e-nu-ma e-liš la na-bu-ú šá-ma-mu
šap-liš am-ma-tum šu-ma la zak-rat
ab-zu-ma reš-tu-ú za-ru-šu-un
mu-um-mu ti-amat mu-al-li-da-at gim-ri-šú-un
A.MEŠ-šú-nu iš-te-niš i-ḫi-qu-ú-ma
gi-pa-ra la ki-is-su-ru su-sa-a la she-'u-ú
e-nu-ma dingir dingir la šu-pu-u ma-na-ma
When the sky above was not named,
And the Earth beneath did not yet bear a name,
And the primeval Apsû, who begat them,
And chaos, Tiamat, the mother of them both,
Their waters were mingled together,
And no field was formed, no marsh was to be seen;
When of the Gods none had been called into being.
In the primordial abyss before reality, there was only the male Apsû, the sweet waters, and Tiamat, the bitter, turbulent salt waters. Together Apsû and Tiamat consumated and produced Lahmu and Lahamu [1] as well as all the Mummu [2] of the world. From Lahmu and Lahamu came the pair Anshar and Kishar [3]. Anshar and Kishar came together and had Anu. Anu then created in his own image Ea [4]. Ea was mischievous and playful, and played often with his sibling Gods. The commotion roiled Tiamat's belly, and Apsû grew impatient of the noise. With the birth of the lesser Gods, a new principle, movement came into being, and it irritated Apsû, the father. Apsû spoke to Tiamat, stating that he would destroy the New Gods and abolish their ways. Tiamat, filled with indignation, replied "how can we destroy that which we ourselves bought into being?" and refused. Despite Tiamat's refusal, Apsû plotted to dispose of the younger Gods. However, the clever Ea heard Apsû speaking to himself of his plans and plans to thwart him. Ea concocted a spell and recites it, putting Apsû into a deep sleep. Ea takes form Apsû his belt, his crown, and his "mantle of radiance" and puts them on himself. Then he slew the sleeping Apsû. Ea held down the Mummu of the land, building his ziggurat and home over the sweet waters who once was his enemy and grandfather Apsû. Here, with his lover Damkina, Ea has a son, Marduk, the great unequalled god and ruler, patron of the eternal and unrivalled city of Babylon, master of the sky. Marduk was impressive and imposing, more so even than the great temple of Babylon. He was large and muscled, and stronger even than Ea. He had four eyes and four ears, with which he could see and hear more of the world than any other. Tongues of flame burst forth from his mouth when he spake. His grandfather Anu was proud and doting, and for his beloved grandson, Anu made the four winds for Marduk to play with.
Many of the other Gods, both angry with and jealous of Marduk, went forth before Tiamat and complained of the noise and commotion caused by Marduk. They derided her for not supporting her husband Apsû against her son grandson Ea. They complained that her belly, in which they lived, was roiled by the four winds Anu created for Marduk, accusing her of not being a mother to them, as they said she must not love them, for she cared not for their sleep. Tiamat this time sided with the disgruntled lesser Gods, and she set forth from her rivers fearsome monsters to battle Marduk: giant snakes with blood of venom, terrible dragons, fish-men, bull-men, many ugallu demons, a rabid dog and a scorpion-man. These creatures were fearsome and many, and at head of this army Tiamat placed the god Kingu, her second husband, and bestowed upon him the Tablet of Destinies, whereupon Gods would write their decrees. Thus Kingu was given power over destinies, the form of reality itself. Tiamat herself decreed: "Your utterance shall never be altered! Your word shall be law!". Ea heard of this plot, and told Anshar. Anshar sends Ea to tell Tiamat to stop with the plan, but Ea is unable to convince Tiamat. Anshar then sends Anu, but that fails too. The Gods opposed to Kingu sat together to decide what action to take. They sit tight-lipped, but finally speak: "Will no god come forward? Will no-one go out to face Tiamat?" Ea then comes forward and suggests they see what his son Marduk can do. Marduk agrees to fight Tiamat, promising Anshar: "you shall soon set your foot on the neck of Tiamat!" But desired, in return, the Tablet of Destinies upon his victory. This was before the world as we know it was, and destinies were yet to be fixed, so Kingu and Marduk entered into a great cataclysmic battle over the right to fix destiny and shape the universe. The Gods were thrilled with Marduk's offer, and engaged in much merrymaking, and built Marduk a great throne. They asked him to display his power by making a constellation disappear and reappear on command. Marduk did so, and impressed, the Gods bestowed upon him the regalia of kingship, and gave him "an unfaceable weapon".
