Foreword:
This article mainly describes the formation and development of Babylonian Creation Myths. Babylonian culture mostly inherited Sumerian-Akkadian culture, and religion manifested itself in the belief in polytheism and monotheism. The main masterpieces “Enuma Elish” and “Aria of Gilgamesh”, they describe the environment in Babylon at that time. And reflects the achievements of emperors. And reflects the historical progress of human beings from barbarism to civilization.
The Origin of Babylonian Creation Myths
Babylonian culture mostly inherited Sumerian-Akkadian culture, especially mythology. Due to the unification of the countries in the Mesopotamia, the religious beliefs gradually tended to be consistent.
In the Kingdom of Akkad, the god Anqi’s name become Anu, Dumuzi’s name become Tamuz. And the god Aia shared the name with Anqi.
In the Kingdom of Babylon, religion manifested as polytheism and monotheism. Anu, the god of heaven, Ea, the god of earth, and Enlil, the god of atmosphere, are still the main gods. In addition, there are the moon god Sin, the sun god Shamash, the agricultural god Tamuz and Ishtar (ie Yin Nana), and the other gods. Anunaki is their unified name.
However, since the Kingdom of Babylon unified the two river basins, the city of Babylon became the capital of the kingdom. In order to express the unity of the kingdom, many hymns representing Marduk, the guardian god of Babylon, and the performance of the emperor appeared at this time. Its main representative works are “Enuma Elish” and “Aria of Gilgamesh”.
The famous epic “Enuma Elish”
The famous epic “Enuma Elish” (also known as “Ode to the Creation of the World”) mainly brings together the creation thoughts of the Sumerian nation, focusing on the deeds of Marduk, the son of the earth god Ea and the main god.
This poem has about one thousand lines. People written it around the 15th and 14th centuries BC. Later, scholars sorted it out from seven clay tablets, so “seven clay tablets of creation” is it. It is one of the earliest references to creation myths in history.
Marduk in “Enuma Elish” by Babylonian Creation Myths
According to legend, at the beginning of the ancient times, the world was in chaos, there was no sky, no earth, only the ocean and the sea.
There is a stream of salty water in the sea, people said that it is Tiamat. There is also a sweet water, people said that it is Apsu. They represent yin and yang respectively, and they meet continuously in the vast ocean, giving birth to several gods. When they reach Anshar and Kishar, they give birth to Anu, the god of heaven, and Ea, the god of earth, so the first few generations of gods appeared in the universe.
God Ea led the gods to kill Apsu
With the increasing number of gods and disputes among the gods, Tiamat and Apsu increasingly felt that their power was shrinking, so they decided to punish the gods. But Apsu objected to Tiamat’s plan. Apsu determined to wipe out all the gods. When the gods learned of this secret news, they killed Apsu under the leadership of the god Ea, so the god Ea became the head of the gods.
Soon, the god Ea is fond for his noble son Marduk, him born differently, with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and strong body. And him body have all wisdom and power endowed by God Ea.
Apsu’s son and Tiamat avenge Apsu
Later, in order to avenge his father, Apsu’s son began to challenge the gods of heaven and earth, and Tiamat also went to help. The gods lost the first battle with him, and decided to let Marduk show his prestige.
Marduk readily agreed and became the ruler of the gods. He lived up to expectations, fought bravely, annihilated the invaders in one fell swoop, cut off Tiamat’s waist with his own hands, used her upper body to build the sky, and her lower body to build the earth.
Then he killed an auxiliary god of Tiamat, created human beings with his blood, and stipulated that the vocation of human beings is to serve the gods.
Marduk established the Kingdom of Babylon
In this way, Marduk finally established the Kingdom of Babylon, and he became the lord of the kingdom of heaven and the king of the gods.
Comments on Marduk Mythology
This mythical story is a representative work in Babylonian literature. It not only shows the Babylonians’ concern for the creation of the world, the origin of human beings, and their worship of nature; it also reflects the political unity of the Mesopotamia countries and the transformation of religion from polytheism to monotheism; It also shows the transition of Babylonian society from matriarchy to patriarchy, and the historical process of transformation from primitive society to slavery.
In the poem, Tiamat represents the negative world. She hates the power of the gods and wants to punish the gods. The god Ea, who represents the positive world, defies the power of her predecessors and seizes the throne. Marduk, the son of Ea, inherited his father’s career and became the leader of the positive world. He was brave, tenacious and unyielding. After a desperate struggle, he finally defeated the goddess Tiamat, reflecting the strength and greatness of the positive.
