Babylonian Mythology
Babylonian Creation Myth
-Niyati Roy
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. 1100 BCE
In ancient times, there was no universe. There was only undifferentiated water swirling in chaos. Out of this swirl, the waters divided into sweet, fresh water, known as the god Apsu, and salty bitter water, the goddess Tiamat. Tiamat and Apsu filled the cosmic abyss with the primeval waters. Once these two differentiated, they created the gods Lahmu and Lahamu, who rose from the silt at the edge of the water. When Lahmu and Lahamu joined, they created the great gods Anshar, Kishar and Anu.
From this generation of gods there arose mighty Ea and his many brothers. Ea, who was the god of rivers and was Tiamat and Apsu 's great-grandson, was born. Ea was the cleverest of the gods, and with his magic Ea became the most powerful of the gods, ruling even his forebears.
However these deities were very noisy. Their noise disturbed Apsu to no end. He couldn’t sleep at night or work in the day. Growing frustrated by the noises created by the young gods, Apsu consulted his advisor, Vizier. Vizier advised Apsu to kill the young deities. Mummu advised: Do destroy, my father, the mutinous ways. Then shalt thou have relief by day and rest at night!”
Apsu took this plan inconsideration and decided to slay his children and their children and so on. However Ea got to know of the plan and planned to kill his great grandfather before Apsu killed them. He cast a spell on Apsu, pulled Apsu 's crown from his head, and slew him. Ea built his home from the corpse of Apsu.
When Tiamat heard the news of the slain mate, she vowed to take revenge on the young gods.
Now, there are different versions of how the news
-Niyati Roy
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. 1100 BCE
In ancient times, there was no universe. There was only undifferentiated water swirling in chaos. Out of this swirl, the waters divided into sweet, fresh water, known as the god Apsu, and salty bitter water, the goddess Tiamat. Tiamat and Apsu filled the cosmic abyss with the primeval waters. Once these two differentiated, they created the gods Lahmu and Lahamu, who rose from the silt at the edge of the water. When Lahmu and Lahamu joined, they created the great gods Anshar, Kishar and Anu.
From this generation of gods there arose mighty Ea and his many brothers. Ea, who was the god of rivers and was Tiamat and Apsu 's great-grandson, was born. Ea was the cleverest of the gods, and with his magic Ea became the most powerful of the gods, ruling even his forebears.
However these deities were very noisy. Their noise disturbed Apsu to no end. He couldn’t sleep at night or work in the day. Growing frustrated by the noises created by the young gods, Apsu consulted his advisor, Vizier. Vizier advised Apsu to kill the young deities. Mummu advised: Do destroy, my father, the mutinous ways. Then shalt thou have relief by day and rest at night!”
Apsu took this plan inconsideration and decided to slay his children and their children and so on. However Ea got to know of the plan and planned to kill his great grandfather before Apsu killed them. He cast a spell on Apsu, pulled Apsu 's crown from his head, and slew him. Ea built his home from the corpse of Apsu.
When Tiamat heard the news of the slain mate, she vowed to take revenge on the young gods.
Now, there are different versions of how the news
References: www.wikipedia.com www.scared-texts.com www.emunaelish.com www.seventablets.com Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell