Week 4
532 words by mlathon
Lauren Cooper
Brittney Curtis
Danielle Edinburgh-Wilson
LaTasha Hale
Denisa Hancock
Samantha Hicks
Susan Isaacs
Taieka Jackson
Karl Jenkins
Valencia Johnson
The Enuma Elish is the Babylonian creation story and was written on seven tablets. Enuma Elish is Akkadian for “when on high” which are the first words of the enuma elish. The Enuma Elish is often compared to the creation account in Genesis. For example, the Babylonian god finished his work within the span of 6 tablets of stone and Genesis reports six days of creation. In the Enuma, the last and 7th stone exalted the handiwork and greatness of the diety’s work while Genesis reports the seventh day as Rest of God. Mankind formed on tablet 6 of the Enuma Elish and Adam and Eve are formed on day 6 in the Genesis account. Other similarities include the following: Earth and sky are formed on tablet four in Enuma Elish and earth and sky separated on day two of Genesis account; The sun and moon and stars are created in the sky to mark seasons on tablet 5 of Enuma Elish and on day four of Genesis account.
The text was found written on seven tablets, but this has no bearing on the seven days of the Genesis account. If the tablets had been larger then there would only have been six.
Tablet 1: Aspu and Tiamat come together to give birth to the primitive forces and gods. However, Aspu turns against his offspring, but is slain by them. Tiamat is enraged at the death of her husband and she prepares to avenge his death.
Tablet 2: Marduk, one of the second generation gods, is elected to fight Tiamat.
Tablet 3: The assembly of gods decrees the outcome of the battle and the glory of Marduk.
Tablet 4: They each create seven assistants to help them. Marduk wins the conflict and dissects the body of Tiamat.
Tablet 5: From the body of Tiamat, Marduk creates heaven and earth. The moon and the stars are established to mark the seasons.
Tablet 6: Tiamat’s second in command, Kingu, is slain and from drops of his blood Marduk creates man so that there will be one to sacrifice to the gods
Tablet 7: Marduk advances from the chief god of Babylon to become head of the entire pantheon. He is given 50 names representing the power of the various deities
Both accounts speak of a time when the earth was without form and void. Both accounts have a similar order of events in creation. There are seven tablets and seven days of creation.One account is grossly polytheistic while the other is strictly monotheistic. One accounts confuses spirit and matter while the other carefully distinguishes between the two. There is a real difference between the Genesis account and the creation accounts of other pagan religions. In other religious systems, the natural world was seen as a manifestation of all of the deities - the sun, moon, stars, oceans, storms. The cosmos always had the status of deity. The Bible is unique in that the cosmos is merely creation. Only God is GOD.