The Enuma Elish, or Babylonian Creation Cycle

To cite this work, please refer to the tablet and line you are using. An end-of-sentence parenthetic citation for the third table, for example, would look like this (Enuma Elish 3.1), where 3 meant tablet 3 and 1 meant line 1 of tablet 3. Likewise, (Enuma Elish 6.7) would mean line 7 of tablet 6.

For the most part, any missing lines in what follows have been cut for the sake of length.

Tablet I

1 When the heavens above did not exist,
2 And earth beneath had not come into being—
3 There was Apsû or fresh water, the first in order, their begetter,
4 And goddess of seawater Tiamat, who gave birth to them all;
5 They had mingled their waters together
6 Before land had coalesced or reed-bed was to he found —
7 When not one of the gods had been formed
8 Or had come into being, when no destinies had been decreed,
9 The gods were created within them, and they were many.

21 The divine young gods came together,
22 Their clamor got loud, throwing Apsu into a turmoil.
29 Thereupon Apsû, the begetter of the great gods, said,
37 “Their behavior has become displeasing to me
38 And I cannot rest in the day-time or sleep at night.
39 I will destroy and break up their way of life
40 That silence may reign and we may sleep.”
41 When Tiamat heard this
42 She raged and cried out to her spouse,
45 “How can we destroy what we have given birth to?
46 Though their behavior causes distress, let us tighten discipline graciously.”
51 But Apsu insisted on their destruction.

55 What Apsu plotted in their gathering
56 Was reported to the gods, their sons.
57 The gods heard it and were frantic.
58 They were overcome with silence and sat quietly.

59 The god Ea, who excels in knowledge, perceived their tricks,
60 And fashioned a spell to put Apsu to sleep
62 He executed it skilfully as supreme—his pure incantation.
63 He recited it and set it on the waters,
64 He poured sleep upon him as he was slumbering deeply.
65 He put Apsû to slumber as he poured out sleep,
67 Then Ea split Apsû’s sinews, and ripped off his crown.
69 He bound Apsû and killed him;

73 After Ea had bound and slain his enemies,
75 He rested quietly in his chamber,
78 And Ea and Damkina, his wife, sat in splendour.
79 In the chamber of the destinies, the room of the archetypes,
80 The wisest of the wise, the sage of the gods, Marduk was conceived.
83 Ea his father begat him,
84 Damkina his mother bore him.
85 He sucked the breasts of goddesses,
86 A nurse reared him and filled him with terror.
87 His figure was well developed, the glance of his eyes was dazzling,
88 His growth was manly, he was mighty from the beginning.
91 He was rendered perfect: his divinity was remarkable,

105 And the god Anu formed and gave birth to the four winds,
106 He delivered them to Marduk, saying “Let them whirl!”
107 Marduk formed dust and set a hurricane to drive it,
108 He made a wave to bring consternation on Tiamat.
109 Tiamat was confounded; day and night she was frantic.
110 She resolved to end their noise by destroying them
111 And plotted with the god Qingu, her vizier.

126 Tiamat said, “Let us make demons, as King has advised.”
127 The gods assembled within her.
128 They conceived evil against the gods their begetters.
134 Tiamat supplied irresistible weapons, and gave birth to giant serpents.
135 They had sharp teeth, they were merciless
136 With poison instead of blood she filled their bodies.
137 She clothed the fearful monsters with dread,
138 She loaded them with an aura and made them godlike.
141 She created the Hydra, the Dragon, the Hairy Hero
142 The Great Demon, the Savage Dog, and the Scorpion-man,
143 Fierce demons, the Fish-man, and the Bull-man,
144 Carriers of merciless weapons, fearless in the face of battle.
145 Her commands were tremendous, not to be resisted.
146 Altogether she made eleven of that kind.
147 Among the gods, her sons, whom she constituted her host,
148 She exalted Qingu, and magnified him among them.
149 The leadership of the army, the direction of the host,
152 She entrusted to him and set him on a throne,
157 She gave him the Tablet of Destinies and fastened it to his breast,
160 He decreed the destinies for the gods, her sons:
161 “May the utterance of your mouths subdue the fire-god,
162 May your poison by its accumulation put down aggression.”

