This creation story was discovered when terra cotta tablets were unearthed from the ruins of the library of Ashurbanipal in the ancient Babylonian city of Nineveh (present-day Mosul, Iraq) (Smith 19-20).[1] Dr. Bruce Railsback, who compiled the version in our module, reports that the story comes from two ancient Babylonian texts called “the Enuma Elish and the Astrahasis, which appear to have been written between 1900 and 1500 BC.”

As you read this tale, consider the relationships between the gods, particularly the sources of their conflicts. It will be useful to compare the creation stories that derive from pantheistic cultures to those from monotheistic cultures.

[1]  Smith, George. The Chaldean Account of Genesis. New York: Scribner, Armstrong, & Co.: 1876.