Compare And Contrast Apsu And Tiamat

To do a comparison one must summarize the creation stories, to begin with Enūma Elish. There was Apsu (god of fresh water) and Tiamat (goddess of Salt water). This leads one to believe there was just water at the very beginning. Apsu and Tiamat are mingling of their waters together without breaking cane as gods were developed inside Tiamat. The gods were created from wet to dry deities (divine character or nature). These gods were paired as male/female. First, Lahmu and Lahamu the gods of muddy silt were created. They gave life to Anshar and Kishar the gods of ground/ soil. Anshar and Kishar created a young god called Anu, who was equal to Anshar. New gods were equal or weaker than Anshar and stronger than other gods previously created.
The noisiness of the gods was the first step in setting up the ambush of Apsu. They may have known that the noise would get Apsu’s attention and it did get his attention to the point where he wanted to kill his own children. Apsu called Mummu and they went to Tiamat. They were there to kill the new gods inside of Tiamat. The second step started with of the plan to takeover of Apsu is revealed. The children were quiet and let the parents believe that they were up to no good. The parents did not take caution. It shows how the hierarchy changes through violence with the killing of Apsu. Ea (Nudimmud) by taking Apsu’s sash, aura, tiara, (symbols of his top position) and killing Apsu. Ea (Nudimmud) establishes himself as Apsu’s replacement. Ea (Nudimmud) had become the god at the top of the hierarchy through his master plan. He called his chamber (position) after Apsu.
Ea (Nudimmud) and his wife Damkina dwelt in splendor, and had a son named Marduk. Marduk was a god who was greater than Ea in every way. Marduk became Ea’s successor to the top of the hierarchy. Marduk came up with the idea of creating man. Man was formed to take over the work of the gods. Marduk’s concept was to honor two humans as one, one being male and the other being female. This idea leads to the expression of “my better half.” To form man a god has to be sacrificed for his blood. Ea would transform the god’s blood into a human. The story continues and leads to the formation of Babylon. The creation story in Genesis 1:1- 2:3/4a: Shāmayim and ’Erets, and Shabbāth starts out with a description of “in the beginning ‘Elohim having created the heavens and the earth.” This is a slightly confusing statement did ‘Elohim start creating before day one. If he started before day one, then why did he start a schedule? On the Day 1, ‘Elohim separated light from darkness to day and night.
As ‘Elohim is speaking things are being developed and he continues.
After the first day, ‘Elohim set a schedule of creation. He forms a day starting in the evening at sundown running to the next sundown. On the Day 2, ‘Elohim continues to set up the formation of creation. On this day, a dome is formed and the water is separated. Some of the water is placed above the dome. By placing some of the water above the dome, ‘Elohim form clouds from water vapor. The water below the dome is ‘Elohim’s way of setting up the formation for Day Three. On Day 3, ‘Elohim finishes the formation of creation. The water under of the dome is collected together and he formed the dry land. He called the dome shāmayim (sky) which is what He started out calling heaven. On the Day 4, ‘Elohim starts to fill in the formation. He created the two lights in the sky: One a greater light (Sun) to illuminate the day and a lesser light (moon) to light up the night with stars. On the Day 5, He created all the birds and water animals. On Day 6, ‘Elohim created mankind to watch over the animals and plants. One may notice that ‘Elohim was very pleased with his creation. There are six times throughout the process of creating, God stopped, observed his work and saw that it was good. One may think that ‘Elohim was not very humble. That on final observation of what he had made, ‘Elohim regarded it as "very good." He decides to rest on the seventh day, which emphasizes the importance of the Sabbath. In short summary,
the truth of the creation story is that ‘Elohim is the originator of creation. These created formations are not the underlining message of the creation story.
The purpose is for moral and spiritual explanation. Who were the creators of Enūma Elish and the version of creation in Genesis 1:1 to 2:3/4a? In the Enūma Elish, the creators were a god battling a goddess. They just mingle together. In Genesis 1:1 to 2:3/4a, it was a single God, ‘Elohim was used in singular and plural forms. All ‘Elohim had to do to create things was to speak and things happened. What exists before the project of creation started? The early state of the earth in the Enūma Elish was chaos and it was surrounded by darkness. In Genesis 1:1 to 2:3, the state was void, covered in darkness. These phrases are very similar in that disorder could be translated to void. The Genesis 1:1 to 2:4a account describes how God created the world by bringing order to chaos. Chaos and void could mean that something is missing to put things in order. Both stories start in darkness. How is humankind created? According to the Enūma Elish, the idea of how to create a man was Marduk’s idea. Ea carried out Marduk’s plan. The plan was to kill a God and compact his blood into the bones of man. In Genesis 1:1 to 2:3, ‘Elohim just speak and humankind was created in “our image” to have dominion over all other creatures. ‘Elohim is used in plural form in this verse. The purpose of both stories that man be created was to do God or gods’ work. At the completion of each story, the gods rested. There is another creation story from the Mesopotamian called Atra-Hasis. In this version like in the other versions, humankind is created to do the work of the gods. In Atra-Hasis, on the first, seventh, fifteenth of every month, the gods are to be cleansed. At that time, a god is sacrificed. The flesh and the blood of that god are mixed with clay to form the man. According to the story, the Igigi, the great gods spat upon the mixture. There is no explanation of why the gods acted in such a way.
There are different views of creation in Genesis 1:1-2:4a and Genesis 2:4b-25.
They are two different creation stories which have been spliced together to form part of the same book. They do not directly oppose each other, but they are not identical either. The versions apparent to be written by two scribes during different periods. The styles are definitely different. Many people are raised to believe that the first version is the introduction and the second version is the explanation. Nothing is mentioned in Genesis 2:4b-25 creation story about humankind being made in Yahweh’s image. In Genesis 2:4b-25 story, it is stated that Yahweh created Heaven and Earth in a day. Where in Genesis 1:1-2:4a story, it does not say that ‘Elohim created Heaven and Earth in a day, it is said, “In the Beginning, there was Heaven and Earth.” In Genesis 2:4b-25 God breathes breath into humankind; God is physically in the presence of humankind. When in the first version, ‘Elohim just spoke. The two versions have different names for Creator. The first version refers to the Creator as ‘Elohim, while the second refers to the Creator as the LORD GOD, or YHWH. There are different orders for creation: In the first, humankind is given as the main point of God’s creation after He created vegetation and animals. Both human males and females are created at the same time. In the second, God first creates man, then plants, vegetation, and then makes animals and finally woman. The second version includes
how YHWH gives a test to the humans, which resulted into The Fall. There is an explanation of the punishment for failing the great test.
Another creation version in the Bible is Psalm 104. Psalm 104 describes the creation of the earth in the same order as that seen in Genesis 1.