Enuma Elish Tablets 1 & 2

EnumaElish Tablets 1 & 2 Jack Gaffney Justin Jarvis Cormac Dugan

First Tablet • In the beginning there is nothing at all, nothing has a name • The great gods are established: Lahmu, Lahamu, Ansar, Kisar, Anu, and Ea • Apsu calls upon Mummu, his minister and together they form an evil plan against the gods (his own sons)

First Tablet • Apsu and Tiamat cannot rest by day or by night, so he will destroy the gods in order to be rested • Tiamat goes to Kingu, and gets permission to wage war against the gods

First Tablet • Apsu and his minister Mummu want to fight Tiamat, who is Apsu's wife • Apsu's son Ansar and grandson Anu try and help him • Ansar says that Anu needs to take down Tiamat and by soothing her • Anu did what his father Ansar said and went to go take down Tiamat but when he got near he could not resist the muttering of Tiamat so he turned back

First Tablet • Later on the grandson of Anu (Marduk) and the son of Anu (Ea) tried to help as well • Marduk accepted the challenge to fight Tiamat • Ea told Marduk the same thing Ansar told Anu, which was to take down Tiamat by soothing her with a magic spell or charm • Marduk then says if he conquers Tiamat he wants Ea to make his fate to be great and publicly announce it at an assembly

Second Tablet • Kingu and his allies rally around Tiamat and plan to avenge the death of Apus • Driven by anger, they prepared for battle and Tiamat helped by making invincible weapons and creating horrible monsters that everyone feared • Tiamat assembles a massive, terrifying army that consist of sea monsters, scorpion men and mighty tempest all who wield fierce weapons

Second Tablet • Then Tiamat made Kingu her general who will command the armies and be more powerful than the other Gods • Tiamat tells Ea what she is planning in order to scare him and as a result Ea goes to his father Ansar and tells him all of Tiamat’s plans and the wicked army

Significance of the Second Tablet • This story is an excellent example of how the Mesopotamians often made their gods anthropomorphic. The fact that the gods can murder each other and try to avenge murder shows that they are very similar to human beings

Significance of the Second Tablet • Also the part where Kingu becomes commander of the army and therefore very powerful reflects on how generals were often kings in Mesopotamian society. • In addition, the Babylonians reasoning for why there are tempests and monster is that Tiamat created them as a means of warfare. This shows just how much the gods are feared in Mesopotamian religion

Enuma Elis Tablet Three By: Collin Wareham and Max Miller

Enuma Elis Tablet 4 By: H. Lee and L. Miller

Key Characters • Marduk- God of light, sun. High king of gods. • Anu- God of the sky. • Tiamat- Godess of the sea. • Kingu- Tiamat’s 2nd husband. Demon commander. • Ansar- Makes up the horizon with Kishar • Ea- God of creation • Bel- Means lord, refers Enlil, god of breath, wind, and loft.

Summary After Marduk accepted to kill Tiamat, the other gods venerate Marduk and say that he is the king of the gods. The gods also prepare a chamber for Marduk. The gods also ask that Marduk spares the gods that are loyal to him but kill the ones that are with Tiamat. The, the gods gave Marduk a test. They set before him a garment that Marduk had to vanish and make reappear. When Marduk did so, the gods gave him the scepter, throne, and ring as well as invisible weaponry to kill Tiamat. The gods tell Marduk to hide her blood into secret places.

Summary Continued Marduk readies many weapons, including a bow, spear, club, and lightning. He also put flames inside himself and a net to trap Tiamat. Marduk also placed the North, South, East, and West winds so that Tiamat could not escape. He created 7 types of winds to disturb the insides of Tiamat. Then, Marduk gets on his chariot of 4 horses that are extremely equipped for battle. His clothing was a storm and his crown was the sun. Then Marduk marched into battle. As Marduk is going through Tiamat’s body, he spots Kingu. As soon as Marduk gazes upon Kingu, Kingu is frightened. He stops moving and his will to fight becomes destroyed. Now, the gods following Kingu were also alarmed and scared bow how Kingu reacted.

Summary Continued Tiamat discovers that Marduk has arrived, and she stands up to the king of the gods. Marduk tells Tiamat that she has “followed after evil” and Marduk and Tiamat then prepare to do battle. Tiamat chants a spell against Marduk, but it has no affect on him. Marduk then throws a net to trap Tiamat , and releases an evil wind into Tiamat’s wide open mouth, thus taking away her courage. Then, using his spear, he stabs Tiamat, piercing her heart and killing her. The demi-gods that were followers of Tiamet tried to escape with their lives, but they too were trapped inside Marduk’s net. They, along with the eleven creatures of terror that Tiamat controlled, all received punishment. Kingu, the second husband of Tiamat, and ruler of demons, also was punished to by Marduk, who took from Kingu the “Tablets of Destiny” (which were not Kingu’s in the first place). Marduk sealed the tablets in his own breast.

Summary Continued After he had killed Tiamat, Marduk bashed Tiamat’s head, spilling her blood. Marduk then made the North Wind blow Tiamat’s blood away and hide it in secret places, just as the father gods instructed him to do. After he does this, Marduk then separated Tiamat’s body into two halves. One half of her was made as a covering for heaven. The other half he made into a mansion on top of the Deep Water, which he called the mansion E-Sara. There, Anu, Enlil, and Ea inhabited .

What does this section tell us? • The weapons that Marduk has may mean that those weapons were the most sophisticated during that time, and therefore, the most potent. • The winds were one of the most feared natural disasters, as well as lightning, since those two are the two weapons of nature that Marduk uses. • In the Sumerian religion, age did not matter among the gods, only power.

Picture A picture of the battle between Marduk and Tiamat

Tablets 5 & 6 • Key characters: Marduk, Enlil, Ea, Nanna (moon-god), Shamash, Anu. • Story of the creation of the gods • Marduk (god of light and sun, god of Babylon, high king of gods) is the creator. • Similar to Genesis creation in the Bible. • Shows this society used same calendar system we do. • Society practiced astrology. • Tablet 6: story of the creation of man. • Evidence of how Babylonians believed they were on earth to serve the gods.

Tablet 7 & Epilogue • Praises Marduk- chief Babylonian god, creator who conquered Tiamat. • Marduk referred to as “Lord of all gods”, “Creator of fullness and abundance”. • Shows alteration by Babylonian priests to prove the superiority of Babylon. • Parallel to Islam- Marduk has 50 names, Allah has 99 names. • Parallel to Genesis- Marduk establishes heavens and the firm earth like God separated the heavens and the earth. • Epilogue stresses the importance of being faithful and Marduk’s compassion.

Enuma Elish Tablets 1 & 2