The baked clay tablets and portions of tablets which describe the views and beliefs of the Babylonians and Assyrians about the Creation were discovered by Mr. (later Sir) A.H. Layard, Mormuzd Rassam and George Smith, Assistant in the Department of Oriental Antiquities in the British Museum. They were found among the ruins of the Palace and Library of Ashur-bani-pal (B.C. 668-626) at Ḳuyûnjiḳ (Nineveh), between the years 1848 and 1876. Between 1866 and 1870, the great "find" of tablets and fragme

The publication of the above-mentioned texts and translations proved beyond all doubt the correctness of Rawlinson's assertion made in 1865, that "certain portions of the Babylonian and Assyrian Legends of the Creation resembled passages in the early chapters of the Book of Genesis." During the next twenty years, the Creation texts were copied and recopied by many Assyriologists, but no publication appeared in which all the material available for reconstructing the Legend was given in a collecte

A perusal of the texts of the Seven Tablets of Creation, which King was enabled, through the information contained in them, to arrange for the first time in their proper sequence, shows that the main object of the Legend was the glorification of the god Marduk, the son of Ea (Enki), as the conqueror of the dragon Tiâmat, and not the narration of the story of the creation of the heavens, and earth and man. The Creation properly speaking, is only mentioned as an exploit of Marduk in the Sixth Tabl

The views about the Creation which are described in the Seven Tablets mentioned above were not the only ones current in Mesopotamia, and certainly they were not necessarily the most orthodox. Though in the version of the Legend already referred to the great god of creation was Enlil, or Marduk, or Ashur, we know that in the Legend of Gilgamish (Second Tablet) it was the goddess Aruru who created Enkidu (Eabani) from a piece of clay moistened with her own spittle. And in the so-called "bilingual"

1. "The holy house, the house of the gods in the holy place had not yet been made. 2. "No reed had sprung up, no tree had been made. 3. "No brick had been laid, no structure of brick had been erected. 4. "No house had been made, no city had been built. The Bilingual Version of the Creation Legend. [No. 93,014.] 5. "No city had been made, no creature had been constituted. 6. "Enlil's city, [Cuneiform] (i.e., Nippur) had not been made, E-kur [Cuneiform] had not been built, 7. "Erech [Cuneiform] ha

Versions in Greek of the Legends found by George Smith had long been known to classical scholars, owing to the preservation of fragments of them in the works of later Greek writers, e.g. , Eusebius, Syncellus, and others. The most important of these is derived from the History of Babylonia, which was written in Greek by BEROSUS, a priest of Bel-Marduk, i.e. , the "Lord Marduk," at Babylon, about 250 B.C. In this work Berosus reproduced all the known historical facts and traditions derived from n

1. When the heavens above were yet unnamed, 23 2. And the name of the earth beneath had not been recorded, 3. Apsu, the oldest of beings, their progenitor, 4. "Mummu" Tiâmat, who bare each and all of them-- 5. Their waters were merged into a single mass. 6. A field had not been measured, a marsh had not been searched out, 7. When of the gods none was shining, Portion of a tablet inscribed in Assyrian with a text of the First Tablet of the Creation Series. [K. 5419C.] 8. A name had not been recor

1. Tiâmat made solid that which she had moulded. 2. She bound the gods her children with [evil bonds]. 3. Tiâmat wrought wickedness to avenge Apsu. 4. When ... had harnessed his chariot he went to meet Ea, 5. Ea hearkened to his story, 6. He was sorely afflicted and abode in sorrow, 7. The days were long, his wrath died down. 8. He went his way to the dwelling of Anshar, his father, 9. He went into the presence of Anshar, the father who begat him, Portion of a tablet inscribed in Assyrian with a

1. Anshar opened his mouth, and 2. Unto the god Gaga ( [Cuneiform] ), his envoy, spake a word [saying], 3. "O Gaga, my envoy, who makest glad my liver. 4. "I will despatch thee unto the gods Lakhmu and Lakhamu. Portion of a tablet inscribed in Assyrian with a text of the Third Tablet of the Creation Series. [No. 93,017.] 5. "Thou must know and understand the [intention of my heart] 6. "... are brought before thee 7. "... all the gods. 8. "Let them make a council, let them sit down to a feast 9.

1. They founded for him a majestic canopy, 2. He ( i.e. , Marduk) seated himself in the seat of kingship in the presence of his fathers [who said unto him]: 3. "Thou art honourable by reason of thy greatness among the gods. 4. "Thy position is unrivalled, the words thou utterest become Anum ( i.e. , as fixed as the sky). 5. "Thou art honourable by reason of thy greatness among the gods. 6. "Thy position is unrivalled, the words thou utterest become Anum ( i.e. , as fixed as the sky). 7. "From th

1. He appointed the Stations for the great gods, 2. He set in heaven the Stars of the Zodiac which are their likenesses. 3. He fixed the year, he appointed the limits thereof. 4. He set up for the twelve months three stars apiece. 5. According to the day of the year he ... figures. 6. He founded the Station of Nibir (Jupiter) to settle their boundaries, 7. That none might exceed or fall short. 8. He set the Station of Bel and Ea thereby. 9. He opened great gates under shelter on both sides. 10.

1. On hearing the words of the gods, the heart of Marduk moved him to carry out the works of a craftsman. 2. He opened his mouth, he spake to Ea that which he had planned in his heart, he gave counsel [saying]: 3. "I will solidify blood, I will form bone. 4. "I will set up man, 'Man' [shall be] his name. 5. "I will create the man 'Man.' 6. "The service of the gods shall be established, and I will set them ( i.e. , the gods) free. 7. "I will make twofold the ways of the gods, and I will beautify

1. O ASARI,--giver of plantations, appointer of sowing time, 2. Who dost make grain and fibrous plants, who makest garden herbs to spring up. 3. O ASARU-ALIM--who art weighty in the council-chamber, who art fertile in counsel, 4. To whom the gods pay worship (?) reverent ... 5. O ASARU-ALIM-NUNA--the adored light of the Father who begat him, 6. Who makest straight the direction of Anu, Bel, [and Ea]. 49 7. He is their patron who fixed [their] ... 8. Whose drink is abundance, who goeth forth ...

125. Let the first comer take them and repeat them; 126. Let the wise man and the learned man meditate upon all of them; 127. The father shall repeat them to his son that he may lay hold upon them. 128. Let them ( i.e. , the names) open the ears of the shepherd and the herdsman. 53 129. Let [man] rejoice in Marduk, the Lord of the Gods, 130. That his land may be fertile and he himself abide in security. 131. His word is true, his command altereth not. 132. No god hath ever brought to the ground

1. There are in the British Museum several fragments of Neo-Babylonian copies of the Seven Tablets of Creation, the exact position of which is at present uncertain. One of these (S. 2013) is of some importance because it speaks of one object which was in the "upper Tiâmat" [Cuneiform] , and of another which was in the "lower Tiâmat" [Cuneiform] . This shows that the Babylonians thought that one half of the body of Tiâmat, which was split up by Marduk, was made into the celestial ocean, and the o

BY SIDNEY SMITH, M.A., and C.J. GADD, M.A., Assistants in the Department. No. 77,821 (85-4-30, 15). I have been assisted in the preparation of this monograph by Mr. Sidney Smith, M.A., Assistant in the Department. E.A. WALLIS BUDGE. DEPARTMENT OF EGYPTIAN AND ASSYRIAN ANTIQUITIES, BRITISH MUSEUM. June 1, 1921....