elish describes the origins and founding of Babylon under Marduk.

The Birth of Humankind
Marduk says to Enki that he will create man in order to serve the gods. It is fitting that man would serve the gods, as deities represent the underlying universal, transcendent, eternal forces of nature, which control mankind in a direct and inescapable unavoidable way. The idea of servitude may also have been included to justify the transition to a collective rule into a monarchy. Humans are also seen as coworkers of the gods, as they are equally responsible for maintaining creation and keeping chaos away. The gods are also often seen as ancestors, and through worship and sacrifice one could guarantee their well-being in the afterlife when they die and return to Enki and the Absu. This enforces the idea that one has some kind of obligation to previous generations.

His father suggests that they call an assembly to determine which of the gods would be sacrificed to provide life to humanity. The gods blame Kingu for the war and therefore decide that he shall be sacrificed. The fact that the gods don't directly blame Tiamat for the conflict shows a certain reverence towards Tiamat the mother that's greater than that given Absu the father.

By Marduk's will, Enki creates Lullu, the first man, from the blood of Kingu, the general of Tiamat's demonic army. There is a connection here to the Egyptian and Judeo-Christian idea that there is a Satanic aspect to human experience. Humans are the only animals that can truly betray, deceive, lie to one another; the only animals capable of true evil. And it can be noted that Marduk, a sixth-generation god, created mankind while YHWH created mankind on the sixth day.

Marduk organizes the underworld and distributes the gods to their positions. The ordering of the gods can be seen as the the assignment of the positions of the heavenly bodies. Finally, the gods can all rest thanks to the sixth generation god, Marduk, much as YHWH rested after the sixth Biblical day of Creation. Likewise, the angels of Genesis, subservient to YHWH, are able to rest, and are very similar to the gods under Marduk.

Praise for Marduk
Tablet 7 simply lists the fifty names Marduk is given as part of his reward for all he did. One of the titles is Mummu, that chin-scratching title. In many ways the text is political, designed more to impress than entertain. The epic is meant to reaffirm the praise of Marduk, and likewise his human counterpart, the emperor. The Mesopotamian emperor was expected to exemplify Marduk. Every New Year's festival, the priest, the king, and other citizens would go outside the safe walls of the city, into the chaotic unexplored wilds, bringing a statue of Marduk with them. They would then reenact the story of Marduk. The priest would have the emperor kneel, publicly humiliate him by slapping him in the face with a glove and making him confess ways he had not lived up to his expectations as emperor, at which point he would be forgiven, Marduk would win, there would be a celebration, and the emperor would sleep with a royal prostitute. The latter idea is related to the story of Saint George, who slays a dragon and rescues a princess. The idea behind it is that if you confront chaos and live you can extract something out of it with which, if you unite, you produce creative order.