Tablet II

1 Tiamat gathered together her creation
2 And organized battle against the gods, her offspring.
3 Henceforth Tiamat plotted evil
4 It became known to Ea that she had arranged the conflict.
5 Ea heard this matter,
6 He lapsed into silence in his chamber and sat motionless.
7 After he had reflected and his anger had subsided
8 He directed his steps to the god Anšar his father, in the council of the gods.
9 He entered the presence of the father of his begetter, Anšar,
10 And related to him all of Tiamat’s plotting.
11 “My father, Tiamat our mother has conceived a hatred for us,
12 She has established a host in her savage fury.
13 All the gods have turned to her,
16 Fiercely plotting, unresting by night and day,
17 Lusting for battle, raging, storming,
18 They set up a host to bring about conflict.
34 She exalted Qingu and magnified him among them.
35 And Ansar was concerned.

58  The creator of wisdom, the god Ea
60 Gently answered [his] father Anšar
61 “My father, deep mind, who decrees destiny,
62 Who has the power to bring into being and destroy,
63 Anšar, deep mind, who decrees destiny,
64 Who has the power to bring into being and to destroy,
65 I want to say something to you, calm down for me for a moment.
67 Before I killed Apsû
68 Who could have seen the present situation?
69 Before I quickly made an end of him
70 What were the circumstances were I to destroy him?”
71 Anšar heard, the words pleased him.
72 His heart relaxed to speak to Ea,
73 “My son, your deeds are fitting for a god,
74 You are capable of a fierce, unequalled blow
75 Ea, your deeds are fitting for a god,
77 Go before Tiamat and appease her attack,
78 End her fury with your sleeping incantation.”

79 Ea heard the speech of Anšar his father,
80 He took the road to her, proceeded on the route to her.
81 He went, he perceived the tricks of Tiamat,
82 He stopped, fell silent, and turned back.
83 Ea entered the presence of Anšar
84 Ashamedly addressing him,
85 “My father, Tiamat’s deeds are too much for me.
86 I perceived her planning, and my incantation was not equal to it.
87 Her strength is mighty, she is full of dread,
88 She is altogether very strong, none can go against her.
91 My father, do not lose hope, send a second person against her.
93 Disband her cohorts, break up her plans
94 Before she lays her hands on us.”
95 Anšar cried out in intense fury,
96 Addressing the god Anu his son,
97 “Honoured son, hero, warrior,
98 Whose strength is mighty, whose attack is irresistible
99 Hurry and stand before Tiamat, defeat her.”

103 Anu heard the speech of Anšar his father,
104 He took the road to her, proceeded on the route to her.
105 Anu went, he perceived the tricks of Tiamat,
106 He stopped, fell silent, and turned back.
107 He entered the presence of Anšar the father who begat him,
108 Ashamedly addressing him.
109 “My father, Tiamat’s is too much for me.
110 I perceived her planning, but my incantation was not equal to it.
111 Her strength is mighty, she is full of dread,
112 She is altogether very strong, no one can go against her.
115 My father, do not lose hope, send another person against her.
117 Disband her cohorts, break up her plans,
118 Before she lays her hands on us.”

119 Anšar lapsed into silence, staring at the ground,
120 He nodded to Ea, shaking his head.
121 All the gods had assembled,
122 They sat in tight-lipped silence.
123 No god would go to face her.

129 Later Ea summoned Marduk to his private chamber
130 To explain to him his plans.
131 “Marduk, give counsel, listen to your father.
132 You are my son, who gives me pleasure,
133 Go reverently before Anšar,
134 Speak, take your stand, appease him with your glance.”
135 Marduk rejoiced at his father’s words,
136 He drew near and stood in the presence of Anšar.
137 Anšar saw him, his heart filled with satisfaction,
139 Marduk said, “Ansar do not hold your peace, but speak forth,
140 I will go and fulfil your desires!
143 Which man has drawn up his battle array against you?
144 And will Tiamat, who is a woman, attack you with her weapons?
147 Anšar, rejoice and be glad,
148 Soon you will tread on the neck of Tiamat!

149 To which Ansar said, “Go, my son,
150 Face Tiamat with your pure spell.
151 Drive the storm chariot without delay.”
153 Marduk rejoiced at his father’s words,
154 With glad heart he addressed his father,
155 “Lord of the gods, Destiny of the great gods,
156 If I should become your avenger,
157 If I should bind Tiamat and preserve you,
158 Convene an assembly and proclaim for me an exalted destiny.”

Tablet III

1 Anšar opened his mouth
6 “Have the gods, my fathers, brought to my presence.
7 Let all the gods be brought,
8 Let them confer as they sit at table.
9 Let them eat grain, let them drink ale,
10 Let them decree the destiny for Marduk their avenger.
55 Marduk, the sage of the gods, your son, has come forward,
56 He has determined to meet Tiamat.
65 Quickly, now, decree your destiny for him without delay,
66 That he may go and face your powerful enemy.”
129 All the great gods who decree destinies
130 Gathered as they went,
138 And they decreed the fate for Marduk, their avenger.

