Enuma Elish
Marduk's origin story
The Enuma Elish is the Babylonian creation myth, a poem written in Akkadian on seven clay tablets.
It recounts how the god Marduk defeated the primordial chaos goddess Tiamat and shaped the cosmos from her body.
The title comes from the opening words, meaning "When on high." The text was recited during the Babylonian New Year festival and influenced later Near Eastern creation narratives, including aspects of Genesis.
Sumerian primordial sea goddess
- MardukBabylonian supreme deity
- primordialExisting from the start
- chaosComplete disorder and confusion
- creationMaking something exist
genesis · cosmos · void · abyss · separation · heaven · earth · waters
Babylonian supreme deity
Mesopotamian epic protagonist
- AtrahasisBabylonian flood protagonist
- dragonLegendary fire-breathing reptile
- serpentCunning, limbless reptile
- monsterFrightening imaginary creature
net · winds · thunderbolt · kingship · sovereignty · theogony · cosmology · comparative
Tiamat
Sumerian primordial sea goddess
- MardukBabylonian supreme deity
- primordialExisting from the start
- chaosComplete disorder and confusion
creation · genesis · cosmos · void · abyss · separation · heaven · earth · waters · splitting
Marduk
Babylonian supreme deity
Gilgamesh
Mesopotamian epic protagonist
- AtrahasisBabylonian flood protagonist
- dragonLegendary fire-breathing reptile
- serpentCunning, limbless reptile
monster · net · winds · thunderbolt · kingship · sovereignty · theogony · cosmology · comparative · Genesis
Babylon
Ancient Mesopotamian capital
- AkkadianAncient Semitic Mesopotamian language
- SumerianEarliest known civilization
- AssyrianAncient Mesopotamian people
cuneiform · ziggurat · Euphrates · Tigris · Hammurabi · Nebuchadnezzar · Nineveh · temple · priesthood · kingship
tablets
Flat portable computing devices
- cuneiformStylus-impressed ancient script
- AkkadianAncient Semitic Mesopotamian language
- recitationOral delivery from memory
poem · verses · colophon · library · Nineveh · scribes · incantation · liturgy · New Year · ritual
- Ancient MesopotamiaBabylon, Assyria, cuneiform, Nineveh, Sumer
- MesopotamiaBabylon, Sumer, Tigris, Mesopotamia, Euphrates
- Ancient Near EastMesopotamia, Sumer, Babylon, Assyria, Assyrian Empire
- ancient textsscrolls, scroll, Euclid's Elements, Epic of Gilgamesh, codex
- epicsIliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, epic poem, Beowulf
- Myth TextsTheogony, Iliad, Odyssey, Epic of Gilgamesh, Mahabharata
Enuma ElishTorah
Judaism's core scripture
Quran · Bible · Vedas · Book of Mormon · Guru Granth Sahib