Babylonian Account of Creation

Long ago when the heaven above had not been named and the earth beneath had no name, and only Apsu (the Ocean), the primeval, who begot them, and Tiamat, Confusion, who bore them both, existed—their waters mingled—and when no fields were formed, and no reeds to be seen, when not one of the gods had been called into being and named, and no fates had been decreed, then were created all the gods. Luchmu and Lachamu were the first to be called into being. Ages passed, then Anshar and Kishar were created, and long days before Anu, Bel, and Ea were created.

(Apsu and Tiamat having determined to destroy the light and restore the primeval darkness, a struggle ensues.)

Anshar opened his mouth and said to Gaga his minister, "Go, Gaga, minister, that rejoicest my spirit, to Luchmu and Lachamu Isend thee. ’Assemble all the gods, seat them at the table to partake of a feast. Let them eat bread and mix wine. Go, Gaga, and stand before them then, and all that I tell thee, repeat to them, saying: Anshar your son has sent me, his heart’s command he entrusted to me saying: ’Tiamat, our mother, has turned against us in hatred. With all her might she rages in anger. All the gods have turned to her, even those you created go to her aid. They are banded together and at the side of Tiamat they advance. Cursing the light they follow Tiamat. Furious, without resting by day or by night they prepare for the fray, fuming and raging, they band themselves together and begin the revolt. Tiamat, the mother of the deep, who bore us all, has added invincible weapons, spawning monster serpents, sharp of tooth, unsparing of fang. For blood she filled their bodies with poison. Fierce monster-vipers she clothed with terror, endowed with awful splendor, and made. . .

She clothed fierce monster-vipers with terror, endowed them with dread splendor, and made great of stature, that their appearance might frighten and fill with horror. Their bodies are immense, their attack irresistible. She made a viper, a dragon, and the lachamu, a storm-giant, a mad dog, a scorpion-man, fierce storms, a fish-man, and a ram; all provided with weapons, merciless, fearless of fight, defiant of heart, invincible. Besides creating thus these eleven, she exalted among the gods the sons she had born, and made Kingu greatest among them all, saying:

’Thou art sent to march at the head of the forces, to order the weapons to strike, the attack to begin.’ She entrusted to him the first place in war and in victory. She seated him on a throne and said: ’I have recited thy spell, in the assembly of the gods. I have raised thee to power, I have given thee the sway over all the gods. Be thou great, my spouse, thy name be magnified in all the world.’ She gave him the tablets of destiny and laid them on his breast, saying: ’May thy command not be annulled, established be the word of thy mouth.’ Kingu, thus exalted, and having obtained power over the gods, commanded: ’Let your word overcome the fire god. Whoever is great in valor, let him display his might.’ I sent Anu but he feared to face her. Nudimmud was afraid and turned back. I have called on Marduk, adviser of the gods. He has determined to go against Tiamat. He spoke to me and said: ’If I, your avenger, conquer Tiamat and give you life, assemble the gods and declare my control of the gods to be supreme. Enter joyfully into the palace and myrule shall take the place of thine. Let whatever I do be unaltered. The word of my mouth not be changed or annulled.’ Hasten and give him the rule that he may go and fight your enemy.’"

When Luchmu and Lachamu heard this, they feared and all the gods wailed grievously, saying: "What has happened that they hate us? We do not understand the conduct of Tiamat." Then they came together, all the gods and went into the great hall before Anshar. They took courage and sat down to the banquet; they ate bread and mixed wine. The sweet drink, the mead, overcame their senses, they became drunk, their bodies were filled with wine. They lost their reason, their spirits rose and they gave the rule to Marduk their avenger.