This story is somewhat similar to the story of Gaia, the mother of the earth, and Zeus, the lord of the gods in ancient Greek mythology. It shows the process of history moving forward, reflecting the reality that the Babylonian kingdom is constantly unified and powerful in the Mesopotamia, as well as the centralized political system and the religious concept of divine authority.
The epic of the highest achievement of ancient Babylonian literature – “Aria of Gilgamesh”
“Aria of Gilgamesh” is an epic representing the highest achievement of ancient Babylonian literature. People recorded it in cuneiform on twelve clay tablets, about 3,000 lines. And people written it in about the 19th century BC to the 16th century BC. It is the oldest epic poem in existence.
Gilgamesh was the king of the Uruk Dynasty in Sumer after the Great Flood. There are legends about him in Sumerian myths and legends. At that time, people spread it among the people in the form of folk oral tradition. People have processed and compiled it to form a complete mythical epic.
According to the vast majority of this epic is the epic work of Sumer, and people said that “Aria of Gilgamesh” a Babylonian epic, but in fact it is the result of the joint creation of the Sumerians and the Babylonians.
Because of its vivid description and widespread. After the Assyrian invasion, people preserved it. And the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal cherished the book. The Assyrian king Ashurbanipal ordered people to engrave the epic on clay tablets in cuneiform characters. People made it into a clay tablet document, and stored it in the palace library of the capital, Nineveh. Therefore, we can see this precious literary masterpiece today.
Another magical legend about Gilgamesh
According to legend, the founding emperor after the great flood in the Mesopotamia was Shakaros. He had received the will of the gods, saying that the son born to his daughter would usurp the emperor’s throne. Therefore, in order to prevent problems in the bud, Shakaros locked his daughter in a high tower and prevented her from looking for a man. However, not long after, the emperor’s daughter conceived without a husband and gave birth to a son. The guards of the high tower were afraid that the emperor would learn about it, so they threw the baby boy out of the tower. Strangely, at this time, an eagle flew from outside the tower, took the child away, and brought it to a farmer. The farmer raised the child, and finally seized the throne of Shakaros when he grew up. The child was Gilgamesh, king of Uruk.
The Babylonian epic “Aria of Gilgamesh” mainly tells the story of Gilgamesh and Enkidu. The poem has six parts (four articles).
The first part includes the first and second clay tablets
Gilgamesh is the king of Uruk, he is two-thirds god, one-third is human, he is strong, brave and unyielding, smart and witty, super strength, is the embodiment of perfection and wisdom. He is occlusive. He often used his power to bully the people, and seduce the women of the people. For this reason, people began to complain, so they prayed to the gods for help. The gods believed that Gilgamesh would provoke everywhere because he did not have a comparable opponent. The gods decided to let the goddess of creation Aluru create a warrior, Enkidu, to compete with him. Once the two heroes met, they fought fiercely, and the outcome was hard to tell, so they recognized each other as heroes and became brothers, and they were inseparable ever since.
The second part includes the third, fourth and fifth clay tablets
It tells the story of two heroes who killed Humbaba, the demon of Xueshan.
Since the war between Gilgamesh and Enkidu, he has changed his ways and become a righteous man who eradicates violence and makes good. At that time, in the Lebanese forest, there was a demon Humbaba who guarded the fir forest. He was cruel and cruel, killed innocent people, and even dared to hijack the goddess Ishtar and imprison her on the top of the mountain. Gilgamesh determined to attack Humbaba to eliminate harm to the people, but Enkidu is unwilling to act when he learns about this. But Gilgamesh insists on going his own way, so Enkidu has to follow Gilgamesh. They fought desperately, and finally destroyed Humbaba under the protection of the sun god Shamash and asked for Ishtar.
The third part includes the sixth clay tablet
Write the story of Gilgamesh’s retaliation by the goddess for rejecting the courtship of the goddess Ishtar.
Because Gilgamesh’s heroism attracted the goddess Ishtar, the goddess wooed the hero, but Gilgamesh knew that the goddess would “love each other” and rejected her. The goddess deeply humiliated and embarrassed, so she asked her father, the god Anu, for help. God Anu made a longhorn go down to earth, and fought against Gilgamesh and Enkidu, the hero bravely fought the longhorn and killed it.
