The Babylonian Legends of the Creation - Ernest Alfred Wallis Budge (best color ebook reader .txt) 📗
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i.e., he determined to carry out a series of works of creation. He
split the body of Tiâmat into two parts; out of one half he fashioned
the dome of heaven, and out of the other he constructed the abode of
Nudimmud, or Ea, which he placed over against Apsu, i.e., the deep. He
also formulated regulations concerning the maintenance of the same. By
this “cunning plan” Marduk deprived the powers of darkness of the
opportunity of repeating their revolt with any chance of success. Having
established the framework of his new heaven and earth Marduk, acting as
the celestial architect, set to work to furnish them. In the first place
he founded E-Sharra, or the mansion of heaven, and next he set apart and
arranged proper places for the old gods of the three realms—Anu,
Bel and Ea.
[Illustration: Tablet sculptured with a scene representing the worship
of the Sun-god in the Temple of Sippar. The Sun-god is seated on a
throne within a pavilion holding in one hand a disk and bar which may
symbolize eternity. Above his head are the three symbols of the Moon,
the Sun, and the planet Venus. On a stand in front of the pavilion rests
the disk of the Sun, which is held in position by ropes grasped in the
hands of two divine beings who are supported by the roof of the
pavilion. The pavilion of the Sun-god stands on the Celestial Ocean, and
the four small disks indicate either the four cardinal points or the
tops of the pillars of the heavens. The three figures in front of the
disk represent the high priest of Shamash, the king (Nabu-aplu-iddina,
about 870 B.C.) and an attendant goddess. [No. 91,000.]]
The text of the Fifth Tablet, which would undoubtedly have supplied
details as to Marduk’s arrangement and regulations for the sun, the
moon, the stars, and the Signs of the Zodiac in the heavens is wanting.
The prominence of the celestial bodies in the history of creation is not
to be wondered at, for the greater number of the religious beliefs of
the Babylonians are grouped round them. Moreover, the science of
astronomy had gone hand in hand with the superstition of astrology in
Mesopotamia from time immemorial; and at a very early period the oldest
gods of Babylonia were associated with the heavenly bodies. Thus the
Annunaki and the Igigi, who are bodies of deified spirits, were
identified with the stars of the northern and southern heaven,
respectively. And all the primitive goddesses coalesced and were grouped
to form the goddess Ishtar, who was identified with the Evening and
Morning Star, or Venus. The Babylonians believed that the will of the
gods was made known to men by the motions of the planets, and that
careful observation of them would enable the skilled seer to recognize
in the stars favourable and unfavourable portents. Such observations,
treated from a magical point of view, formed a huge mass of literature
which was being added to continually. From the nature of the case this
literature enshrined a very considerable number of facts of pure
astronomy, and as early as the period of the First Dynasty (about 2000
B.C.), the Babylonians were able to calculate astronomical events with
considerable accuracy, and to reconcile the solar and lunar years by the
use of epagomenal months. They had by that time formulated the existence
of the Zodiac, and fixed the “stations” of the moon, and the places of
the planets with it; and they had distinguished between the planets and
the fixed stars. In the Fifth Tablet of the Creation Series (l. 2) the
Signs of the Zodiac are called Lumashi [1], but unfortunately no list
of their names is given in the context. Now these are supplied by the
little tablet (No. 77,821) of the Persian Period of which a reproduction
is here given. It has been referred to and discussed by various
scholars, and its importance is very great. The transcript of the text,
which is now published (see p. 68) for the first time, will be
acceptable to the students of the history of the Zodiac. Egyptian,
Greek, Syriac and Arabic astrological and astronomical texts all
associate with the Signs of the Zodiac twelve groups, each containing
three stars, which are commonly known as the “Thirty-six Dekans.” [2]
The text of line 4 of the Fifth Tablet of the Creation Series proves
that the Babylonians were acquainted with these groups of stars, for we
read that Marduk “set up for the twelve months of the year three stars
apiece.” In the List of Signs of the Zodiac here given, it will be seen
that each Sign is associated with a particular month.
[Footnote 1: This is the original of the Syriac word for the Signs of
the Zodiac malwâshê (plural of malwâshâ). The Syrians
added to it an m, thus giving it a participial form.]
[Footnote 2: [Greek: Dekanoi] also called [Greek: prosopa], [Greek:
horoskopoi], [Greek: philokes] and [Greek: episkopoi]. They were well
known to the Egyptians, who, as early as the fourteenth century B.C.,
possessed a full list of them. See Lepsius, Chronologie,
Berlin, 1848, and Brugsch, _Thesaurus (Astronomische und
Astrologische Inschriften)_, Leipzig, 1883.]
[Illustration: Tablet inscribed with a list of the Signs of the
Zodiac. [No. 77,821.]]
At a later period, say about 500 B.C., the Babylonians made some of
the gods regents of groups of stars, for Enlil ruled 33 stars, Anu 23
stars, and Ea 15 stars. They also possessed lists of the fixed stars,
and drew up tables of the times of their heliacal risings. Such lists
were probably based upon very ancient documents, and prove that the
astral element in Babylonian religion was very considerable.
