Legends of Babylon and Egypt in Relation to Hebrew Tradition

Referred to as the Enûma Eliš, the Babylonian creation myth is recorded in Old Babylonian on seven clay tablets. Historians believe that this 1,000-line story was recited during religious ceremonies or rituals. The story begins with the introduction of two gods: Apsu, who represents fresh water, and Tiamat, Apsu’s wife, who represents oceans. Other gods, including Ea, reside in Tiamat’s vast, watery body. Ea and his brothers are very noisy and annoy Apsu and Tiamat. Apsu proposes that they kill the young gods, but Tiamat disagrees. Apsu allies with Mummu, another young god and plots to kill Ea and his brothers. Tiamat warns Ea, who is capable of great magic, of the plot. Ea puts Apsu in a coma, kills him and banishes Mummu from the oceans. This action earns Ea the position of chief god. Time passes and Ea’s son, Marduk, grows to be very powerful. Given wind to play with, Marduk causes severe disruption in the oceans with tornadoes and dust storms. Tiamat is disturbed, and after allying with other gods, decides to seek revenge on Marduk to avenge her late husband. After Tiamat creates 11 monsters to destroy the young gods in the oceans, Marduk offers to save the gods if they agree to make him their leader. The gods agree to this condition, and Marduk challenges Tiamat. He defeats her, rips her body in half, and fashions the top into the sky and the bottom into earth. As leader, Marduk creates the calendar, the sun and weather, aligns the planets and stars, and regulates the moon’s cycle. Marduk kills Kingu, Tiamat’s second husband, and from his blood creates mankind to labor for the gods in his new kingdom. The story goes on to explain that Babylon was established as the residence of the most powerful gods.