Enuma Elish: The Seven Tablets of the History of Creation

by Unknown, Leonard William King (Translator)

When the two primeval waters, the salt and fresh water, entered into marriage, and brought into being the first of the gods, thus the Babylonian Creation Epic begins its strange and incredible tale with the words 'ENUMA ELISH' meaning 'WHEN THE HEAVENS ABOVE...' Plunge into a mystic realm of dragons ranging the depths of the primordial sea, when god declared war on god, and the winner emerged as the powerful ruler of all men and matter. With formidable powers the gods set into motion the universe, and made mankind to perform their work upon the earth, to shape the natural world and raise their glorious temples. Hear the song of Marduk the Champion, the mighty slayer of the creature Tiamat, and a tale of how one man came to survive the Great Flood, brought by the gods to wipe out humankind forever, in two tales which underlie those which achieved such greatness and magnificence in the pages of the Book of Genesis.

Genres: Mythology, Classics, Religion, History, Poetry, Nonfiction, Ancient

156 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1801

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Unknown" when the author or editor (as applicable) is not known and cannot be discovered. If at all possible, list at least one actual author or editor for a book instead of using "Unknown".

Books whose authorship is purposefully withheld should be attributed instead to Anonymous.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess this is somewhat niche.
I don't even know who would need a review for this book but that's never stopped me before.



So you're getting more than just the Enuma Elsih here.
The introduction and foreword are L.W. King's explanations for the reasoning behind why he and other archaeologists and historians who were translating the Enuma Elish back in 1902 and still piecing together new parts of the puzzle that were coming to light, thought of the missing chunks.
I'm assuming we probably have more pieces now but it was interesting to see the working theories for what they had and how they got there.

The blurb & cover for the e-book I bought is different from what I could find on Goodreads, so I thought I'd add them here.



Enuma Elish, the Babylonian version of the story of creation, predates much of the Book of Genesis. Passed down orally for generations until finally being recorded on seven clay tablets, this epic was discovered by 19th-century archeologists among the ruins of the Library of King Ashurbanipal in modern-day Iraq. Translator and editor L.W. King has divided the Seven Tablets of Creation into two volumes, which are combined in this book. In Volume 1, readers will find the English translation of each of the seven tablets, plus sections on the composition of the poem, parallels in Hebrew literature, and the reconstruction and arrangement of the text. In Volume 2, readers will find other accounts of the history of creation, an index, a glossary, and numerous indices and appendices. Religious scholars and anyone interested in human origins will enjoy King's translation of and commentary on this classic, first published in 1902. British classical scholar LEONARD W. KING (1869-1919) was Assistant Keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities at the British Museum and professor of Assyrian and Babylonian archaeology at the University of London, King's College. He also wrote Babylonian Magic and Sorcery (1896) and A History of Sumer and Akkad (1910).

Also, that cover is a bit of nothing to do with the Mesopotamian Creation story but looks shockingly like Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors Bible story. I'm...befuddled.



The Kindle edition I read had all kinds of weird errors and punctuation mistakes, so that was a tad annoying.
BUT!
A lot of the footnotes King left were in different languages. Like, this is a book for people who know their shit and he wasn't interested in translating every little thing for peasants like myself.
But the AWESOME thing about Kindle is that you can highlight something in German or French or whatever language you can't read in, and it will translate it into English.
Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boom, bitch!
I had never used that feature before this book, so I didn't know what I was missing out on. It was also great to be able to hit the link for the footnotes and have them pop up in a little box instead of searching around with your eyeballs in a physical copy.
I think those features make the e-reader the way to go for books like this, but I know that type of thinking may be considered blasphemy in some circles.
However, my old eyes are tired and if I can't listen to an audiobook, then I appreciate the ability to make the font as GIGANTIC as necessary so I don't have to use my squint-o-vision.



As I work my way through ancient myths, some of the books are hit or miss and I think the edition I got was mostly a 'miss', especially if you're looking for just the story spelled out for you.
I thought it was neat in its own way but I wouldn't recommend this one.

[Hazal Çamur]

İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları bu kitabı "Babilceden", tekrar ediyorum Babilceden çevirmiş. Bence sözün bittiği yerdeyiz :). Her iki çevirmen de notları ve açıklamalarıyla harika bir iş ortaya koymuş.
Öte yandan bu destandaki kimi yerler sonraki mitolojileri nasıl etkilediğinin kanıtı niteliğinde.

[فؤاد · Rating 4 out of 5]

انوما الیش

اسطوره
اگر براتون سؤال شده که جهان از کجا پیدا شد؟ ماجرا این بود:
در ابتدا توده‌ای آشوبناک از آب وجود داشت، آب شور که تیامات نام داشت، و شوهرش آب شیرین که آپسو نام داشت. زن و شوهر به شکل دو اژدهای مهیب بودن.

تیامات و آپسو در هم آمیختن، و خدایان از دلشون پدید اومد. اما سر و صدای زیاد این خدایان نوزاده، دو اژدها رو به سرسام انداخت، و آپسو تصمیم گرفت اونا رو بخوره. خدایان فهمیدن، با هم متحد شدن و آپسو رو کشتن. تیامات، اژدهای مادر با این که اول با خشونت آپسو موافق نبود، ولی وقتی شوهرش رو کشتن خشمگین شد و سپاهی از هیولاها تشکیل داد و رفت که کار ناتمام شوهرش رو تموم کنه.

