by amy patel. geography located in mesopotamia (between tigris and euphrates rivers) now iraq...
TRANSCRIPT
BABYLONIAN MYTHOLOGY
By Amy Patel
GeographyLocated in Mesopotamia (between
Tigris and Euphrates rivers)Now IraqClimate
○ Hot and dry in the summer○ Cold and wet in the winter
Physical Challenges○ Drought in the summer○ Rivers would occasionally flood○ Located between numerous other tribes
Map
Creation Story In beginning, there was only water, represented by
the primal gods Apsu (male) and Tiamat (female)
They create several other gods that live inside
them and make a lot of babel (noise), including Ea
(the chief god)
Ea has a son named Marduk
Apsu tries to kill the younger gods, but Ea kills
Apsu instead
Tiamat attacks some of the younger gods with the help of her new husbands Kingu, some other gods, and 11 monsters she creates
The younger gods decide to give a lot of power to Marduk so he can fight Tiamat
Marduk defeats Tiamat and rips her in half, creating the Earth and the Sky
Marduk also arranges the stars, rivers, mountain, the calendar, etc.
Creation Story continued …
Creation Story continued …
The Marduk kills Kingu and uses his blood to create humankind
The gods who allied with Marduk become the chief gods of Babylon (because they made much babel or noise)
Story suggests . . .
Crime begets crime
Working together is more powerful than working alone
This explains how Babylon got its name and why it was such an important city
Major Mythological Characters
TiamatThe great goddess of sea and chaos
Represents Primordial Chaos
Looks like a winged dragon
Defeated in a battle with Marduk
Her body became the Earth and Sky
Characters continued . . .
MardukGod of thunderstorms
Ruler of the other Gods
Killed Tiamat the water god to create Earth and Sky
Had four ears and eyes; breathed fire
Characters continued . . . Enlil
○ Sun god○ In charge of earth and air○ Also in charge of fate○ Caused a great flood
Ishtar○ Goddess of love and war○ Famously descends to the Underworld ○ Vengeful and jealous—cruel to her lovers
Tries to kill Gilgamesh when he spurns her advances
Story of the Flood Ea, god of wisdom, and the other gods decide
that they want to kill all humans
Enlil is going to flood the world
Ea likes one human named Utnapishtim, so he gives him advice
Utnapishtim builds an ark for him and his wife, as well as “the seed of all living creatures”
They survive the flood and are given immortality
Story suggests . . .
Gods can be merciful to those they favor.
Angering the gods can have severe consequences.
It explains some major flood that occurred in prehistoric Babylon
Visual
Marduk fights Tiamat
Visual
Marduk and his pet dragon
Sources
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/u/utnapishtim.html
http://www.cresourcei.org/enumaelish.html
http://www.bible-history.com/babylonia/BabyloniaBabylonian_Gods00000027.htm
http://www.gods-heros-myth.com/godpages/enlil.html
http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/egypt/a/babygodsindex.htm