The Enūma Eliš (Babylonian Creation)
← all texts · Mesopotamian · c. 1100 BCE (text), older tradition
What this is
The Babylonian creation epic — the young storm-god Marduk slays the sea-dragon Tiamat and builds the cosmos from her body, then is crowned king of the gods. Its opening words, "when on high…", give it its name.
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Companion reading path
What to read alongside it, and why.
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Mesopotamian
The other great Babylonian epic — read together for the full sweep of Mesopotamian myth.
Hesiod — Theogony
Greek
The Greek parallel: a younger sky-god overthrowing primordial powers to establish cosmic order.
Genesis (King James Version)
Hebrew
The Hebrew creation that answers and inverts this one (one God, no combat with the sea).