خدایان دیدن دیگه این بار کار شوخی بردار نیست. کسی نمی تونه با این سپاه بزرگ بجنگه، به غیر از مردوخ. اما مردوخ شرطی داشت: اگر بر تیامات پیروز شد، باید به مقام بزرگ ترین خدا انتخاب بشه و حاکم سرنوشت ها بشه. خدایان قبول کردن، و مردوخ نیزهٔ آذرخش رو برداشت، با کمندش چهار باد رو به بند کشید، و عازم جنگ با لشکر دیوها شد. وقتی با تیامات روبه‌رو شد، بی درنگ بادها رو به سمتش فرستاد. بادها وارد دهان تیامات شدن و تیامات رو مثل گوسفندی که بخوان پوستشو بکنن، باد کرد. مردوخ بی درنگ تیری به دهان باز موندهٔ اژدها پرتاب کرد، تیر وارد بدنش شد و تمام امعا و احشاش رو درید و اونو کشت.

مردوخ بعد خودش، خودش رو به مقام خدایی رسوند: قدم پیش گذاشت و پیکر اژدهای آب رو از هم درید و دو پاره کرد. با یک پاره آسمان رو درست کرد (آسمان آبی از آب ساخته شده، و دیواری نادیدنی مانع پایین ریختن این آب می‌شه، این باور یهودیان هم بود) و با یک پاره زمین رو. با جمجمهٔ اژدها کوه های سخت سنگی رو پدید آورد، و با سینه‌هاش کوه‌های نرم رو و چشمه ها مثل شیر ازشون جاری شد. از دو چشمش دجله و فرات رو جاری کرد، و در جایی که قلبش بود قله‌ای بلند ساخت که زمین رو به آسمان پیوند می داد.

بعد از خون دیوی که مشاور تیامات بود، انسان رو ساخت تا با دعاها و قربانی‌ها خدایان رو از کار کردن و غذا تهیه کردن بی نیاز کنه. و به این ترتیب، جهانی که می شناسیم پدید اومد.

آیین‌ها
این اسطوره، انوما الیش نام داره. اسطورهٔ آفرینش بابلی. در جشن عظیم نوروز بابلی، این شعر بلند هفت بندی در معبد بزرگ بابل قرائت می‌شد و گروهی در نمایشی آیینی ماجرا رو بازآفرینی می‌کردن. بابلی‌ها معتقد بودن که روز اول بهار روزیه که مردوخ نظم رو از دل آشوب بیرون کشید. در این روز پادشاه برای مدت کوتاهی از سلطنت خلع می شد، توسط کاهن بزرگ چند سیلی می خورد، و تنها بعد از به خاک افتادن در برابر تندیس مردوخ بود که استحقاق دریافت مجدد عنوان پادشاهی رو پیدا می کرد. و بعد به عنوان مظهر مردوخ بر زمین، با کاهنهٔ بزرگ معبد عشتار هم‌آغوشی می کرد.

بخش دوم
بخش اول کتاب ترجمهٔ این اسطورهٔ بابلی بود. بخش دوم مقالات پراکنده ای بود از شروین وکیلی، که حقیقتش اون قدر از اعتبار علمی کارهاش بد شنیدم که جز دو سه مقاله، الباقی رو نخوندم. برای یکی از نقدهای فراوان وارد شده به اعتبار علمی کتاب های ایشون، این جا رو ببینید:

http://ghiasabadi.com/vakili.html

[Peiman E iran · Rating 2 out of 5]

‎دوستانِ گرانقدر، کتابِ <اِنوما اِلیش> مربوط به دو هزار سال پیش از میلاد میباشد... این نوشته ها و سروده های باستانی به وسیلهٔ مردمانِ "بابِل" نوشته شده است و دربارهٔ بنیاد و آغازهٔ این جهان، سخن رانده است
‎چشمگیرترین بخش این کتاب را در زیر برای شما دوستدارانِ تاریخ، مینویسم
--------------------------------------------
‎جهان در آغاز به صورتِ جایگاه و گودالی از آب بوده است... این گودال از سه عنصر اصلی تشکیل شده است
‎اول: عنصرِ <اَپسو>، که نمادِ آبهایِ شیرین میباشد
‎دوم: عنصرِ <تیامت>، که نمادِ دریا میباشد
‎سوم: عنصرِ <مومّو>، که نمادِ ابرها و خیسی و نمدار بودن میباشد
‎این سه عنصر در تودهٔ بزرگ و بی نشان، در هم می آمیزند... هرچه دیده میشود فقط آب است... هیچ لجن زار و باتلاقی تشکیل نشده است... هیچ موجودی زاده نشده است... جزیره ای به وجود نیامده است.. هیچ خدایی نیز وجود ندارد
‎پیدایش جهان از این حالتِ خنثی و بی کنش، آغاز شده است... در نخستین گام برایِ پیدایشِ جهان، عنصرِ <اَپسو> با عنصرِ <تیامت> به صورتِ نر و ماده در یکدیگر آمیخته شده و یکی میشوند... آنگاه بارور شده و زایش طبیعت آغاز میگردد
--------------------------------------------
‎امیدوارم این ریویو در جهتِ شناختِ این کتاب مفید بوده باشه
‎<پیروز باشید و ایرانی>

[Mehmet]

Bu metinlerin çok önemli olduğunu düşünüyorum. Hemen hemen bütün kutsal metinlerin bunlardan izler taşıdığı ortada.
"Ben ne yaparsam kimse değiştirmesin!
Ağzımdan çıkan hiçbir söz silinmesin, değiştirilmesin!" (s.19)

Hemen hemen tüm dini metinlerde değiştirilmeme üzerine vurgular olması ilginç değil mi?

