The myth of Enuma Elish or the Babylonian creation epic

Apsû's death made Tiamat furious. Filled with rage, she decided to get revenge and created a terrifying army of eleven monsters to help her fight, these were:

1. The Viper (Bašmu)
2. The Raging-Serpent (Mušruššu)
3. Lahamu (a great hairy beast, distinct from the primordial goddess)
4. The Great-lion (Ugallu)
5. The Gruesome Hound (Uridimmu)
6. The Scorpion-man (Girtablilu)
7. The destructive spirits of wrath (or mighty storm-demons)
8. The Fish-man (Kulilu)
9. The Fish-ram (Kusarikku)
10. The Unrivalled-wind
11. The Tempest

Tiamat also promoted Kingu, making him her new partner and the leader of her monstrous forces.

She gave him the "Tablets of Destinies", which held immense cosmic power, giving him control over the fates of gods and the universe itself. 

The other gods, faced with Tiamat's strong army and Kingu's new power, were frozen with fear. Ea and Anu both tried to face Tiamat but backed away, unable to match her strength.

It was Marduk, Ea's son, who then stepped forward. He offered to fight Tiamat, but only if he was granted supreme authority over all the gods if he won.

This would make him the undisputed leader of all gods. 

Desperate, the gods agreed to Marduk's terms. They gathered, feasted, and formally gave him supreme power. They even tested his abilities by having him destroy and then recreate a magical garment with just his word, confirming his immense strength.

Marduk then prepared for battle, making special weapons. He crafted a large net to trap Tiamat, created a storm-chariot and gathered the four powerful winds to help him. He also armed himself with a club and lightning. 

Marduk faced Tiamat, who tried to swallow him whole. But Marduk sent a strong wind into Tiamat's mouth, inflating her. He then pierced her heart with an arrow, killing the original sea dragon. With Tiamat defeated, Marduk captured Kingu and imprisoned Tiamat's monstrous army, securing victory for the younger gods. 

Creating the universe from Tiamat's Body

After his victory, Marduk began the huge task of creating the universe from Tiamat's defeated body. He split her vast form in two, using one half to create the heavens and the other to create the earth. 

He then carefully arranged the celestial bodies, setting the movements of the planets, the moon, and the star and organizing the zodiac.

Book V of the Enuma Elish is largely an astronomical poem, describing Marduk's precise ordering of the heavens, showing Babylonian knowledge of how the sky worked.

Marduk also assigned specific places for the major gods within this newly formed universe, giving them homes in the sky and on earth. 

The gods' assembly and Babylon's rise

After his victory over Tiamat, Marduk divided the gods of Babylonia into two primary assemblies:

• The Igigi: These are the gods of the upper world and the heavens. The Enuma Elish gives their number as 600. They represent the celestial aspect of the divine order.
• The Anunnaki: These are the gods of the lower world, or the earth. While sometimes their number is given as fifty, other contexts suggest they were a larger group.

In the creation myth, after mankind is created to serve the gods, the Anunnaki of earth are established and it's they who, in gratitude, build the city of Babylon and the temple Esagila for Marduk.

This temple served as Marduk's earthly home and a central meeting place for the gods.

Marduk then set universal laws and divided power among the gods, making his rule supreme over all. The gods put down their weapons, and Anu even named Marduk's bow and placed it in heaven as the constellation Canis Major. 

The new divine order - a political statement

Marduk’s rise to power was a deliberate political and religious act. In fact, the Enuma Elish, was written to legitimize this new order.

• Political Shift: Before Marduk, Mesopotamian religion was more decentralized, with different cities and their own chief gods. But as the city of Babylon gained political dominance, its patron god, Marduk, had to be elevated to the top of the divine world to reflect the city's power.

• The Gods' New Roles: The epic explains why the older gods willingly gave Marduk their power and allowed him to establish a new cosmic order.

The myths of other gods weren't erased, but their stories were now framed within the larger narrative of Marduk's ultimate supremacy.

The Enuma Elish was a vital part of Babylonian religious life. It was recited every year during the Babylonian New Year's festival (Akitu), a key ritual that confirmed cosmic order and Marduk's kingship for the coming year.

Its themes influenced Babylonian art, with images of Marduk's battle against Tiamat's monsters appearing in various forms. 

The epic's influence spread beyond Babylonia. The Assyrians, who would come after, adapted the epic, sometimes replacing Marduk with their national god Aššur to fit their own imperial beliefs.

This was a "violent racial treatment" of the poem, showing how powerful myths could be changed to suit the political and cultural needs of a ruling state.

The Enuma Elish also played a significant role in shaping later ideas about creation throughout the ancient Near East, leaving a deep mark on the region's understanding of how the world began and the forces that governed it.