Third Tablet

Anshar spoke, and sent for Gaga, his messenger. He told him to go to the gods Lakhmu and Lakhamu, and to carry his words to them. He wanted them to understand what he intended, and he wanted all the gods brought together. Let them hold council, he said, and sit down to a feast. Let them eat bread, warm the sesame wine, and agree their decrees, appointing Marduk as their avenger. Then Gaga was to stand before them and repeat everything Anshar had told him.

Gaga was to say that Mother Tiâmat, who had given the gods their beginning, had stirred up trouble. She had gathered an assembly and raged in fury, and many gods had joined themselves to her. They marched at her side, and formed a fighting band to support her. Day and night they plotted without rest, shouting defiance as they set themselves for battle. Tiâmat, Ummu-Khubur who brought all things forth, raised a weapon without equal and spawned huge serpents, sharp-toothed and pitiless, their bodies filled with venom instead of blood. She made them grim and monstrous, bright with terror, shaped to overwhelm anyone who looked on them, so their bodies would rear up and none could resist their assault. She set loose the Viper and the Snake, the Whirlwind, the Ravening Dog, the Scorpion-man, the Storm-wind, the Fish-man, and the Horned Beast. These bore weapons that did not spare and did not flinch. Tiâmat’s allies were mighty, and hard to withstand, and so she brought eleven such monsters into being.

Then Tiâmat raised up her first-born son, Kingu, the one who had gathered her company. She made him great among them, leader of the battle host, disposer of the troops, bearer of the firmly gripped weapon, the attacker in the fight, the master of the weapon in battle. She gave him sovereignty over the whole company of the gods, and told him his command would not be empty, and that whatever went forth from his mouth would be established. She set the Tablet of Destinies upon him, and by that gift he was lifted high. And Kingu fixed destinies for the gods, and gave orders as if the world were already his.

But Anshar’s message did not end there. Anshar had already sent Anu against Tiâmat, but Anu could not prevail. Ea was afraid, and turned back. Now Marduk, the son of the gods, had set out, his heart roused to oppose Tiâmat. Marduk had spoken plainly: if he was to be their avenger, and kill Tiâmat and give them life, then the gods must call a council, proclaim his rank, sit together in friendly fashion, and grant him the power to issue decrees as they did. Whatever he brought to pass must remain unaltered, and whatever his mouth uttered must not fail or be undone. So Anshar urged them to act quickly, to issue their decrees at once, so that Marduk could go and meet their mighty enemy.

Gaga hurried on his way to Lakhmu and Lakhamu, the elder gods, and approached them with reverence. He bowed, and spoke the message he had been charged to carry, telling them of Tiâmat’s raging assembly, of the plotting and the battle cries, of the monsters she had made and armed, and of Kingu raised up with the Tablet of Destinies. He told them too of the gods who had already failed, and of Marduk who had gone out, ready to fight, but demanding that the gods grant him authority and confirm his decrees.

When Lakhmu and Lakhamu heard this, they wailed, and the Igigi gods wept bitterly. They could not grasp what Tiâmat had set in motion. Still, they gathered themselves together, the great gods who issue decrees, and went before Anshar. In the divine assembly they greeted one another, and then they held their council and sat down to a feast. They ate bread and warmed the wine, and the sweet drink muddled their senses. They drank until they were heavy with it, their spirits lifted even as their bodies sagged. And in that state, they issued the decree that Marduk should be their avenger.