"Yaratmak ve yok etmek, affetmek ve cezalandırmak,
Onun emriyle oluyor..." (s.51)

[David Sarkies · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mesopotamian creation myth
20 July 2012

When I has handed a copy of this text in Old Testament I was not sure if I had actually read it or not even thought I had the Oxford World Classic's Myths from Mesopotamia. However, when I recently returned to that book to read the myths again (so that I could be more accurate when commenting on them, and the book as a whole, for Goodreads) I discovered that the 'Epic of Creation', as it is called in that book, is the Enuma Elish. I guess I had read it.

I have now read it again so I feel in a much better position to be able to write some decent comments, and in doing so I will outline the story, try to give my understanding of this story (though it will be quite speculative which is likely to put me in the madhouse alongside Immanuel Velikovsky) and then throw down some thoughts on its relationship to the biblical account.

Basically the Enuma Elish is a creation myth – well, not quite, but I will say that it is to ease some confusion. The story opens with the god Tiamat rebelling against the other gods, creating a race of monsters, and then setting a guy named Qingu up as the chief god and her consort. I guess even in Ancient Mesopotamia the saying still holds true that behind every great man is an equally great woman. Anyway, Tiamat, who is basically using Qingu as a puppet, prepares to go to war against the other gods so that she may fulfil her goal of becoming all powerful. A couple of gods attempt to confront her but her power is so great that they are either defeated or flee in terror. Then Marduk presents himself as the champion, confronts Tiamat, and in an epic battle, slays her. Qingu is then captured and later executed for treason. The gods then take Tiamut's body and from her remains create the world. From the remains of Qingu they create humanity to pretty much do all of the work that they no longer wish to perform. The tale then ends with a list of the gods and their role in the governance of creation.

While the poem seems to be fairly short I notice that the style is similar to some of the styles that appear in the Bible. One interesting aspect is that the poem will repeat entire tracts that have previously been said: for instance, something happens and then when somebody reports that event the entire text of that event is repeated, and then when the next person goes and reports it the entire text is repeated once again. This seems to occur a number of times in Mesopotamian literature, and as mentioned (though I cannot cite any passage off hand) appears to be a similar style used in some of the earlier parts of the bible. This obviously flags the possibility that parts of the Bible were written contemporaneously with these ancient Mesopotamian myths.

We must remember that all of these events occurred before the flood, so we are dealing with prehistoric accounts. My theory is that the gods that are mentioned here were actually at one point real human beings, however due to time and also the nature of primitive religion, these gods had been deified and thrust into the realm of mythology. One of my theories of antideluvian civilisation is that they were substantially more advanced than humanity at the time that these myths were written down. Take for instance the book of Genesis. We learn that three generations after the fall humanity had discovered literature, music, and metallurgy, however technological development stops at that point. The reason being is that the writers of Genesis had no concept of technology beyond what they understood at the time of writing. So to would have the ancient Mesopotamians, and we see that in this book with references to spells and flood weapons, as well as creation of monsters and humanity out of the blood of a dead god.

Now, I am not ascribing the creation of humanity to a cloning vat, but I shall point to references in the earlier parts of Genesis of the sons of god and the daughters of men coming together and producing great heroes as well as giants known as Nephalim. Did the antideluvians have cloning technology along with being excellent bioengineers? We do not and probably will never know unless that information is revealed to us in the restoration. However, it is interesting to see the possibility of how the ancients viewed potential technology far in advance of what they actually knew at the time. We should also note that after Tiamat's death Marduk went out and destroyed all of Tiamat's creation.

My theory of how this story was elevated to mythology with the main actors being gods, is as such: the Bible indicates that the reason for the fall was because humanity chose to remove God from his rightful place as ruler of creation and place themselves up there instead. In a sense humanity was worshipping humanity. In a primitive culture, deity is usually ascribed to the older and deceased generations, a term we refer to as ancestor worship (however if you actually speak to a Christian ancestor worshipper, as I have done, we come to understand that ancestor worship is much more than simply deifying your ancestors, but rather respecting their wishes and holding their memory in high regard). However, as time passes and these ancestors drift into distant memory they cease to be human and instead become gods.

Now, with the Egyptian and Babylonian deities we notice that they take the form of animals with humanoid features, whether it be the body of an eagle and the head of a man as with Anzu, or the head of an eagle and the body of a man as with Ra. These features do not necessarily indicate that that is what the deity looked like, but rather the deity has taken on an animal form to represent an aspect of their character, in the similar way that we see animals used in the Bible to represent certain qualities (such as a bull representing strength and a dragon representing destruction).