The accompanying illustration, which is reproduced from the Boundary
Stone of Ritti-Marduk (Brit. Mus., No. 90,858), supplies much
information about the symbols of the gods, and of the Signs of the
Zodiac in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar I, King of Babylon, about 1120
B.C.. Thus in Register 1, we have the Star of Ishtar, the crescent of
the Moon-god Sin, and the disk of Shamash the Sun-god. In Reg. 2 are
three stands (?) surmounted by tiaras, which represent the gods Anu,
Enlil (Bel) and Ea respectively. In Reg. 3 are three altars (?) or
shrines (?) with a monster in Nos. 1 and 2. Over the first is the
lance of Marduk, over the second the mason’s square of Nabû, and over
the third is the symbol of the goddess Ninkharsag, the Creatress. In
Reg. 4 are a standard with an animal’s head, a sign of Ea; a
two-headed snake = the Twins; an unknown symbol with a horse’s head,
and a bird, representative of Shukamuna and Shumalia. In Reg. 5 are a
seated figure of the goddess Gula and the Scorpion-man; and in Reg. 6
are forked lightning, symbol of Adad, above a bull, the Tortoise,
symbol of Ea (?), the Scorpion of the goddess Ishkhara, and the Lamp
of Nusku, the Fire-god. Down the left-hand side is the serpent-god
representing the constellation of the Hydra.
The mutilated text of the Fifth Tablet makes it impossible to gain
further details in connection with Marduk’s work in arranging the
heavens. We are, however, justified in assuming that the gaps in it
contained statements about the grouping of the gods into triads. In
royal historical inscriptions the kings often invoke the gods in
threes, though they never call any one three a triad or trinity. It
seems as if this arrangement of gods in threes was assumed to be of
divine origin. In the Fourth Tablet of Creation, one triad
“Anu-Bel-Ea” is actually mentioned, and in the Fifth Tablet, another
is indicated, “Sin-Shamash-Ishtar.” In these triads Anu represents the
sky or heaven, Bel or Enlil the region under the sky and including the
earth, Ea the underworld, Sin the Moon, Shamash the Sun, and Ishtar
the star Venus. When the universe was finally constituted several
other great gods existed, e.g., Nusku, the Fire-god, Enurta,
[1] a solar god, Nergal, the god of war and handicrafts, Nabu, the god
of learning, Marduk of Babylon, the great national god of Babylonia,
and Ashur, the great national god of Assyria.
[Footnote 1: Formerly known as Ninip.]
When Marduk had arranged heaven and earth, and had established the gods
in their places, the gods complained that their existence was barren,
because they lacked worshippers at their shrines and offerings. To make
a way out of this difficulty Marduk devised another “cunning plan,” and
announced his intention of creating man out of “blood and bone” DAMI
ISSIMTUM. We have already quoted (see p. 11) the statement of Berosus
that man was created out of the blood of a god mixed with earth; here,
then, is the authority for his words. Marduk made known to Ea his
intention of creating man, and Ea suggested that if one of the gods were
sacrificed the remainder of them should be set free from service,
presumably to Marduk. Thereupon Marduk summons a council of the gods,
and asks them to name the instigator of the fight in which he himself
was the victor. In reply the gods named Kingu, Tiâmat’s second husband,
whom they seized forthwith, and bound with fetters and carried to Ea,
and then having “inflicted punishment upon him they let his blood.” From
Kingu’s blood Ea fashioned mankind for the service of the gods.
Now among the texts which have been found on the tablets at Kal’at
Sharkât is an account of the creation of man which differs from the
version given in the Seven Tablets of Creation, but has two features in
common with it. These two features are: (1) the council of the gods to
discuss the creation of man; (2) the sacrifice which the gods had to
make for the creation of man. In the variant version two (or more) gods
are sacrificed, Ilu Nagar Ilu Nagar, i.e., “the workmen gods,” about
whom nothing is known. The place of sacrifice is specified with some
care, and it is said to be “Uzu-mu-a, or the bond of heaven and earth.”
Uzu-mu-a may be the bolt with which Marduk locked the two halves of
Tiâmat into place.
The Anunnaki, wishing to give an expression of their admiration for
Marduk’s heroism, decided to build him a shrine or temple. To this
Marduk agreed, and chose Babylon, i.e., the “Gate of God,” for its site.
The Anunnaki themselves made the bricks, and they built the great temple
of E-Sagila at Babylon. When the temple was finished, Marduk re-enacted
the scene of creation; for, as he had formerly assigned to each god his
place in the heavens, so now he assigned to each god his place in
E-Sagila. The tablet ends with a long hymn of praise which the Anunnaki
sang to Marduk, and describes the summoning of an assembly of the gods
to proclaim ceremonially the great Fifty Names of this god. Thus the
gods accepted the absolute supremacy of Marduk.
From the above it is clear that a dispute broke out between Marduk and
the gods after he had created them, and the tradition of it has made its
way into the religious literatures of the Hebrews, Syrians, Arabs, Copts
and Abyssinians. The cuneiform texts tell us nothing about the cause of
the dispute, but tradition generally ascribes it to the creation of man
by the supreme God; and it is probable that all the apocryphal stories
which describe the expulsion from heaven of the angels who contended
against God under the leadership of Satan, or Satnael, or Iblîs, are
derived from a Babylonian original which has not yet been found. The
“Fifty Names,” or laudatory epithets mentioned above, find parallels in
“Seventy-five Praises of Ra,” sung by the Egyptians under the XIXth
dynasty, [1]
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