And they (the gods) put him (Marduk) in a royal palace;
Under the protection of his father he dwelt (lived) in (his) kingdom.
Yea, thou art glorious among the great gods.
Thy work is unequalled, thy command is (the command of) Anu.
O Marduk, thou art glorious, indeed, among the great gods.
Thy work is unequalled, thy command is (the command of) Anu.
From to-day thy command shall be unalterable.
To exalt and to humble be in thy power.
Verily, thy word be firm, be thy command not resisted.
None among the gods has surpassed thy power,
(Though with) decorations be filled the shrine of the(se) gods.
The place of their gathering may it now be established in thy place,
(where they will say unto thee):
"O Marduk, thou art, indeed, he who has become our avenger (against Tiamat);
We have given thee the kingdom, the rule of the whole universe."
When thou art in the assembly (of the gods), may thy will prevail against all.
Thy weapons may never be broken, may thy enemies tremble.
O Lord, spare thou the life of him that trusteth in thee.
But the god that is wedded to evil, pour out his life’s blood.
(His) word (command) they set up in their midst as unique (i.e., all-important)
Unto Marduk, their first-born, they spake:
Thy work, O Lord, be greater than that of the (other) gods;
To destroy and to create, speak and it shall done.
Open thy mouth, and his (perhaps the evil god’s) word shall vanish away (i.e. be made powerless).
Speak then again to him and his word shall be restored."

He (Marduk) spake, and in his mouth (i.e., that of the god who doeth evil) was destroyed his (power of) speech.
Again he spake unto him and his speech was restored unto him (literally "created").
When the gods, his fathers, saw the effect of his (Marduk’s) word,
They rejoiced greeting him: "Marduk indeed be (our) king"!
They invested him with the scepter, the throne, and the reign;
A weapon unsurpassed they gave him, consuming the enemy.
"Go now (they said unto him) and cut asunder the life-thread of Tiamat;
May the winds carry her blood to secret places" (i.e., far away).
The gods, his fathers, fixed the fate of the lord (Marduk).
They led him the road to safety and success.
A bow he made himself and took it for his weapon,
The falchion he swung that he had made of (the wood) of the terebinth.
The god took up the weapon, seized it with his right hand,
The bow and the quiver at his side he hung;

A lightning he caused to go before him,
With destructive (fierce) wrath he filled his bowels.
A net he made to enclose Kirbish-Tiamat.
The four winds he seized, so that she could by no means escape,
The wind from the south (and) the north, the east (and) the west.
Then he brought to her (Tiamat’s) side the net, the present of his father, Anu.
He created the destructive wind, the evil wind, the storm, and the hurricane;
The four winds, the seven winds, the whirlwind, the wind whose equal does not exist.
He caused the winds, he had created, to issue forth, even the seven of them,
To work the destruction of Kirbish-Tiamat, to storm, behind her;
And the lord raised his mighty weapon, the hurricane.
The chariot, something unequalled, the terrible, he mounted;
He harnessed it and hung the four reins over the side (i.e., of the chariot, in order to have his hands free).
The weapon, the relentless, the overwhelming, the swift,
[to fight those?] whose fangs carry poison. (meaning the fangs of the dragons, the host of Tiamat.)
… they know how to overthrow.
… terrible [was] the battle.

He took to his way and caused [her] pursuit;
To the place of Tiamat he turned (his face).
With her lips she cried out aloud;
When fright [befell her], she seized his fist.
In that day they beheld him, the gods beheld him;
The gods, his fathers, beheld him, the gods beheld him.
The lord approached for the fight, Tiamat he saw.
Of Kingu, her husband, he sought his overthrow.
When he (Kingu) beheld him, his reason became disturbed,
His mind distracted, his actions confused.
And the gods, his helpers, walking at his side,
Saw [how] the first-born bore their yoke (i.e., exposed himself to dangers for their sake),
[Knowing?] that Tiamat did not turn her neck (i.e., did not turn to flight)
But with her lips cried out an abundance of evil, (and they said :)

"Around thee, O lord of the gods, cometh her host,
Their throng they gather, where thou art."
But the lord lifted up the hurricane, his mighty weapon,
Against Kirbish-Tiamat, on whom he takes vengeance he hurled it, saying:
"[As thou didst excite rebellion on high,
Now gather courage and give resistance."]
"As thou didst direct thy evil deed against my fathers,
Therefore may be tied down thy army, and thy weapons may they be bound (i.e., made harmless).
Stand! and I and thou will fight together."
But Tiamat upon hearing this,
Considered herself defeated and lost her balance of mind.
She roared wildly (and) loud;
Completely her inside burst into two parts.
Magic words she spake and applied her (?) incantation.
They, then, made their weapons appeal to the gods of battle.
They approached each other, Tiamat and the leader of the gods, Marduk.
To fight they approached against one another, they approached for the battle.
But the lord spread out his net, to enclose her;
An evil wind, to seize her from behind, he let loose before him;
Then opened her mouth Tiamat to crush it( i.e., to swallow the evil wind).