So, by bringing them out of mythology we have an idea that maybe it is not so much the creation of the world that we are seeing but rather the development of civilisation, and the gods that we are seeing are early antideluvian human beings. Now, as with our society, so with theirs, there are is ruling class and a working class, and what we have here is a rebellion amongst the ruling class. Tiamat is attempting to overthrow the established order, and her army of monsters suggest that she has skills and abilities that are able to overrealm the established order (much the same was that Germany's advances during World War II were to give them an advantage over the less developed allied powers). However, Marduk, the champion, was able to defeat her, suggesting that the usage of her body to continue and complete creation reflects the sacking of her compound and using her technology to continue the development of civilisation. In particular we see references to the setting of times and dates (and it is interesting that the week is established on a seven day roster, and the month is established on a 30 day roster, which is very similar to the Biblical account).

As I have mentioned previously, it is my position that the biblical account will supersede all other accounts, including this one. As the academic Christians like to put it, the Genesis account was handed down to stand apart from the ancient mythologies that were surrounding the Isrealite nation at the time, and the general consensus is that this was while they were either in Egypt, or after that they left. I sort of disagree slightly because we must remember that the revelation appeared to a number of earlier people, including Adam and Eve (which is to be discounted because it is quite likely that the events in this poem occurred after them, however would have possibly occurred before Enoch), Noah, and Abraham. We will take Abraham as an example (and whether Noah was alive when Abraham was alive can be debated and while I would like to think that the answer to that speculation is yes I am going to fall the other way and say no, namely because Abraham received a special revelation from God, something that probably would not have been necessary is Noah was still alive). Abraham, remember, grew up in Mesopotamia, so he would have been exposed to and surrounded by these myths, which is why he received the special revelation from God, and I suspect it was a lot more than simply 'pack up your bags go to the other side of the known world'. To be honest with you, we are told that Abraham was a man of Faith, but I am doubtful he was a man of blind faith. A mysterious voice (we actually don't know how God appeared to Abraham) coming out of nowhere and telling him to pack his bags would have needed some examination as to its truth. Remember, many of the men of faith in the Bible would turn to God and say 'if you are who you say you are, prove it to me'. God never asks for blind faith, that is dangerous, no, when God asks you to step out in faith, he does it in a way that we know that we can trust him (such as Christ's resurrection, which was necessary to prove that Christ's death was more than just the execution of a revolutionary).

[E8RaH!M · Rating 4 out of 5]

روزی روزگاری آن بالا

اصل ماجرا از آنجا شروع شد که فردی به نام آستین هنری لایارد در سال 1849 در حین کاوش تپه های باستانی در عراق، به کتابخانه هایی بر میخورد حاوی صدها لوح گلی به خط سومری یا اکدی که به تمدن آشور میرسد. یکی از این کتابخانه ها مشهور به کتابخانه پادشاهی آشور بانیپال است. لوح های بیشماری کشف شدند و لوح ها به انگلستان فرستاده میشوند. این کتابخانه مربوط به 700 سال قبل از میلاد است. ولی قدمت لوح ها حتما بیشتر است و صد البته متونی که روی این لوح ها نگاشته شده است احتمالا میرسد به 2 هزار سال قبل از میلاد. تقریبا در ابتدای پیدایش تمدن ها. قبل از متن عهد عتیق و کتاب مقدس.



شاید برایتان جالب باشد بدانید روی این لوح های باستانی چه نوشته شده و مردمان در آن دوران (3-5 هزار سال پیش) چه اعتقاداتی داشتند. چندین روایت و داستان و شعر و غیره از روی این لوح ها ترجمه شد که مهمترینشان انوما الیش و گیلگمش است. خوشبختانه هر دوی این متون به فارسی ترجمه شده و حالا میتوانید این دو را بخوانید.

انوما الیش
به زبان اکدی نوشته شده و درباره داستان آفرینش به باور مردم میان رودان است. انوما الیش در زبان اکدی معادل "انما علی" در عربی است که بمعنی "آنگاه آن بالا" است.
در انوما الیش قصه ی عالم قبل از اینکه آنچه از زمین و آسمان و موجودات میشناسیم آفریده شود روایت میشود.
در آغاز دو ایزد وجود داشتند یکی ایزد آبهای شیرین -آپسو- و دیگری ایزد آبهای شور-تیامَت. با توجه منطقه ی جغرافیایی این افسانه و اسطوره به نظر میرسد یکی ایزد دجله و فرات باشد که آب شیرین دارند و دیگری ایزد خلیج فارس که آب شور دارد.
این دو ایزد از آمیزش با هم ایزدان دیگری می آفرینند. اما طی درگیریهایی بین این ایزدان جدید و ایزدان کهنه کدورت رخ میدهد. آپسو توسط ایزدان جوان کشته میشود و تیامت به کین خواهی دنیا را به آشوب میکشد. هیچ ایزد جدید را یارای برابری با قدرت فوران کننده ی تیامت نیست. ایزدان همه هراسان شده اند. ایزدی قوی و جوان به نام مردوک از دل ایزدان جدید بیرون میآید و بر تیامت پیروز میشود و از اجزای بدنش دنیایی که الان میشناسیم را میسازد. من خوب یادم مانده که از پستانهایش کوه هایی آفرید که در دل خود چشمه هایی دارند. بقیه را در کتاب بخوانید.
کتاب حجم کمی دارد.