Tablet IV

1 They set a lordly throne for him
2 And he took his seat before his fathers to receive kingship.
3 They said, “You are the most honored among the great gods,
4 Your destiny is unequalled, your command is like Anu’s.
8 Henceforth it is in your power to exalt and bring down.
9 Your command cannot be rebelled against,
10 None of the gods will cross the line you draw.
13 You are Marduk, our avenger,
14 We have given you kingship over the sum of the whole universe.
15 Take your seat in the assembly, let your word be exalted,
16 Let your weapons not miss the mark, but may they slay your enemies.
17 Marduk, spare him who trusts in you,
18 But destroy the god who set his mind on evil.”
29 They added to him a mace, a throne, and a rod,
30 They gave him an irresistible weapon that overwhelms the foe:
31 They said, “Go, cut Tiamat’s throat,
32 And let the winds bear up her blood to give the news.”

35 Marduk fashioned a bow and made it his weapon,
36  He set an arrow in place, put the bow string on.
37 He took up his club and held it in his right hand,
38 His bow and quiver he hung at his side.
39 He placed lightning before him,
40 And filled his body with tongues of flame.
41 He made a net to enmesh the entrails of Tiamat,
42 And stationed the four winds that no part of her escape.
45 He fashioned the Evil Wind, the Dust Storm, Tempest,
46 The Four-fold Wind, the Seven-fold Wind, the Chaos-spreading Wind.
47 He sent out the seven winds that he had fashioned,
48 And they took their stand behind him to harass Tiamat’s entrails.
49 Marduk took up the Storm-flood, his great weapon,
50 He rode the fearful chariot of the irresistible storm.

59 Marduk proceeded and set out on his way,
60 He set his face toward the raging Tiamat.
61 In his lips he held a spell,
62 He grasped a plant to counter poison in his hand,
65 Marduk drew near, surveying the maw of Tiamat,
66 He observed the tricks of Qingu, her vizier.
67 As he looked, he lost his nerve,
68 His determination went and he faltered.
69 His divine aides, who were marching at his side,
70 Saw the warrior, the foremost, and their vision became dim.
71 Tiamat cast her spell without turning her neck,
72 In her lips she held untruth and lies.
75 Then Marduk [lifted up] the Storm-flood, his great weapon,
76 And with these words threw it at the raging Tiamat,
77 “Why are you aggressive and arrogant,
78 And strive to provoke battle?
79 The younger generation have shouted, outraging their elders,
80 But you, their mother, hold pity in contempt.
85 Deploy your troops, take up on your weapons,
86 You and I will take our stand and do battle.”
87 When Tiamat heard this
88 She went insane and lost her reason.
89 Tiamat cried aloud and fiercely,
91 She was reciting an incantation, kept reciting her spell,
93 Tiamat and Marduk, the sage of the gods, came together,
94 Joining in strife, drawing near to battle.
95 Marduk spread out his net and enmeshed her;
96 He let loose the Evil Wind, the rear guard, in her face.
97 Tiamat opened her mouth to swallow it,
98 She let the Evil Wind in so that she could not close her lips.
99 The fierce winds weighed down her belly,
100 Her inwards were distended and she opened her mouth wide.
101 He let fly an arrow and pierced her belly,
102 He tore open her entrails and slit her inwards,
103 He bound her and extinguished her life,
104 He threw down her corpse and stood on it.
105 After he had killed Tiamat, the leader,
106 Her assembly dispersed, her host scattered.
110 But they were completely surrounded, unable to escape.
111 He bound them and broke their weapons,
112 And they lay enmeshed, sitting in a snare,
114 Bearing his punishment, held in a prison.
115 The eleven monsters Tiamat created,
117 He put ropes upon them and bound their arms,
118 Together with their warfare he trampled them beneath him.

128 And returned to Tiamat, whom he had bound.
129 Marduk placed his feet on the lower parts of Tiamat
130 And with his merciless club smashed her skull.
131 He severed her arteries
135 Marduk rested, surveying the corpse,
137 Then he split her into two like a dried fish:
138 One half of her he set up and stretched out as the heavens.
139 He stretched the skin and appointed a watch
140 With the instruction not to let her waters escape.
141 He crossed over the heavens, surveyed the celestial parts,
146 He settled in their shrines the gods Anu, Enlil, and Ea.

