First Tablet

When the heavens above still had no name, and the earth below had not yet been recorded, Apsu, the oldest being and the source of them all, and Tiâmat, who bore them, were there. Their waters were mingled into one. No field had been marked out, no marsh explored, and none of the gods yet shone. No name had been set down, no fate fixed.

Then the gods came into being within those waters. Lakhmu and Lakhamu appeared and were named, and as time passed they grew in strength and stature. After them came Anshar and Kishar, and others besides. The days grew long, the years multiplied, and Anu, their son, came into being, equal to his forebears. Anshar made Anu in his own likeness, and Anu in turn brought forth Nudimmud, his own image. Nudimmud was foremost among his fathers, keen in understanding, deep in thought, and mighty in strength beyond Anshar who begot him, without rival among his brothers. And so the fellowship of the gods was established.

But Tiâmat was troubled. Her depths were stirred, and the clamour of the younger gods would not cease. Apsu could not silence their uproar, and Tiâmat gathered herself together. Blows were struck, and their doings were not good.

Then Apsu, progenitor of the great gods, cried out and summoned Mummu, the steward of his house. He said to him, “Mummu, my steward, who gladdens my heart, come, let us go to Tiâmat.” So they went and lay down facing Tiâmat, and they took counsel about the gods, their children. Apsu spoke and put a matter before Tiâmat. He complained that their ways gave him no peace, neither by day nor by night, and he declared that he would put an end to their ways and sweep them away, so that lamentation would be heard, and then, at last, they would have rest.

Hearing this, Tiâmat was roused to fury and cried out to her husband. She raged alone and uttered a curse, saying that what they had made they would destroy, and that their way would be filled with disaster, and then they would rest. Mummu answered and gave counsel to Apsu, harsh counsel against the gods. He urged Apsu to destroy their strong way, so that Apsu would find peace by day and rest by night. Apsu listened, and his face brightened, because they were planning evil against the gods, his children. Mummu embraced him, took him on his knee, and kissed him. Together they planned the cursing in the assembly, and they repeated their curses against the gods, their eldest sons.

The gods answered, and they began to lament. But Ea, the prudent and exalted one, searched out their plan. He brought it to nothing, he made all things stand still, and he recited a cunning incantation, powerful and holy.

Later, they formed a band and went out to battle in aid of Tiâmat. They were fiercely angry, plotting day and night without ceasing, and they offered battle, fuming and raging. They set themselves in array and raised cries of hostility.

Tiâmat, who fashioned all things, set up a weapon without equal. She spawned huge serpents, sharp-toothed and pitiless, and filled their bodies with venom instead of blood. She made grim and monstrous creatures, clothed them in terror, adorned them with brightness, and shaped them in exalted forms, so that horror would seize whoever looked upon them, and their bodies would rear up, and none would withstand their assault. She appointed the viper and the snake, the whirlwind, the ravening dog, the scorpion-man, the mighty storm-wind, the fish-man, and the horned beast. They bore a weapon that did not spare and did not flinch from battle.

Mighty were Tiâmat’s decrees, and they could not be resisted. Thus she caused eleven monsters of this kind to come into being. And among the gods, her first-born son who had gathered her company, Kingu, she raised up and made great among them. She set him as leader of the hosts in battle, disposer of the troops, bearer of the weapon, attacker in the fight, and master of the weapon in the thick of battle. She appointed him, seated him in fine apparel, and declared that she had spoken the incantation for him, magnified him in the assembly of the gods, and placed in his hand sovereignty over the whole company of the gods. She called him her only spouse and wished that the Anunnaki would make his renown great above them all.

Then she gave him the Tablet of Destinies and fastened it to his breast, saying that his command would not fall empty, and that whatever went forth from his mouth would be established. When Kingu was raised on high and took the heavens, he fixed the destinies for the gods, his sons, and said, “Open your mouths, let the Fire-god be quenched. He who is glorious in battle and most mighty shall do great deeds.”