KM-HQ: 12/24/2020
The Enuma Elish (also known as The Seven Tablets of Creation) is the Mesopotamian creation myth whose title is derived from the opening lines of the piece, "When on High". All of the tablets containing the myth, found at Ashur, Kish, Ashurbanipal's library at Nineveh, Sultantepe, and other excavated sites, date to c. 1200 BCE but their colophons indicate that these are all copies of a much older version of the myth dating from long before the fall of Sumer in c. 1750 BCE.
According to the Babylonian Enuma Elish (c. 1100 BCE), Enki was the oldest son of the first gods, Apsu and Tiamat. In the beginning of time, the world was undifferentiated swirling chaos from which separated Apsu, the male principle personified by fresh water and Tiamat, the female principle defined by salt water.
Apsu and Tiamat gave birth to the younger gods but these deities had nothing to do and so amused themselves as best as they could. Their constant noise distracted Apsu and interrupted his sleep and so, after consulting with his vizier, he decided to kill them. Tiamat overheard their discussion and was horrified by the plan and so whispered it to her son. Enki considered various plans and their consequences and then proceeded with the one he thought best: he put his father into a deep sleep and then killed him. Tiamat never considered such a possibility and disowned her children. She then raised an army of demons and monsters, led by her consort and champion Quingu (sometimes Kingu). This army of the older gods defeated Enki and the younger gods in battle each time they met until the younger group was driven back and began to lose hope.
Tiamat, once the supporter of the younger gods, now is enraged that they have killed her mate. She consults with the god, Quingu, who advises her to make war on the younger gods. Tiamat rewards Quingu with the Tablets of Destiny, which legitimize the rule of a god and control the fates, and he wears them proudly as a breastplate. With Quingu as her champion, Tiamat summons the forces of chaos and creates eleven horrible monsters to destroy her children.
At this point Enki's son Marduk stepped forth with an offer: if the gods would make him their king, he would lead them to victory. Prior to this, there had been no general overseeing the operations but each god took a turn at command. Once Marduk was elected king, he met Quingu in single combat and defeated him and then shot Tiamat with an arrow so great it split her in two. From her eyes ran the tears which would become the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and her body was used by Marduk to fashion the earth.
Ea, Enki, and the younger gods fight against Tiamat futilely until, from among them, emerges the champion Marduk who swears he will defeat Tiamat. Marduk defeats Quingu and kills Tiamat by shooting her with an arrow which splits her in two; from her eyes flow the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
Quingu is charged as guilty and killed and, from his blood, Ea creates Lullu, the first man, to be a helper to the gods in their eternal task of maintaining order and keeping chaos at bay. Quingu, and other gods who had encouraged Tiamat's war, were executed and Quingu's body used to create human beings. Marduk consulted with Enki on all these choices and so Enki is often credited as co-creator of the world and life.
Out of Tiamat's corpse, Marduk creates the heavens and the earth, he appoints gods to various duties and binds Tiamat's eleven creatures to his feet as trophies (to much adulation from the other gods) before setting their images in his new home. He also takes the Tablets of Destiny from Quingu, thus legitimizing his reign.
As the poem phrases it, "Ea created mankind/On whom he imposed the service of the gods, and set the gods free" (Tablet VI.33-34). Following this, Marduk "arranged the organization of the netherworld" and distributed the gods to their appointed stations (Tablet VI.43-46). The poem ends in Tablet VII with long praise of Marduk for his accomplishments.
The Enuma Elish would later be the inspiration for the Hebrew scribes who created the text now known as the biblical Book of Genesis. Prior to the 19th century CE, the Bible was considered the oldest book in the world and its narratives were thought to be completely original. In the mid-19th century CE, however, European museums, as well as academic and religious institutions, sponsored excavations in Mesopotamia to find physical evidence for historical corroboration of the stories in the Bible. These excavations found quite the opposite, however, in that, once cuneiform was translated, it was understood that a number of biblical narratives were Mesopotamian in origin.
In revising the Mesopotamian creation story for their own ends, the Hebrew scribes tightened the narrative and the focus but retained the concept of the all-powerful deity who brings order from chaos. Marduk, in the Enuma Elish, establishes the recognizable order of the world - just as God does in the Genesis tale - and human beings are expected to recognize this great gift and honor the deity through service. In Mesopotamia, in fact, it was thought that humans were co-workers with the gods to maintain the gift of creation and keep the forces of chaos at bay.
The Enuma Elish was read and recited widely throughout Mesopotamia but was especially important at the New Year Festival in Babylon. During this festival the statue of Marduk would be taken from the temple and, amidst the revelers, was paraded through the streets of the city, out the gates, to `vacation' in a small house built for this purpose. The Enuma Elish, especially, it is thought, the praise from Tablet VII, would be sung or chanted during this procession.
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