Tablet V

1 He fashioned heavenly stations for the great gods,
2 And set up constellations, the patterns of the stars.
3 He appointed the year, marked off divisions.
5 After he had organized the year,
11 He placed the heights (of heaven) in her (Tiamat’s) belly,
12 He created Nanna the moon, entrusting to him the night.
13 He appointed him as the jewel of the night to fix the days,
14 And month by month without ceasing he elevated him with a crown,
15 Saying, “Shine over the land at the beginning of the month, and
20 Wax and wane in the proper stages and shine backwards.

47 From the foam which came from Tiamat
48 Marduk fashioned the weather,
49 He gathered it together and made it into clouds.
50 The raging of the winds, violent rainstorms,
51 The billowing of mist—the accumulation of her spittle—
52 He appointed for himself and took them in his hand.

54 He opened the abyss and it was sated with water.
55 From her two eyes he let the Euphrates and Tigris flow,
57 He heaped up the distant [mountains] on her breasts,
58 He bored wells to channel the springs.
61 He set up her crotch as mountains—it wedged up the heavens—
62 Thus the half of her he stretched out and made it firm as the earth.

85 The Igigi servant gods assembled and all did obeisance to him,
86 Every one of the Anunnaki master gods was kissing his feet.
88 They bowed down, “Behold the king!”
113 When they had given kingship to Marduk,
114 They addressed to him a benediction for prosperity and success,
116 “Whatever you command, we will do!”
117 Marduk opened his mouth to speak
118 And addressed the gods his fathers,
119 “Above the seas, the emerald abode,
121 Beneath the celestial parts, whose floor I made firm,
122 I will build a house to be my luxurious abode.
123 Within it I will establish its shrine,
124 I will build my chamber and establish my kingship.
129 I shall call its name ‘Babylon’, “The Homes of the Great Gods.”

Before Babylon is created, in a fragmentary section of the text, the Igigi servant gods come to Marduk and ask for assistance in serving the gods, that they might find rest along with the Annunaki master gods.

Tablet VI

1 When Marduk heard the Igigi’s speech
2 He conceived a desire to accomplish clever things.
3 He opened his mouth addressing Ea,
4 He counsels that which he had pondered in his heart,
5 “I will bring together blood to form bone,
6 I will bring into being Lullû, whose name shall be ‘man’.
7 I will create Lullû—man. Ea shall do it.
8 On whom the toil of the gods will be laid that they may rest.

17 Marduk assembled the great gods,
20 The king addressed a word to the Anunnaki and Igigi,
23 “Who is the one who instigated warfare,
24 Who made Tiamat rebel, and set battle in motion?
25 Let him who instigated warfare be given up
26 That I may lay his punishment on him; but you sit and rest.”
27 The Igigi, the servant gods, answered him,
29 “Qingu is the one who instigated warfare,
30 Who made Tiamat rebel and set battle in motion.”
31 They bound Qingu, holding him before Ea,
32 They inflicted the death penalty on him and severed his blood-vessels.
33 From his blood he Ea created mankind,
34 On whom he imposed the service of the gods, and set the gods free.

43 Next Marduk arranged the organization of the netherworld.
44 In heaven and netherworld he stationed 600 gods.
45 After he had arranged all the decrees,
46 And had distributed incomes among the Anunnaki of heaven and netherworld,
47 The Anunnaki opened their mouths
48 And addressed their lord Marduk,
49 “Now, lord, seeing you have established our freedom
50 What favor can we do for you?
51 Let us make a shrine, a temple of great renown for you.”
55 When Marduk heard this,
56 He beamed as brightly as the light of day,
57 “Build Babylon, the task you have sought.
58 Let bricks for it be molded, and raise the shrine!”
59 The Anunnaki wielded the pick.
60 For one year they made the needed bricks.
61 When the second year arrived,
63 They built the lofty temple tower of Marduk’s ziggurat
65 Marduk sat in splendor before them.
67 After they had completed the work on Marduk’s shrine
68 All the Anunnaki constructed their own shrines.

95 The great gods assembled,
96 They exalted the destiny of Marduk and did obeisance.
99 They granted him the right to exercise kingship over the gods,
100 They confirmed him as lord of the gods of heaven and netherworld.
102 Ansar said, “At the mention of Marduk’s name, let us show submission!
107 Let him shepherd the humans, his creatures,
108 Let them tell of his character to future days without forgetting.
114 The subject humans should take note and call on their gods,
116 Let food offerings be brought for their gods and goddesses,
117 May they not be forget, may they remember their gods,
121 Come, let us call the fifty names of Marduk!”

To cite this reading, use the following format:

Elish, Enuma. “The Epic of Creation.” ETANA. https://etana.org/