ایزدان در آسمانند و یا زمین؟
نکته جالب این متن این بود که ایزدان گویا در ابتدا موجوداتی نه لزوما در آسمان که بیشتر در زمین و آبها بوده اند. دوم اینکه هیچ موضوع اخلاقی برای این ایزدان ابتدایی نمیشود منظور کرد. گویا اینکه جایگاه خدایان را در آسمانها بدانیم بعدها شکل گرفته. در ابتدا همه چیز عینی و ملموس بوده اند. حتا ایزدان و مصادیق آنها.

اما بعد
در ادامه ی کتاب متون باستانی دیگری در خصوص آفرینش آورده شده است که خواندن آنها هم خالی از لطف نیست. مخصوصا ارتباط بین عقاید مردم میان رودان در خصوص آفرینش و رابطه ی آن در دین یهود و ادیان ابراهیمی. در بخش دوم کتاب نویسنده به تحلیل عناصر موجود در انوما الیش پرداخته که نه با عقل جور در می آید و نه با منطق.
بخش دوم چیزی است در مایه های متن های تلگرامی که به ارد بزرگ و کوروش کبیر نسبت میدهند و همه ی علوم و دانش بشری را به نژاد پاک آریایی مربوط میدانند.

بخش اول کتاب 5 ستاره دارد ولی برای بخش دوم 2 ستاره هم اضافه است. در نتیجه 3/5 ستاره برای کل کتاب که به بالا گردش کردم.

پس نوشت:
برای خواندن بد نیست ساختار خانوادگی ایزدان بابلی را دم دست داشته باشید. چیزی شبیه این:

[Marko Vasić · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tek krajem XIX i početkom XX veka nađeno je, na četiri lokaliteta, svih šest (i pridodata sedma) glinenih pločica na kojima je uklesan ovaj teogonijsko-kosmogonijski ep datiran na 1900-1700 godina pre Hrista. Nisam se, nakon Poetske Ede germanske sreo sa zanimljivijim mitom o postanku ni u jednoj mitologiji koju sam do sada izučavao: kelti nemaju klasičan teo-kosmogoniski mit, budući da je njihova Lebor Gabála Érenn pronađena tek u XI veku i verovatno su je pisali hrišćanski sveštenici, dok je kod Finaca deo kosmogonije u Kalevali (vetar kao inseminator) naslonjen na ovaj drevni mit i pridodato mu još nešto od univerzalnih mitoloških obrazaca (jaje kao axis mundi).

Sumersko-akadski mit o postanku nema zvaničan naziv, već je poznat kao Enuma Eliš, što su prva dva stiha prve ploče („kad u visini“). Prva neobznanjena božanstva bila su personifikacija slane (Tijamat) i slatke vode (Apsu), koji se kao entitet izdvajaju iz Mumuovih misli, i čijim je sudarom stvoren prvi božanski par Lahmu i Lahamu, a nakon njih i još dva – Anšar u Kišar, dok na kraju Enki (Ea), bog vode, Anšarov naslednik nije izrodio Marduka. I umesto da, nakon uspostavljene teogonije usledi uzvik fiat mundus, rađa se haos jer su mladi bogovi uzavreli i svojom vikom ometaju praroditeljski miran san. Prva ploča se okončava Tijamatinim stvaranjem čudovišta koja će joj biti vojska da se sukobi sa decom dece svoje, i među njima odabira Kingua kao svog ljubavnika i predvodnika vojske. U drugoj i trećoj ploči, „suprotna strana“ vozdiže Marduka do vrhovnog božanstva, menjajući zapis na Tablicama Sudbine, i u možda najlepšem mitološkom opisu njegovog poremanja oružjem i oklopom i četvorozapregom na koji sam naišao, krajem četvrte ploče sledi strašan i jezgrovit sukob čudovišne Tijamat, personifikacije htoničnog olujnog okeana sa koga se uzdižu orijaški talasi i dube virovi i Marduka, sada Svevišnjeg, personifikacije solarnog, atmosferskog božanstva vetra i oluje, koji odnosi pobedu i kroti podivljali okean. Nakon što ubije Tijamat, u petoj i šestoj ploči Marduk od delova njenog tela (kao i u nordijskoj mitologiji kada Odin, Vili i Ve rasparčaju džina Imira) tvori nebo i zemlju i uspostavlja solarne (Igigi) i htonične bogove (Anunaki) i dva glavna zigurat sedišta Ešaru i Esagil, a od delova Kinguovog tela tvori ljudski rod u patnji, da preuzme muke i obaveze bogova, kako bi oni mogli da mirno spavaju. Takođe je dominantno krunisanje Mardukovo, kao svojevrsni apoteotski ili hijerogamni čin, koji je poprilično čest u potonjim mitologijama (helenskoj, velškoj, rimskoj itd.). Sedma ploča je svojevrsni dodatak u kojoj sledi onomastički prikaz pedeset Mardukovih imena kojim ga Igigiji i Anunakiji nazivaju. Postavlja se, dakle, pitanje, vrlo logično, da li je sumersko-vavilonska mitologija monoteistička ili politeistička, nakon Mardukove apoteoze i opšte-poznate činjenice da su neki delovi Starog Zaveta poprilično istovetni delovima iz Enuma Eliš? Slična je dilema u Tolkinovoj mitologiji – da li je Iluvatar jedan (kao Mumu ili Marduk kasnije) ili su Valari i Majari isto što Igigiji i Anunakiji ili Esiri i Vaniri kod germana?

Budući da postoje četiri verzije, različiti su i prevodi istih. Ja sam uporedno čitao svež, savremeni prevod Stephanie Dalley objavljenom u Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others u izdanju Oxford University Pressa i nešto stariji prevod Leonarda W. Kinga iz 1902. godine objavljenom u dvotomnom izdanju Enuma Elish: The Seven Tablets of Creation Volumes 1 and 2 bound together Luzac and Co. Na kraju sam, sasvim slučajno, došao do ovog solidnog prevoda dr Marka Višića.

Ovo tvdopovezno izdanje, pored opsežnog, analitičkog predgovora, obijuje i brojnim fusnotama unutar samog epa koje dodatno potpomažu razumevanju nekih finesa epa.

[Alp Turgut · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Gılgamış Destanı"ndan sonraki en yaygın ikinci Mezopotamya eseri olan yazılışı M.Ö. 1000'li yıllara dayanan "Enûma Eliš / Babil'in Yaratılış Destanı: Enuma Eliş", tanrı Marduk'un Tiamat ve Kingu'yla savaşını ve ardından adından da anlaşılacağı gibi Babil'in ve insanların yaratılışını konu alan oldukça ilgi çekici bir eser. "Gılgamış Destanı" kadar etkileyici olmasa da en az onun kadar değerli olan "Enuma Eliş"i okurken eserin sadece fantastik edebiyata değil kutsal kitaplara da nasıl yön verdiğine tanıklık ediyorsunuz. Her edebiyat tarihi severin mutlaka okuması gereken eserlerden biri olduğuna şüphe yok.

06.04.2016
İstanbul, Türkiye

Alp Turgut

http://www.filmdoktoru.com/kitap-labo...

[Kahveci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Milattan önce taş tabletlere yazılmış bir eseri hem de Sümerce'den çeviri ile okumak gerçekten heyecan verici.

[elliot · Rating 3 out of 5]

god forbid women have hobbies

[Berkant Bağcı · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bugün karşınıza şahane bir eser, bir destan ve bir mit olan "Babil Yaratılış Destanı - Enuma Eliş" ile çıkıyorum. Bu değerli destanda evrenin, dünyanın, yeryüzünün, insanların yaratılışına ve de baş tanrı olan Babil Tanrısı Marduk'un gelişimine, yükselişine tanık oluyoruz. Bunlara tanık olduğumuz sırada da, büyük bir uygarlık olan Babil'in yaratılış - oluşum destanını okumuş bulunuyoruz. Enūma Eliš metni, çivi yazılı 159 tablet ve tablet parçaları üzerinde yer alan ve günümüze kadar, eksiği olsa da ulaşan bir metindir. Bu süreçte yazılan metnin nüshaları da Babil uygarlığının çevresine yayılmıştır. Enūma Eliš metni burada 7 bölümden oluşarak, 7 tablet halinde ayrılmıştır. Eserde her bir bölüm tablet olarak geçmektedir. Birinci tablet, evrenin yaratılışını, ikinci tablet tanrıların çaresizliğini anlatmakla beraber yine ikinci, üçüncü ve dördüncü tabletlerde de Marduk'un yüceltilmesi işlenmiştir. Beşinci tablet gökyüzünün yaratılışını, altıncı tablet insanın yaratılışını ve son olarak altıncı tabletin sonu dahil olmak üzere, yedinci tablet Marduk'un 50 adının tanrılarca zikredilmesini işlemiştir. Ayrıca şunu da söylemek isterim ki, eğer bir Mezopotamya araştırması ya da okuması gerçekleştirecekseniz bu eserle birlikte Gılgamış Destanı eserini ve Babil Hemeroloji Serisi'ni incelemenizi tavsiye ederim. Böylece büyük bir verim alabilirsiniz.

[ozgurluk kurdu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evrenin, dünyanın, kozmik bölgeler ile varlıkların ve de insanın yaratılışını konu alan bu metin toplamda yedi bölümden/ tabletten oluşuyor.

I. Tablet - kozmik varlıklardan Tanrıların oluşumu
II., III. ve IV. Tabletler - Marduk'un düşmanlarıyla savaşı ve yeryüzünün yaratılışı
V. Tablet - gökyüzünün yaratılışı
VI. Tablet - insanın yaratılışı
VII. Tablet - Marduk'a övgüler

Gerek önsözü, sözlükçesi, haritaları ve tablet fotoğrafları gerekse de dipnotları ve kaynakçası ile derinlikle ele alınmış emek yoğun bir çeviri bu. Selim F. Adalı ve Ali T. Görgü'ye emekleri için bir okur olarak teşekkür etmek isterim.

Bu metni okurken İskandinav mitolojisi ve diğer mitolojiler ile ortaklıklar kadar diğer uygarlıkların temel metinleri ile de benzerlikler buldum.

Oldukça keyifli olan bu eseri herkese tavsiye ederim.

Keyifli okumalar!

Kitaplarla kalın!

