KM-HQ: November 30,2020
Tiamat is the Mesopotamian goddess associated with primordial chaos and the salt sea best known from the Babylonian epic Enuma Elish. In all versions of the myth, following the original, Tiamat always symbolizes the forces of chaos, which threaten the order established by the gods, and Marduk (or Ashur in Assyrian versions) is the hero who preserves it. She is depicted, in later periods, as a female serpent or dragon based on vague descriptions of her in Enuma Elish, but no iconography exists from ancient Mesopotamia.
The elder gods, also her children, confront her about the death of their father, reminding her that, when Apsu was killed she did nothing and when Mummu was imprisoned she did not make any complaint. Now, they tell her, Marduk and the other younger gods make all their lives miserable by doing as they please without any consideration for their elders. They scold her that she does not love them and beg her to make war on the younger gods, avenge Apsu, and put an end to the constant noise and aggravation. Tiamat listens to their counsel and agrees to go to war, saying, “Let us make demons, as you have advised” (line 126). She then gives birth to the eleven monsters, known as Tiamat’s Creatures, who will help her fight against the younger gods:
Musmahhu, Usumgallu, Basmu – three horned snakes, Furious, Exalted, and Venomous
Umu-dabrutu – a raging storm
Mushussu – a snake-dragon
Lahamu – a hairy beast-man
Ugallu – a lion-demon
Uridimmu – a lion-human hybrid
Girtablullu – a scorpion-man
Kulullu – a fish-man (merman)
Kusarikku – a bull-man
She then chooses the god Quingu, her lover, to lead her forces as champion and gives him the Tablets of Destiny, which legitimize a god’s rule and control the fates; whoever holds the Tablets of Destiny has supreme power over the heavens, earth, and underworld. With her formidable army, Tiamat goes to war against her younger children and defeats – but does not kill – them. The younger gods struggle against overwhelming power but cannot stand against Quingu and the Tablets of Destiny or the eleven creatures of Tiamat, who lead the other gods against them.
The younger gods fall into despair but Marduk volunteers to go and fight Tiamat and her legions alone on the condition that, afterwards, he is to be made supreme ruler: