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Babylonian Mythology: Rise and Fall. Ben Loveland. The Beginning.
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Babylonian Mythology: Rise and Fall Ben Loveland
The Beginning • Babylonian Mythology began with water. The Gods originated from sweet water and Apsu from salt water. Apsu and Tiamat got together and had Mummu, the God of waves. They also conceived two serpents, Lakhmu and Lakhamu. The two serpents gave birth to Ashar, the god of the heavens and Kishar, the god of Earth. From those two came the head gods, Anu, Enlil, Ea, and all the other gods of the sky, Earth, and Underworld.
Stories (Tiamat vs. Marduk) • These gods that had just been spawned were very noisy and Apsu and Tiamat were restless. They both set out a plan to get rid of the noisy gods. Ea the god of all knowing, heard of there plan and kidnapped Apsu and Mummu. Tiamat angered created an entire army to destroy and punish Ea.
Cont. • Ea’s father, Ashar, told Ea to send Anu to fight Tiamat. Anu and Ea cowered in the thought of fighting Tiamat, so they asked Marduk to do there dirty work for them. He said he would under one condition. If he was given the highest authority among all the gods. They all agreed in this request and feasted in his honor.
Cont. • Marduk came to the battle with his bow and arrows, lightning, winds, a hurricane, and a special net. Marduk started the fight by capturing Tiamat in his net, but Tiamat opened her mouth and tried to suck marduk in her mouth. Marduk retaliated by letting his hurricane go in her. It filled her belly and she spit Marduk out of her mouth. Marduk shot an arrow at her belly killing her. Tiamat’s army fled at the sight of her death, but Marduk captured them in his net and sent them to the Underworld.
Cont. • Marduk began to cut Tiamat’s body into pieces, ensuring she was dead. He discovered that he could put her corpse to use. He used her body to create Earth, and her head to make the heavens. He made the nest of the gods, the stars, set the length of the year, and ordered the movement of heavenly bodies. He then made man out of the blood of the general of Tiamat’s army. He made rivers, vegetation, and animals which ended creation. As a way to thank Marduk for all that he had done, all of the gods gave him their titles, making him the God of gods.
The Flood • The gods disliked the race of man and wanted to rid the world of their kind. Their plan was to drown them all. Ea was against this idea and spoke up against it. They gave one man a chance to save one family and all living creatures. His name was Uta Napishtim and he was instructed to build a ship before the storm came. He built the ship before the rains came. In six days and six nights the Earth was completely flooded and even the gods feared what would happen.
Cont. • On the seventh day all was back to normal. The winds and the rain stopped. Everything was destroyed except for Uta and his family. The ship was resting at the top of Mount Nisir. A bird was sent to find out if the waters were low enough to unload, but the bird never returned. Uta then left the ship and made a sacrifice to the gods. The tempest god Enlil, was the only god upset about sparing the human race. Ea then spoke gently to Enlil about keeping them alive. Enlil was persuaded and gave Uta and his wife the gift of everlasting life.
End • There never was a fall of the Babylonian culture. A lot of it is still used today. The influence left by the Babylonians can still be seen today.
Sources • www.sacredtexts.com • www.bible-history.com • http://library.thinkquest.org