But he Marduk caused the evil wind to enter (her mouth) so that she could not shut her lips.
The strong winds filled her stomach,
So that her heart sank (i.e., she lost courage); wide opened he her mouth,
He grasped his falchion and pierced (split open) her stomach;
Her entrails he tore out, cut out (her) heart.
He grasped her and destroyed her life.
Her corpse he threw down, upon it he placed himself.
After Tiamat, the leader had been killed,
Her host was broken up, her throng was scattered,
And the gods her helpers, going at her side,
Trembled, feared, and retreated backward.
He (Marduk) let them escape and spared their life;
With a cordon they were surrounded which no one can escape;
He enclosed them and their weapons he broke.
They were placed (like birds) in a net; they sat down in utter prostration.
And the world (literally: the regions) they filled with their wailing.
They bore his punishment, they were kept in bondage,
And the eleven creatures were filled with fear.

He put their hands in bonds,
And their opposition beneath himself he trod.
And Kingu who against [Marduk had been] their [leader?],
He bound him; with the bound gods he counted him.
He took away from him the tablets of fate.
With his seal he doomed him (literally: he sealed him), his breast (?) he seized.
After he had bound his enemy,
And crushed the proud foe completely,
He fully established the superiority of AN-SAR over the enemy.
Marduk, the mighty, had thus accomplished the intention of god Ea.
Over the gods in bondage he strengthened the guard.
Toward Tiamat, then, whom he had overcome, he turned back,
And the lord trampled on the lower part of Tiamat’s body.
With his unmerciful club he smote her,
He cut through the veins of her blood;
The wind, even the wind of the north, he caused it to carry to secret places (i.e., far away).

He saw it, his face rejoiced, he gloried.
A present, a peace offering he caused to be brought to him.
Then the lord quieted down, seeing her (Tiamat’s) corpse.
The foul, rotten flesh he tore away, and he performed wonderful deeds.
He tore from her like of a fish her skin in (its) two halves.
Half of her he stood up, and made it the heavenly dome.
He pushed (in front of it) a bolt; he stationed a guard;
And commanded him not to let the waters pour out (too freely?).
He connected the heaven with the (lower) regions,
And placed it opposite to the primeval sea, the dwelling of god Ea.
Then the lord measured off the circui i.e., circuit) of the primeval sea.
A palace he build like that (i.e., like heaven) namely E-shar-ra,
The palace E-shar-ra which he had built as a heavenly dome.
Anum, Bel (and) Ea he caused to inhabit it as their habitation.
He (i.e., Marduk) established the mansions of the great gods.
The stars, corresponding to them, he fixed, and the annual constellations.
He determined (the length of) the year, (its) limits he defined.
(For) each of the twelve months three stars he fixed,
From the time when the year opens in fixed limits.
He rounded the mansion of Jupiter, to mark their bounds.
That none (of the days) might deviate, nor be found lacking.
The mansion of Bel and Ea (i.e., the north pole and the south pole) he established with him (i.e., with Jupiter).
He opened gates at both sides,

And forced open the bolts on the left and the right.
In the very midst he made the morning firmament (or the zenith?).
He made the moon-god (Nannaru) brilliant, (and) intrusted the night to him.
He defined him as a night-body, to mark off the days (saying):
"Monthly without ceasing define (the time) with the disc;
In the beginning of the month light up in the evening,
That the horns shine to mark the heavens.
On the seventh day make half the royal cap (i.e., show one-half of the disc).
On the fourteenth mayest thou mark the half of the month."

TRANSLATED BY W. MUSS-ARNOLT.