Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Joel Stucki" <joel AT stucki.ws>]

On 7/9/06, JAMES CHRISTIAN READ <JCR128 AT student.apu.ac.uk> wrote:
> Ok, I started to be convinced of parallels is between
> the Genesis creation account and the Enuma Elish so I
> went away to find a copy to read it and see for myself.
> I found an online copy here http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/enuma.htm
This is an ok copy but you can find some better ones online.

> Upon first glance I noticed that the epic is split up
> into 7 tablets and thought that maybe these 7 tablets
> would correspond to the 7 days of creation if there
> was any similarity.
Yes this is just a length thing with no special break points.

> There is no such battle preparation in the Genesis
> creation account. In fact, there is not even a battle.
> There is only elohim creating the earth and the heavens
> and preparing them for his final creation of mankind.
True Genesis does not describe the battle but other texts in the
Tanakh do describe at least a confrontation with chaotic forces. See
Job 38 for one such example. Many near eastern creation texts contain
a battle element.

> If there are any real parallels, you have to look hard
> for them. It is true that Tiamat is cut in two and one
> half is used to stop the waters above but no such
> allusion is made in Genesis. In Genesis, the lifeless
> waters are merely separated.
Well the waters in Genesis are separated and one half of them is
placed above the heavens and the other half below the heavens just
like Tiamat.  I am pretty sure these two are the only two creation
texts where water is split in half like this making a pretty strong
link.

Other significant parallels include:

Six generations of gods -> six days
Rough correspondence between roles of gods of each generation and what
was created on each day
Order of creating things.
    1. Tiamat is enveloped in darkness and wind
    2. Light emanates from the gods (mention of day and night before
the suns creation)
    3. Creation of the firmament
    4. Creation of dry land
    5. Creation of celestial luminaries
    6. Creation of man
    7. rest
Man made from a slain god -> Man made in God's image
The gods rest at the end.

One other interesting item is that Enuma Elish identifies the creation
of Babylon the holy city and its temples as the residence of the gods.
While Genesis does not have a parallel Jewish legend does. The Eben
Shetiya was the foundation stone that sat in the Holy of Holies in
Jerusalem and was the spot where God stood as he created the world,
thus giving justification for the sacredness of the spot for the
temple and holy city.

> Also, note the following quote taken from the page
> linked above:
>
> [Note: Strictly speaking, the text is not a creation-legend, though it gives 
> a variant form of the principal incident in the history of the creation 
> according to the Enuma Elish. Here the fight with the dragon did not precede 
> the creation of the world, but took place after men had been created and 
> cities had been built.]
Well this is an odd position. Earth is created, the luminaries are
created, Man is created, Marduk is created, and the city of Babylon is
created. Yes Marduk also wins a battle but the creation of the world
and the holy city is the result of the battle. This is very clearly a
creation text. The text was regularly reenacted in the temple like
other creation accounts in ANE culture.
Read the opening (which incidentally has a nice parallel to the second
creation account in gen 2:4-5):

WHEN on high the Heavens had not been named,
Firm ground below had not been called by name,
Nothing but 'Primordial Apsu' the Begetter, [Fresh Water]
and 'Mummu Tiamat', She Who Bore them All, [Salt Water]
—their waters commingling as a single body—

No reed hut had been matted, no marsh land had appeared,
Uncalled by name, their destinies undetermined—

THEN it was that the Gods were formed within Them.

Sounds creation to me.

> Now, the existence of postBabel parallel epics would be
> a different matter entirely. Do the list members know of
> any such postBabel parallel epics? I would be interested
> in reading up on them if there are.

I am not sure what "postBabel" would be. The Babel incident is
unverifiable and difficult to even date with certainty.

Joel Stucki