[İlkim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Theogonia'yı okurken Azra Erhat'ın yazısında fark etmiştim bu metni ilk. Babilce'den çevrilmiş, çoook eski zamanlardan kalma başka bir mitolojik eser olmasından başka; Azra Erhat'ın yazısında Yunan mitolojisinin başlangıcına nasıl da benzediğini anlatışını unutamadım. Bu tanrılar ve tanrıçalar çok daha karmaşık olsa da Merduk/Zeus - Ansar/Gaia - Kisar/Uranüs gibi benzerlikler gözden kaçırılır gibi değil. Bir üst soya karşı açılan savaşlar, insanın oluşumu vs. tek farkı bir soy fazladan içermesi Babil destanının. Ama yakın kültürlerin birbirlerinden nasıl etkilendiklerine dair gayet güzel bir örnek.

[Mert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Puanım 4/5 (%72/100)

Kitap arkasındaki bilgi notu;

"Evrenin, dünyanın, kozmik bölgelerin ve insanın yaratılışı, ardından da tüm bunları yaratan Bâbil tanrısı Marduk’un diğer tanrılar tarafından zikredilişini içeren bu destan, Gılgamış Destanı ve Bâbil Hemeroloji Serisi’nden sonra en iyi bilinen Mezopotamya eserleri arasında yer alır. Bu destan okullarda, tapınaklarda, yılın belli günlerinde belli ayinlerde okutulan kutsal bir kitap, edebi bir yapıt aynı zamanda da bir kültür hazinesi olarak Bâbil’de, Bâbil Devleti’nin Tanrı Marduk’u temel alan dini, kültürel ve siyasi mirası sayesinde de tüm Mezopotamya’da büyük saygı görmüştür."

Mezopotamya mitolojisine çok yabancı sayılmasam da üzerine hiçbir zaman düşmemiştim. Mitoloji konusunda aslında ilkler her zaman buradan, yaşadığımız topraklardan çıkmıştır. Gılgamış benim oldukça ilgimi çeken ve sevdiğim birisi. Onunla ilgili yazılmış eserleri okudukça kendimi Babil ve Sümerler hakkında daha çok şey okurken buldum. Enuma Eliş hakkında bilgim vardı fakat böyle bir kitabın olduğundan haberim bile yoktu. Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, Hasan Ali Yücel Klasikler Dizisi altında bastığı için hiç düşünmeden aldım. Kitap içinde haritalar, tabletlerin fotoğrafları, bu hikayenin bulunuşu gibi birçok yararlı yazı var. (Yaratılış Destanı dışında tabii ki) Tarihin ilk yaratılış destanı olarak kabul edilen Enuma Eliş birçok mitolojide farklı bir şekilde yer alır. Mitoloji ve tarih sevenlerin kesinlikle okumasını tavsiye ediyorum. Genel kültür için bile okunabilecek kitap. Okuması oldukça eğlenceli ve kısa bir kitap.

[Metin Yılmaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marduk'u kötü bilir Tiamat'ı iyi bilirdik. Gerçi iyi kötü hangi döneme göre iyi kötü ya da neye göre o da ayrı. Mezopotamya destanları arasında önemli bir yeri olan bu eser aynı zamanda kutsal bir kitap olarak görülmekte. Destanlara meraklı olanlar kaçırmamalı.

[Berfin Kanat]

İlgi çekici bir metin, üstelik Babilceden çevrilmiş! Fakat okurken odaklanamadım, bir şeyleri kaçırdım. Tekrar okumam lazım. (Kafanız yoğunken okumayın. :3)

[Oğuz Kayra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gılgamış Destanı ile birlikte, Babil Yaratılış Destanı sanıyorum ki her şeyin temeli. Tüm okuduğumuz şeylerin, buna kutsal kitaplar da dahil. Kırık olan ve çevrilemeyen tabletleri aşırı merak ettim. Tartışmalı olan «Uzak Kalp» ile ne kast edildiğini aşırı merak ettim. Kısa, fakat harikaydı.

Marduk'un Tiamat'ın gözlerinden yaş olarak Fırat ve Dicle nehirlerini akıtması...

[Skyler Myers · Rating 2 out of 5]

PROs:

* First detailed creation myth ever found

* Some interesting stories

CONs:

* Missing a ton of content

* Lots of gods with weird names makes it hard to follow

* Doesn't have a clear progression

The Enuma Elish is the earliest creation myth ever discovered, coming from the ancient kingdom of Babylon. It is probably most famous for its obvious influence on the Bible, which the Biblical authors would have plagiarized when they were in Babylonian captivity. The book is nowhere near as detailed as more popular myths, such as those found in the Hindu Vedas, but it still gets the job done.

The main problem with the book is that it is very incomplete. Many times a sentence will be cut off mid way, which makes the book confusing. Other times entire sections must be skipped because we haven't recovered all the tablets. If it weren't for this, I probably would have rated it much higher.

[Cassandra Kay Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

The edition I had included a few other tablets (such as the great deluge and some hymns to Istar) that were very interesting. The creation story itself is still fairly fragmented but there is a lot to be gathered from what was translatable. I read both the Babylonian and the Neo Babylonian account which were still fairly similar. The war in heaven theme seems to be very prominent throughout ancient history and this was no different. There were some similarities to the Hebrew account of creation as well such as the dividing of the firmament, the placement of the stars and the moon and the sun in the sky and creation of man (woman being interestingly taken from a bone). These similarities make it an interesting comparative study.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just as likely as Genesis.

[Illiterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I prefer creation myths like this one about squabbling gods to those about one almighty dictator.

[Farnoud Lavasani]

به‌دلیل بی‌اعتمادی به شروین وکیلی، فقط به بخش‌هایی از موخره کتاب اعتنا کردم که رفرنس داشت.

[David Blynov · Rating 4 out of 5]

An ancient mythical creation tale of the triumph of order over chaos, light over darkness. Life, as seen by the Babylonians, is that of perpetual change. Humanity's purpose is to assist the gods in keeping order.

4.1/5

“I will take blood and fashion bone. / I will establish a savage, ‘man’ shall be his name. / truly, savage-man I will create. / He shall be charged with the service of the gods / That they might be at ease!"

[Yasiru · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read at http://www.ancient.eu.com/article/225/
See also- http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/enuma... and
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/epic...

There is definitely a sense of the work being revisionist as has been noted. The aim appears to be to supplant an older order (often violently, though Enki (Ea) and to a lesser extent Enlil for instance keep an honoured place) and elevate a new (with Marduk at the helm, for the prevailing Babylonian pantheon at least).

This is, in my view, one of the earliest surviving examples of mankind tapping into the power of cohesive narrative for this purpose- the structure, specificity and completeness aimed for in the revamped account is noteworthy, and no doubt the manner of telling once had a great hold on the Babylonians as well.

Of course, the Book of Genesis (see http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/...) distills the tale of Creation further still at its start, removing the transferral aspect which here cements Marduk's power and that of building upon the old, as well as abandoning/assimilating the whole theogony (in this and other fractured accounts) in favour of the Israelite God, then going on to stress and dramatise more intimately the connection between him and man. The Enuma Elish is a more colourful account on the other hand, perhaps for exactly the ways it differs from the Biblical account, and is well worth reading.

[Gülşen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enuma Eliş'te bir anlaşmazlık çıkınca büyüklere/bilene danışmak ve tatlı sözle karşı tarafı ikna yöntemi en önce deneniyor. Savaş sonra. Önemli ve manidar ayrıntı. Tiamat'ı çok sevdiğimi ve onun tarafını tuttuğumu da belirteyim. <3

[Brady Meyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do find it fascinating we have written copies of this work dating all the way back to the 18th century BCE. I do find it interesting as a parallel to the biblical stories I grew up with. I am not interested enough to re-read again for a while, but did find it fun to go through once. This translation/edition was a budget buy, to get both the Enuma Elish and Atrahasis in one volume. Wish I had spent more time shopping around, the constant italic font that is supposed to look ancient was annoying to read. The language itself was very simple and the only real challenge was the laaaarrge amounts of repetition. A historical curiosity I do not plan to return to anytime soon.

(Enuma Elish)
An interesting and historical curiosity from the late 2nd millennium BCE, this is a variant on the classic creation myth with a Mesopotamian flavor. Basically, Tiamat, the “mother who gave birth to us” is pissed that all the other gods are partying and making noise, so she hooks up with Kingu to wage war. Marduk, the god of all gods, steps up to battle, and through this battle and its aftermath everything in our world is created. Interesting, but happy to not read again for a while.

(Atrahasis)
So. Much. Repetition. But I know that’s part of the performance and the ritualistic aspects of the text. At times, I thought the book was actually printed wrong, because whole pages were repeated. Anyways, the Atrahasis is an 18th century BCE flood story with many parables from Genesis’s flood. A chosen man is selected to continue on mankind while everything else get wiped out. The gods are pissed the humans are making too much noise, so Ellil (sounds like Evil) decides to force disease, draughts, starvation, and then the flood on the people.

My favorite moment was when one god, the creators of humans, was upset all the humans were dying AND she couldn’t find her beer. No joke: “[Nintu] was overcome with heartache, but could find no beer.”

[FelixTheMonarchist · Rating 1 out of 5]

Its obviously pagan nonsense created through them beeing lied to by demons. But you can draw some interesting conclusions from it when looked at in combination with other pagan creation myths.

You can find in so many pagan creation myths the same pattern. Something was there, an older race of Gods or something like that and they create the God's. (the Greeks and the norse would be other examples) The Gods feel an terrible injustice is done to them and rebel against the older Gods in a bloody war. So now look at Christianity Angels led by Lucifer (from that point on called demons) rebell against God. Isn't it interesting how in the pagan stories the Gods who are in reality demons pretending to be Gods are telling people that they rebelled?

[Linniegayl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this for an upcoming class. I know next to nothing about the Mesopotamian gods, so had to look up each one (as well as all the demons, etc.) as they came along. I think I have a slightly better feel for things now, but still have a long way to go. As numerous people have commented, this is really more about the rise of the god Marduk than about a creation story. Also, as is the case with the epic Gilgamesh, each time things get interesting, we come to " .... " as many portions of the seven tablets are missing.

[Çetineus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Binlerce yıllık bir metni okumak heyecan verici.

…’’Tiamat ın iki gözünden Fırat ve Dicle yi akıttı.’’