The fourth part includes the seventh and eighth clay tablets
Write about the death of Enkidu and the grief of Gilgamesh.
Because the series of activities of the two heroes offended the gods, the gods decided to punish them, so Enkidu got a fatal disease and died soon. Gilgamesh was extremely sad. He looked back on everything he and Enkidu had done from fighting to becoming an irreversible friend. He was distraught, but he could do nothing.
The fifth part includes the ninety-first clay tablet
Write about Gilgamesh’s long journey to search for the ancestor of mankind, Utnapishtin, to explore the mysteries of life and death.
The death of Enkidu made Gilgamesh deeply feel that life and death are up to God, fate is unpredictable, and death is especially terrible. So he decided to search for his ancestors, eager to find the secret of rejuvenation and immortality.
This part is the most essential part of the whole poem. It shows the various difficulties and obstacles that Gilgamesh encountered while searching for his ancestors. He endured wind, food, and dew, and killed ferocious beasts. When he arrived at his ancestor’s residence, his ancestor Utnapishtin told him a flood story, which indicated that he would not be able to seek eternal life. Gilgamesh was still not to reconcile. And finally, Gilgamesh learned the secret of obtaining the fairy grass from his ancestors. Gilgamesh takes jelly from the fairy grass of the sea.
However, when he was returning home, he saw a clear spring, so he put the fairy grass on the bank and went into the water to take a bath. Unfortunately, a snake passed by and devoured the fairy grass. From then on, the snake regained its youth by shedding its skin, but people could not live forever. Gilgamesh went through hardships but lost the elixir. He was so frustrated that he had to resign himself to his fate and return to Uruk. This story vividly reflects the ancient idea that life is up to heaven, even a hero must die. It shows that the ancient Babylonians knew that everything has life and death, and there is no eternal thing in the world.
The last part of the poem mainly describes the dialogue between “Gilgamesh and the soul of Enkidu”, which vividly reflects the friendship between the two heroes who share life and death, and returns by different routes. At the same time, it summarizes the previous stories to illustrate the inevitable natural law of death
Comments on the epic poem “Aria of Gilgamesh”
“Aria of Gilgamesh” is a magnificent heroic epic. It is also a vivid myth and legend. Through the transformation of Gilgamesh from a tyrant to a sage, it shows the historical progress of mankind from barbarism to civilization.
This epic focuses on the deeds of Gilgamesh and his best friend Enkidu wrestling with fate, fighting devils, god bulls, and beasts. On the one hand, it reflects the brave and tenacious spirit of the heroes, so as to reflect the authority of the emerging slave-owner ruling class. On the other hand, it reflects the Babylonian people’s exploration of the mysteries of life, their thinking on the fate of life and death, and the value of life. This is exactly the significance of the epic’s strong vitality.
In ancient times, human beings have always been very concerned about the issue of life and death. People were very concerned about life after death in Ancient Egypt. There was a legend about the god of Hades in Ancient Greece. There are similar themes in Hindu, Persian and other myths. Their purpose is to explore the mysteries of life, longing for immortality. The Babylonian “Ode to Gilgamesh” more vividly reflects people’s fear of death. The exploration of the mysteries of life, as well as the views on fate and the value of life, highlight the understanding of human beings to the natural laws from life to death.
There is also a flood story in this epic, which is interspersed in the epic in the form of interjections, which is basically a reprint of the Sumerian flood legend, and scholars believe that it may be the prototype of the later flood legend in the Bible.
The legend of Gilgamesh had a great impact on later Eastern and Western literature, and there is a special system for its research. Its significance is not only manifested in literature and religion, but also in linguistics, sociology, history, important subject for scientists to study.
Other important works in Babylonian Creation Myths
There is also an important work in Babylonian mythology, “Ishtar Descends into the Underworld”, which is adapted and processed on the basis of the Sumerian myth “In Nana’s Journey to Hell”. It is mainly used to explain the natural phenomenon of seasonal changes and the prosperity of thousands of trees. Its content is basically the same.
Myths reflecting class contradictions in Babylonian literature
There are also myths reflecting class contradictions in Babylonian literature, such as “The Poem of the Upright Victims”, which tells about a person who lost his parents who worshiped the gods very much, but was still looked down upon by others and lived a hard life. So he asked wise men for advice, which reflected the Babylonians’ doubts about God.
