Page:A critical and exegetical commentary on Genesis (1910).djvu/146



ii. The Subjugation of Apsu by Ea.—The powers of chaos, Apsu, Tiamat, and a third being called Mummu (Dam. 🇬🇷), take counsel together to 'destroy the way' of the heavenly deities. An illegible portion of Tab. I. must have told how Apsu and Mummu were vanquished by Ea, leaving Tiamat still unsubdued. In the latter part of the tablet the female monster is again incited to rebellion by a god called Kingu, whom she chooses as her consort, laying on his breast the 'Tables of Destiny' which the heavenly gods seek to recover. She draws to her side many of the old gods, and brings forth eleven kinds of monstrous beings to aid her in the fight.

iii. The conflict between Marduk and Tiamat.—Tabs. II. and III. are occupied with the consultations of the gods in view of this new peril, resulting in the choice of Marduk as their champion; and Tab. IV. gives a graphic description of the conflict that ensues. On the approach of the sun-god, mounted on his chariot and formidably armed, attended by a host of winds, Tiamat's helpers flee in terror, and she alone confronts the angry deity. Marduk entangles her in his net, sends a hurricane into her distended jaws, and finally despatches her by an arrow shot into her body.

iv. The account of creation commences near the end of Tab. IV. After subduing the helpers of Tiamat and taking the Tables of Destiny from Kingu, Marduk surveys the carcase, and 'devised a cunning plan':

He split her up like a flat fish into two halves; One half of her he stablished as a covering for the heaven. He fixed a bolt, he stationed a watchman, And bade them not to let her waters come forth. He passed through the heavens, he surveyed the regions (thereof), And over against the Deep he set the dwelling of Nudimmud. And the lord measured the structure of the Deep And he founded E-šara, a mansion like unto it. The mansion E-šara which he created as heaven, He caused Anu, Bel, and Ea in their districts to inhabit.

Berossus says, what is no doubt implied here, that of the other half of Tiamat he made the earth; but whether this is meant by the founding of E-šara, or is to be looked for in a lost part of Tab. V., is a point in dispute (see Jen. Kosm. 185 ff., 195 ff.; and KIB, vi. 1, 344 f.). Tab. V. opens with the creation of the heavenly bodies:

He made the stations for the great gods; The stars, their images, as the stars of the Zodiac, he fixed. He ordained the year and into sections he divided it; For the twelve months he fixed three stars.

The Moon-god he caused to shine forth, the night he entrusted to him. He appointed him, a being of the night, to determine the days;