In this post we’re going to be talking about a group of ancient Babylonian tablets that tell the story The Epic of Creation. The Epic is the tale of the creation of the earth and of mankind (as you might have guessed from its title), but it also tells of the god Marduk’s rise in power. As I mentioned in my Intro, Marduk was originally a minor farming deity - until the Babylonians came, and saw him as something far greater. The Epic tells of how Marduk became that something.
In the beginning, there were only three gods: Apsu, Mummu, and Tiamat (who is sometimes portrayed as a dragon). Apsu and Tiamat were mates, and they produced several godly children. These children in turn produced children of their own, who then went on to have children, and so on. Eventually the god Ea was born.
All of these gods running around was very noisy, and Apsu and Mummu longed for a bit of peace and quiet. (Any parent reading this can probably relate, right? Well, hopefully you won’t relate to what they did next...) Hoping to regain the quiet they had once had, Apsu and Mummu went to Tiamat. They told her that they wanted to kill all of their noisy children.
To her credit, Tiamat refused to take part in their scheme. All of the other gods might have been noisy, but they were her children, and she loved them as fiercely as a mama bear.
Apsu and Mummu continued their plot without the help of Tiamat. Eventually Ea caught word of what they wanted to do. Determined to protect his family, Ea made a pre-emptive move and slew Apsu. He then proceeded to take Mummu captive, and to build a home on top of Apsu’s remains (cozy, right?). At some point around this time Ea’s wife gave birth to Marduk, whom the couple deemed to be perfect. (And not just in that proud parent way - literally perfect, even for a god.)
Unfortunately for Ea, Tiamat was now pissed. She might have tried to protect her children before, but Tiamat apparently drew the line at patricide. She gathered together an army of gods who had not been involved in Ea’s rebellion, and planned to take down the god who had killed her mate.
When Ea heard of Tiamat’s intentions he was terrified. (After all, she might have been a giant dragoness!) So were all of the other gods - all, that is, save for Marduk. Marduk was more than willing to face Tiamat and her armies in battle...provided that a few of his demands were met.
This is where things get interesting. Tiamat’s armies needed a commander, so she had appointed the god Qingu to the position. To cement his leadership, she gave him the Tablet of Destinies - a tablet that grants the being who wears it supreme power over all things.
In exchange for beating Tiamat and her armies, Marduk wanted the gods to give him the Tablet of Destinies.
The other gods readily agreed to his demands, and Marduk went marching off to battle. Tiamat’s army was overcome with fear at the sight of him and retreated. Marduk then challenged Tiamat to single-combat. She accepted, and was readily bested by the champion of the gods. (Seriously. It wasn’t even a contest. He didn’t even get hurt!) With Tiamat dead, Marduk proceeded to defeat all of her forces. This included Qingu, from whom Marduk claimed the Tablet of Destinies.
The remains of Tiamat’s body were then used by Marduk to create the heavens and the earth [this is a common (and disturbing!) theme in various mythologies]. Qingu was charged with being a traitor and inciting a rebellion. Found guilty, he was executed; his blood was used by Ea and Marduk to create mankind, who were declared to be under the authority of the gods.
The rest of this tablet (the 6th of those that tell the Epic) and the entirety of the next depict Marduk assuming a ruler’s position amongst the gods and having them sing his praises. (Yes, there is literally an entire tablet devoted to the other gods telling him how great he is.) I’ll end here was well - but I’d love to know what you think of the Epic of Creation! Please comment below or email me.
I’ve got two very special Mesopotamian posts planned for next week - both of them dealing with love, due to the upcoming holiday! Stay tuned, and I’ll see you guys next post!
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