Enuma Elish the Epic of Creation

About This Book

The Enuma Elish, meaning When on High, is the Babylonian creation myth and the most complete surviving account of ancient Near Eastern cosmology. Recorded in Akkadian cuneiform on seven clay tablets, each holding 115 to 170 lines, the epic tells the story of the creation of the universe from primordial chaos. It begins with Apsu, the fresh waters, and Tiamat, the salt water, whose mingling produces the first gods. When conflict erupts between the older and younger generations of divinities, the young god Marduk defeats Tiamat in cosmic battle and fashions the heavens and earth from her body, then creates humanity from the blood of her consort to serve the gods.

The tablets were recovered in fragmentary form by the archaeologist Austen Henry Layard in 1849 from the ruins of the Library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh (modern Mosul, Iraq). The text is believed to have been composed before the reign of Hammurabi (1792–1750 BCE) and may be a revision of an older Sumerian original. The Enuma Elish was central to the Babylonian New Year festival and has been extensively studied for its parallels to the creation account in the Book of Genesis. The text is in the public domain.

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