The Enuma Elish and Genesis Chapter 1 - Essay Example

The Enuma Elish is the creation story of the ancient Mesopotamians. It is a work of epic poetry that explains the relationship between the various gods of the Mesopotamian pantheon, the reason and methodology employed in creating the earth and the purpose for creating humanity. This creation account stands in stark contrast to the account of creation as presented in the first chapter of Genesis in the bible. While both come from ancient societies in the same geographic region, they are extremely different in their telling. Some of this can be attributed to the different ways religion was viewed by these different societies. Other differences can be attributed to the way each society viewed themselves in relation to their deity or deities. What becomes exceedingly certain, as these two creation accounts are compared side by side is the fact that many more differences exist than do similarities. The greatest difference upon reading both accounts of creation is the extensive amount of time spent in the Enumea Elish creating the necessary plot for a full-fledged polytheistic pantheon. Nearly two-thirds of the tablets tell the story of the various gods and how they relate to one another. Tiamat and Apsu are first introduced. They are husband and wife. Their offspring, Anshar and Kishar are the god and goddess of the horizon. They in turn have Anu and Ea. Once these beginning gods are all assembled, the dysfunctional family dynamics are brought into full view. Children are ill behaved. There is a plot to kill them by Apsu (their father and grandfather) but the tables are turned on him and he is the one that ends up dead. This sets up the first early showdown between Tiamat, who comes to represent the forces of chaos and the other gods, her offspring who represent order. Tiamat takes a new consort, battle lines are drawn and the struggle for dominion begins. In stark contrast, in the story of creation found in Genesis 1, the drama is not created from conflict, but rather by process and pronouncement. God is there and he is already firmly established as a deity. There is no vying for his throne. There are no plots and save a reference to the Spirit of God, there is only reference to one being conducting the creative process, and that is God himself. This contrast can perhaps be accounted for by the very nature of the different religious beliefs. At the heart of the difference is the contrast between polytheistic and monotheistic religion. For the ancient Hebrews, God was universal. They recognized that other civilizations had their gods that they would bow to, but for them there was only one God. This isn’t a great situation for story telling because most stories have multiple characters around which a plot can develop. Instead, for the monotheist, the story lies in the awesome power and the works of God. The polytheist, on the other hand, uses conflicts between various gods to move the narrative of the creative process along. The conflict between Tiamat and her rebellious children needs to progress to some sort of climax. This happens when Tiamat is killed and provides the raw materials necessary for the creation of the earth, water and heavens. The polytheist also needs opportunity to elevate the importance of various patron gods. In this particular instance, the translation I read was found in Babylon, where the patron god of the city-state was Marduke. As a result, Marduke features prominently in this tale. Translations found in other parts of Mesopotamia do not stress the role of Marduke as much or leave his involvement out altogether. The polytheist and the monotheist have different needs from their creation stories. The monotheist needs to see their singular god as in control and all power. The polytheist needs to see the interplay and conflict between gods to explain why the earth is the way it is. A second stark contrast between the two stories seems to be the very motivation behind the creation. In the Enuma Elish, the gods fight amongst themselves in battle after battle. Only after chaos as represented by Tiamat is defeated can any real creating happen. But the purpose of the creation is clearly to benefit the gods. Marduke assigns each of the gods their places of abode in the newly created world. Creation in the Enuma Elish has much the same feel as though a general was dividing the spoils of a sacked city among the soldiers than anything else. In contrast to this, the account of creation in Genesis 1 is incredible methodical. Clear divisions between contrasting elements are demarcated. Heaven and earth, land and water, day and night, light and darkness are all put into their respective spheres of existence for a purpose that is seemingly good to God. All of the floras and fauna of the oceans and land are created in a sequence that is both poetic and logical. The account of creation in Genesis 1 gives the impression that the earth is being created for some purpose. The process of creation appears to be building up for some sort of climax. On the other hand, in the Enuma Elish, the climax of killing Tiamat occurs before creation can begin. The actual creation is more of a subplot in the story of the conflicts and battles of the Mesopotamian gods and goddesses. A final contrast between the Enuma Elish and Genesis 1 deals specifically with the creation of mankind. This, more than anything else in the two creation stories gives us insight into how the members of the respective civilizations viewed themselves in relation to their deities. Once again, in the Enuma Elish, the creation of humans is almost an afterthought. It all came about because the gods were tired of taking care of themselves. They wanted servants. They wanted to be worshiped and adored. But most of all, they didn’t want to have to do anything to laborious anymore. Enter humans. Their sole purpose was to serve the gods. They were not created in the image of the gods, nor did the gods appear to hold any affection for their creation. The creation of humans was another utilitarian creation designed to give the gods comfort and rest. It is little wonder that findings in Mesopotamian sites reveal that humans viewed their deities almost as extortionists. Offerings of foodstuffs were commanded, but they apparently were given in a spirit of payment, rather than worship. Payment to the gods was necessary before doing something like sowing a field or starting a business. If the payment wasn’t made, then the gods might become angry and wreck the enterprise. Not only that, they may wreck the entire city. The adversarial nature of the Mesopotamian gods that played out throughout the Enuma Elish is continued and passed on to their human creations. In contrast to this is mankind’s placement in the creation story of Genesis 1. Mankind is created in the image of God. They are given a special place in creation, being given dominion over all the fish of the sea and the fowls of the air and the animals of the land. God also personally blesses his human creations, telling them to be fruitful and multiply. The implicit message here is that mankind is being created as a special part of creation and that mankind is expected to have joy in living on earth. In this way, God finished his creation by pronouncing that all of it is good. As a result, the Hebrew view of God as a Father figure is begun. God cares about his creation, especially humans. He expects their obedience to his law, and in exchange He promises happiness and comfort. There are some overlapping themes even though these stories are very different. The importance of water is very apparent. Both stories feature water as primal forces of nature. This is surely a product of the arid landscape that both of these civilizations inhabited. Other themes involve the creative powers of tremendously powerful beings and the mortality of humans. But these are not fully developed in either story especially well at the beginning. Later literature from both civilizations, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh examines these themes more closely. The Enuma Elish and Genesis Chapter 1 are both remarkable accounts of creation. The Mesopotamian account is more geared towards the establishment of a pantheon, while Genesis 1 is more interested in displaying the wondrous might of a single all-powerful God. What they both do is give hints as to how each civilization viewed their deities and how they felt they should act in relation to their Gods. Read More