Enuma Elish

Enuma Elish (, When in top… ) is the Babylonian epopee of the creation of the world. The text was discovered at the 19th century in the form of fragments in the ruins of the library of Assurbanipal to Ninive (near to current the Mosul in Iraq).

This version of the epopee, which probably dates from, is made up of seven shelves of clay covered with writing Cunéiforme. Most of the fifth shelf forever been able to be found. Put besides this gap, the text is almost complete.

The epopee describes the rise in Mardouk, god guardian of Babylon, with the tops of the other divinity mésopotamiennes as well as the creation of the world and the Man.

There exist various versions of Enûma Elish, oldest probably dating from III

The account

When in top the sky was not yet nommé
that in bottom the ground did not have a name,
that paramount Apsû, of which will be born the gods,
and Tiamat the génitrice which will give birth to them all,
their water,
mixed together that the benches of reeds were not agglomerated there,
that the cane-plantations were not visible there,
that gods, no one still had not appeared,
that they nor were not called of a name,
nor equipped with destiny,
then, in their center, of the gods were created…

The epopee begins with the account from the design by Apsû (fresh water) and Tiamat (salt water) from the first gods. Three generations of gods thus will follow one another. But the last born, noisy and disturbing attract the anger of Apsu. This one, with the assistance of its adviser Mummu, decides to destroy them. Ea (Enki), one of them, learns the plot and decides to thwart it. It plunges Apsu in a deep sleep, kills it and connects Mummu. Finally removed from its enemies Ea generates a son, Mardouk, which as of its birth is higher than the other gods.

New disturbances caused by the birth of Mardouk poke the anger of certain gods. The latter manage to persuade Tiamat to avenge death for her Apsu husband by helping them to destroy the troublemakers. Tiamat then created an army of monsters and gives the command of it to Kingu. In the other camp Mardouk finally agrees to fight Tiamat in exchange of the highest place in the hierarchy of the gods. Mardouk manages to kill Tiamat and with its skin, it creates the universe.

After the missing passage, which was reproduced on the fifth shelf, Mardouk decides to create the man so that it serf the gods. Ea kills Kingu and with its blood creates humanity. The text ends by a list of fifty names given to Mardouk and in a call to the men to venerate it.

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