Marduk then prepares for battle, making a bow; fletching arrows; grabbing a mace; seizes lightning to throw at his enemies; fulls his belly with fire; creates a net to capture Tiamat; creates seven angry winds, such as whirlwind and tornado; and forms his most dangerous weapon, the rain flood. Marduk then mounted his four-horse storm-chariot and sets upon Tiamat and Kingu's army. The demonic forces are striken with fear by Marduk's appearance. Marduk raises his rain-flood and challenges Tiamat to single combat. Enraged, Tiamat charged forward recklessly at Marduk, who captured her in his net, battered her wind with his storm-winds, and shot an arrow which pierced her belly. He cut her open and slit her heart. Standing over Tiamat's corpse, Marduk easily defeats and captures the enemy Gods. He ties up the arms of the monsters and leads them off with nose-ropes, in a procession of humiliation. He tore the Tablet of Destiny from the grip of Kingu and fastens it to his breast.
Marduk then created the universe from the great serpent Tiamat's body. Half of her he used to make the sky, holding back the chaos waters. He sets up the constellations as stations in the sky for the greatest Gods. From two of Tiamat's ribs he creates East and West, and from her liver, the pole star. He creates the sun and moon and organises it's cycles. From her spittle, he created rain, fog and clouds. Heaping a mountain over Tiamat's eyes, he pierced them to create the Tigris and Euphrates. Her tail he bent up to create the Milky Way, and her crotch he used to support the sky. The Gods then kissed Marduk's feet, and proclaimed him king of the Gods of Heaven and Earth. Marduk then proclaims that he will create his own dwelling place between heaven and the primordial waters. He decides to name this new place 'Babylon', the "gate of gods". The Gods bow to him, praising him and promising to obey his commands.
Marduk outlines his intentions to Ea: "Blood I will mass and cause bones to be. I will establish a savage, 'Man' shall be his name. Verily, savage man I will create. He shall be charged with the service of the Gods, that they might be at ease!" Ea suggests they should destroy one of the rebel Gods and make man out of them. When Marduk asks who incited Tiamat, they all respond as one: "Kingu! Kingu!". So Ea takes Kingu, cuts his arteries, and makes mankind from his blood. Ea imposes the toil of the Gods to mankind, while Marduk assigns the Gods their positions on Heaven and Earth. In gratitude to Marduk, the Gods build Babylon, and set about writing into destiny the building of Marduk's great ziggurat, the Esagila. The Gods then confirm Marduk's kingship and order the "black-headed people" to worship him.
But these people would have a great chronicle of their own. Although they were to toil for the Gods, the black-headed people were special amongst Man, blessed as they were by Marduk. Their journey was not to be without tribulations, but it was to be a great one.
[1]'mud' and 'slime'. Possibly silt.
[2]The idea of potential. I.e. usefulness of the land.
[3]Anshar = whole sky (orb of the heavens), Kashar = whole earth (the corresponding land)
[4]Trickster god of flowing waters (rivers). Also known as Enki.
Okay AH.comers,
This is my new TL, which is based on a more successful Babylon and Sumerian culture, at the expense of the Semitic peoples. It's only a subtle Babylon-wank, so it shouldn't be over-the-top or unrealistic. By the way, the style is from the perspective of a future 21st-century Babylonian historian, where religion is still very pervasive and taken as fact. So it's going to be bias in writing style towards the Babylonians, and as you've seen, it portrays their creation myths as fact.