The story of Tiamat is the Creation Myth used by
nearly all
the cultures of Ancient Mesopotamia, including the Babylonian,
Assyrian, and
Sumerian cultures. For my Story Book Project I have taken some
rather
large liberties with the story and because the story is not as well
known as
other myths I feel that I should retell (as best I can) the true myth
of
Tiamat. However, this myth, as most myths do, has many variations
and
even the earliest records themselves have discrepancies. For
example, in Myths
from Mesopotamia: Creation, The Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others
Translated
with an Introduction and Notes by Stephanie Dally (Oxford
University
Press, 1989) original cuneiform tablets of the story were
translated into
English. Within this translation it is stated that "Anshar (and)
Kishar were born, surpassing them,/ They passed the days at length,
they added
to the year./ Anu their first-born son rivaled his
forefathers:/
Anshar made his son Anu like himself" (Tablet I, lines 12-15) as well
as
this quote "Ea listened to that report,/ And was dumbfounded and
sat
in silence./ When he had pondered and his fury subsided,/
He made
his way to Anshar his father;" (Tablet II, lines 5-8). Now, one
might think hearing those lines that Anu and Ea were brothers, both the
sons of
the god Anshar. However, also in this text are these lines:
"Inside
pure Apsu, Marduk was born,/ Ea his father created hem,/ Damkina his
mother
bore him,/ He sucked the teats of goddesses;/ The nurse who
reared him
filled him with awesomeness./ Proud was his form, piercing his
stare,/ Mature his emergence, he was powerful from the
start./ Anu
his father's begetter beheld him" (Tablet I, lines 81-89). Now,
if
anyone has a guess as to whether Anu is Marduk's uncle or grandfather,
I'd be
happy to hear it. My best guess is that even as the myths were
being
written down in ancient times the myths were already beginning to
change and
take on variations. My purpose for these rather lengthy
quotations is to
show that I am working with some very contradictory and vague material
in
trying to reproduce this myth. I will try to stay as true to the
main
story as possible but sometimes it is impossible to be completely
accurate. If you find errors, please know that I am sorry and I
will
correct them as soon as you email me about them.
At the start of time there was
only the
primordial pair, Tiamat (Salt water/Sea) and her lover Apsu (Fresh
water/Rivers.) They gave birth to Lachmu and Lachamu who gave
birth to
Ansar and Kiser who gave birth to Anu and Ea. Now the younger
gods made
much noise and disturbed the waters of Tiamat and Apsu. Apsu
along with
his vizier Mummu went to Tiamat and asked to kill the younger gods so
that they
may have some peace and quiet. Tiamat raged at this idea and said
that
they should not kill the very beings they gave life to. Apsu and
Mummu
later talked together away from Tiamat and decided to kill the younger
gods
even without Tiamat's permission. They were overheard by some of
the
younger gods and Ea decided to stop Apsu and Mummu before they could
destroy
everyone. Ea placed a spell in Apsu's waters that put the god
into a deep
sleep. Once Apsu was asleep Ea killed him. Ea then killed
Mummu. After Ea killed these two he took his wife Damkina and
went to a
place that he named Apsu after his defeated opponent. Marduk, son
of Ea
and Damkina, was born in this place. After a while some of the
gods went
to Tiamat and told her that she should exact vengeance for the murder
of her
husband and his vizier. Tiamat agreed, took on the name of Mother
Huber,
and created monsters with which she planned to defeat those who killed
Apsu and
Mummu. The greatest of the monsters she created was Qingu, whom
she made
a general, took as a lover, and gave the Tablet of Destinies to.
Marduk
rose to fight Qingu and Marduk defeated him. Marduk then cleft
Tiamat in
two, made half of her body the sky, the other half the earth, and made
her eyes
the sources of the