Two Mesopotamian Creation Stories
a Sumerian story from Sippur: |
| primeval ocean (Nammu) engenders the cosmic mountain, |
| composed of An 'heaven' and Ki 'earth', |
| who separates them, and then, with Ki, |
| engenders all living creatures |
Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation epic |
| Out of watery chaos (Apsu, Tiamat & Mummu) emerges: |
| horizons of earth and sky, who beget Anu, |
| Other gods born from Apsu and Tiamat |
| turbulent and noisy, they "troubled Tiamat's belly" |
| Apsu & Tiamat plan to destroy the other gods |
| Ea foils them & a cosmic conflict results |
| Marduk (=Enlil) son of Ea defeats Tiamat (=chaos) |
| splits her skull, placing the halves above and below the earth as sky |
| creates humankind from the blood of Kingu, a son of Tiamat |
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