Lecture Outline Enuma Elish I Mesopotamia Actually the whole land surrounding the rivers on both sides a land between rivers b Tigris and Euphrates II Mesopotamian civilizations a Sumerians earliest human civilization Earliest human civilization period 3500 BCE Their language is not related to any known language b Akkadians influenced by Sumerians Semitic people Became heavily influenced by Sumerian civilization 1 Assyrians Descendants of the Akkadians and spoke a dialect of Akkadian 2 Babylonians Descendants of the Akkadians and spoke a dialect of Akkadian III Enuma Elish a Babylonian creation epic b Enuma Elish When on high First two words of the work A convention myths are named by their first few words b poem recited performed at New Year Festival King of Babylon acts out the story He may act out the role of Marduk because Marduk becomes king of the gods just like the king becomes king of Babylon d tells of rise to power of Marduk 1 Marduk patron god of Babylon Protector god 2 storm god 3 NOT binatural e c 1000 BCE f 7 cuneiform tablets g poetry vs prose Wedge shaped symbols Poetry something composed in meter rhythm beets Prose anything that is not poetry Poetry is easier to memorize because it has a rhythm IV Enuma Elish NOT a myth is a literary work that contains a myth Contains several different stories a creation myth One of the myths the Enuma Elish tells b succession myth Apsu Tiamat to Marduk Tells how someone becomes king of the gods by taking the kingship from someone else How a god succeeds to the kingship Tells how the kingship passes from Apsu to Tiamat to Marduk c Marduk vs Tiamat The big battle 1 thunderstorm vs sea A naturalistic metaphorical reading of the battle 2 Babylon vs Sealand enemy state A political reading of the battle Babylon Marduk Sealand Tiamat she is the sea binatural 3 order vs chaos Marduk represents order Anyone who is opposed to Marduk Tiamat is chaos Kings of gods establish order in the universe V Enuma Elish Apsu and Tiamat a in the beginning water primordial waters What existed at the beginning of the universe Water Because Mesopotamia is surrounded by rivers Tigris and Euphrates often flood strong connection to water it is everywhere b Apsu fresh water Tiamat sea salty water Primordial waters is not actually water it is gods We are not told how Apsu and Tiamat is created they just are because they are the primordial waters Apsu male Tiamat female c binatural space and god Apsu and Tiamat are both waters and gods d they produce god e Lahmu m and Lahamu f Created by Apsu and Tiamat f Anshar m Kishar f Anu Created by Lahmu and Lahamu Apsu and Tiamat mingle their waters together reproduction g Anu Created by Anshar and Kishar 1 sky Binatural he is the sky and the god 2 esp uppermost sky tripartite Specifically Anu was the uppermost part of the sky h Anu father of Ea Ea father of Marduk Anshar Anu Ea Marduk important family tree Gods keep reproducing and there are so many gods that are making a ton of noise i noise of gods j Apsu 1 can t sleep Because of noise 2 plots destruction k Tiamat protests You can t kill them Wants to kill the gods even though they are his own descendants l vizier Mummu incites Apsu Don t listen to Tiamat you have to kill them VI Enki Ea a Enki Sumerian Ea Akkadian aka Nudimmud 1 spheres of influence cleverness wisdom and fresh water 2 trickster god 3 assoc with human creation b finds out Apsu s plot c lulls Apsu Mummu to sleep d kills Apsu takes Mummu captive e home temple in apsu reservoir of fresh water Forms out of Apsu s body Temples were not made for worship Believed that all of the water came from a reservoir under the earth called Apsu this is where Ea made his temple f Ea Damkina Marduk 4 eyes 4 ears breathes fire Ea m and Damkina f produce Marduk g Anu gives 4 winds to Marduk Anu Marduk s grandfather Anu Sky god Marduk also has power over winds because he is the storm god VII Tiamat s plot a winds disturb Tiamat sea Blowing up her waters b gods can t sleep c Tiamat creates army 11 monsters d god Qingu a leader of army b given Tablet of Destinies Mysterious object we don t know what it did Important and powerful c Tablet of Destinies controls gods powers spheres of influences In beginning it says that the gods had not had their powers yet e Ea finds out plot goes to Anshar Anshar Ea s grandfather f not in Reader Anshar sends 1 Ea Returns in fear cannot fight Tiamat grandson 2 Anu Does the exact same thing son 3 Marduk Third time is the charm great grandson VIII Marduk becomes king a gods swear allegiance to Marduk b declare him king of gods Analogous to what happens to the Babylonian New Year Festival c Marduk with bow and winds goes to battle Tiamat IX Tiamat s monsters passage a repeated no less than four times by 1 Tiamat 2 Ea 3 Anshar Repeats to Anshar Repeats to a group of gods 4 Kakka or Gaga vizier of Anshar Repeats to another group of gods b repetition why effects 1 song chorus Remember this is a poem 2 emphasizes Tiamat monsters 3 emphasizes Marduk s deed X Battle between Storm God and Monster a recurring mythic idea in ANE b storm god often king of gods c monster often assoc with primordial waters or sea d monster often dragon like or serpentine e is Tiamat dragon like serpentine 1 not explicit in Enuma Elish 2 assoc with primordial waters sea Winds blow up Tiamat as a balloon Marduk shoots his arrow and pops her Anticlimactic perhaps to highlight Marduk s power 3 Babylonian cylinder seal XI Marduk battles Tiamat a winds Tiamat as balloon arrow b splits Tiamat in two Her dead body is created into 1 lowermost sky Because Anu is the uppermost 2 earth c from Tiamat a eyes Tigris and Euphrates flow b breasts become mountains d Qingu taken captive Similar to what Ea does to Apsu and Mummu his own father Like father like son XII aftermath of battle a Marduk gives Tablet of Destinies to Anu b Marduk creation of humans work of gods Do work of gods so they don t have to do it themselves c Ea Use blood of Qingu To create human beings d Marduk or Ea kills Qingu creates humans Unclear who he is Marduk or Ea Maybe the author doesn t want you to know but to assume they are both connected to human nature e gods build Babylon 1 also build Temple of Marduk 2 a ziggurat The temple f Enuma Elish celebrates founding of Babylon Temple of Marduk
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