Enuma Elish: The Babylonian Mythos

The Babylonian mythos, Enuma Elish is a creation story that centralizes around the struggle for power, control, and dominance. It illustrates the conditions and circumstances evident in society. Most importantly, it entails the construction of authority and how easily it can deteriorate in the face of the desire to move up the hierarchical structure. Through Enuma Elish, light is shed upon the culture, mentality of the people, and even the attributes that dominate society. In the beginning, the universe was nothing but a formless state. The empty space was completely absent of the essence of life with the exception of the two gods that existed. The first god was Apsu, which represents “sweet water” and serves as the begetter in the relationship. His wife, Tiamat,

They tell Marduk to destroy the constellation and then repair it back to its original form. Marduk was able to pass the test and so, the gods accepted Marduk’s offer as they were left with no choice. With a mace, a bow, arrows, and a net, he goes off to battle against the dragon Tiamat. First, he captures her by using a net. After she is entangled in the net, he sends a huge gulf of the wind inside her to prevent her from chanting anything, which prevents Tiamat from using her power. She cannot chant and in the moment of surprise, he kills her with an arrow “that split the belly, that pierced the gut and cut the womb.” Pieces of her body are used to create Earth. He heaps a mountain over her head, while “Euphrates and Tigris rose from her eyes” with her crotch serving as “the sky’s fulcrum.” Eventually, Marduk is done with his creation. All the generation of gods are pleased to see him and “their hearts bounded when they came over to meet him.” Instead of feeling jealousy over Marduk and his power, they felt happy and satisfied with the