Enuma Genesis And The Story Of Creation

The accounts of creation in the Enuma Elish, the Babylonian/Mesopotamian creation myth, and the Hebrew Creation Narrative in the Old Testament’s Book of Genesis differ significantly. The Enuma Elish account, found on seven clay tablets and believed to be more than 3,000 years old, teaches that out of nothing emerged gods who were found in heaven . The tablets themselves are amazing, but not all of them are complete, so part of the story is missing. Yet, if this incredible story/myth was written on a paper-like substance, it would not have survived. These gods were both rowdy and powerful. Each of them represents an element of the physical world. They find themselves in a murderous struggle with important consequences in the world around them. By contrast, the story of creation in Genesis, probably the most famous book in the Old Testament, and the first book of the Hebrew Bible, is much more familiar to people around the world. The Book of Genesis’ opening words are among the most famous in the Old Testament. It teaches that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

The Book of Genesis, the Hebrew Creation Narrative proceeds to explain the development of the world in a manner we are familiar with. It is a more understandable and a more comforting account of creation than that told in the Enuma Elish because it is ingrained in our Western religious tradition and it does not tell of the many competing, even hostile, gods found in the Mesopotamian creation myth. In fact, the key note here is that there is just one God, which contrasts with the belief of many gods with the Mesopot...

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... the host of the gods, who established for the gods the bright heavens. He set them on their way, and ordained their path; Never shall his…deeds be forgotten among men. Tutu (which is a reference to Marduk) as Zi-azag thirdly they named, the Bringer of Purification, the God of the favoring Breeze, the Lord of Hearing and Mercy, The Creator of Fulness and Abundance, the Founder of Plenteousness, Who increaseth all that is small.’” Later, in the same tablet, Marduk is credited with the following: “He named the four quarters of the world, mankind he created, And upon him understanding… The mighty one…!” Finally, in the same tablet: again referring Marduk who, of course, has many names: “Since he created the realm of heaven and fashioned the firm earth, The Lord of the World, the father Bel hath called his name. This title, which all the Spirits of Heaven proclaimed.”