Enuma Elish, the Babylonian Creation Epic Tablet VII
- Kenneth Sublett, Piney.com, Hohenwald, Tennessee
- ASARE, bestower of ploughland, who fixes (its) boundaries,
- Creator of grain and linseed, producer of vegetation.
- ASAR-ALIM, whose weighty counsel in the Chamber of Council is most valued;
- The gods, even those who know no fear, pay heed to him.
- ASAR-ALIM-NUNA, the honoured one, the light of the father who begot him,
- Who directs the orders of Anu, Ellil, Ea, and D[amkina?].
- He indeed is their provider, who allocates their incomes,
- Whose farmland makes a surplus for the country.
He is TUTU, (first) as creator of their renewal.
- He shall purify their shrines, that they may stay at rest.
- He shall invent an incantation, that the gods may be at peace.
- Even if they should rise up in anger, he shall turn them back.
- He shall be pre-eminent in the assembly of the gods his fathers;
- None among the gods shall rival him.
- He is Tutu, (second) as ZI-UKKINA, the inspiration of his people,
- Who fixed pure skies for the gods,
- Who set their ways and marked out their stations.
- May he not be forgotten by teeming humanity, may they uphold his work.
- Thirdly, they named him Tutu and ZIKU, upholder of purification,
- The god of sweet breath, lord of obedience and consent,
- Producer of riches and abundance, who maintains a surplus,
- Who turns whatever is scant into plenty.
- Even in the worst hardship we can smell his sweet breath!
- May they speak in worship and sing his praises!
- Fourthly, let the people glorify Tutu as AGAKU,
- Lord of the pure incantation, who revives the dying,
- Who showed mercy even to the captured gods,
- Who removed the yoke imposed upon the gods his enemies,
- Who created mankind to set them free,
- The merciful one who has the power to give life!
- His words shall be firm; they shall never be forgotten
- In the mouth of the black-headed people whom he created with his own hands.
- Fifthly, let their mouths show forth Tutu as TUKU, whose spell (is) pure,
- Who uprooted all the wicked with his pure incantation.He is SHAZU, aware of the gods' intentions, who can see emotions,
- Who does not allow evil-doers to escape him,
- Establisher of the gods' assembly, gratifier of their wishes,
- Who makes the arrogant kneel beneath his wide canopy.
- Director of justice, who plucks out crooked speech,
- In whose place lies can be distinguished from truth.
- Secondly, let them worship Shazu as ZISI, silencer of the aggressor,
- Expeller of deathly silence from the bodies of the gods his fathers.
- Thirdly, he is Shazu as SUHRIM, uprooter of all the foe by force of arms,
- Dispelling their plots, scattering them to the winds,
- Extinguishing all the wicked, wherever they may be.
- May the gods always proclaim the triumph in the assembly!
- Fourthly, he is Shazu as SUHGURIM, responsible for the obedience of the gods his fathers.
- Uprooter of the foe, destroyer of their offspring,
- Dispeller of their works, who left no trace of them.
- Let his name be proclaimed and spoken in the land.
- Fifthly, let future generations consider Shazu as ZAHRIM,
- Destroyer of all enemies, every one of them arrogant,
- Who brought all the refugee gods into shrines:
- Let this be established as his name.
- Sixthly, let them all praise Shazu as ZAHGURIM too,
- Who destroyed all the foe by himself in battle.
- He is ENBILULU, the lord, their enricher;
- Their deity is mighty, responsible for sacrificial omens,
- Who looks after pasturage and watering places, establishes them for the land,
- Who opens up wells (?) and apportions the waters of abundance.
- Secondly, let them address Enbilulu as EPADUN, lord of the countryside and . . . ,
- Canal-controller of heaven and earth, establisher of the furrow,
- Who maintains pure ploughland in the countryside,
- Who directs ditches and canals and marks out the furrows.
- Thirdly, let them praise Enbilulu as GUGAL ("canal-controller") of the gods' irrigated land.
- Lord of abundance and the luxuriance of great grain-piles.
- Responsible for riches, who gives surplus to homes,
- Giver of cereals, producer of grain.
- Fourthly (?), he is Enbilulu as HEGAL ("Abundance"), who heaps up a surplus for people,
- Who brings rain of abundance over the broad earth, and makes vegetation grow profusely.
- He is SIRSIR, who piled a mountain over Tiamat,
- And took as booty the corpse of Tiamat, by his force of arms.
- Governor of the land, their righteous shepherd,
- Whose gifts are cultivation, garden plots and ploughland,
- Who waded into the broad Sea-Tiamat in his fury:
- Like a bridge he spanned her battlefield.
- Secondly, they maned Sirsir as MALAH ("Boatman")---may she, Tiamat,
- Be his barque forever, and he her sailor.
- He is GIL, who amasses mighty heaps and mounds of grain.
- Producer of cereals and flocks, giver of the land's seed.
- He is GILIMA, who established the cosmic bond of the gods, who created stability;
- The ring that encompasses them, who prepares good things,
- He is AGILIMA, the lofty, who pulled the crown from the wicked,
- And built the earth above the water, established the upper regions.
- He is ZULUM who designated fields for the gods, and divided up what he had created.
- Bestower of incomes and food offerings, supplier of shrines.
- He is MUMMU, fashioner of heaven and earth, director of . . .
- The god who purifies heaven and earth, secondly as ZULUM-UMMU
- Whom no other god equals for strength.
- GISH-NUMUN-AB, creator of all people, maker of the world's quarters,
- Destroyer of Tiamat's gods, maker of people in their entirety.
- LUGAL-AB-DUBUR, the king who scattered Tiamat's brood and snatched her weapon,
- Who made a firm base in the van and the rear.
- PAGAL-GUENA, leader of all lords, whose might is supreme,
- Who is greatest of the gods his brothers, prince of them all.
- LUGAL-DURMAH, king, bond of gods, lord of the cosmic bond,
- Who is greatest in the royal abode, highest of the gods by far.
- ARANUNA, counsellor of Ea, creator of the gods [his (?)] fathers,
- Whom no god equals in his princely way.
- DUMU-DUKU, whose pure dwelling is marked out for him on the holy mound,
- Dumu-duku, without whom rules cannot be decided, LUGAL-DUKU.
- LUGAL-SHANNA, king whose might is supreme among the gods.
- Lord, might of Anu, who is pre-eminent as the namesake (?) of Anshar.IRUGA, who took them all captive from inside Tiamat,
- Who unites all wisdom, and is broad of understanding.
- IRQINGU, who took Qingu captive as foe (?) in (?) battle,
- Who administers decrees for everything, who confirms supremacy.
- KINMA, director of the gods, giver of counsel,
- At whose name the gods themselves quake in fear as in a tempest.
- As E-SIZKUR, he shall sit highest in the house of prayer,
- And the gods shall bring their presents before him,
- As long as he accepts revenues from them.
- None may perform miracles without him.
- No (other) god shall designate the revenues of the black-headed people, his own creation,
- Without him, nor decisions about their lifetimes.
- GIBIL, who establishes the . . . of weapon(s),
- Who performed miracles in the battle with Tiamat.
- Profound in wisdom, skilled in understanding,
- (So) profound, that none of the gods can comprehend.
- ADDU shall be his name: let him cover all the sky,
- And may his fine noise rumble over the earth.
- May he shed water (?) from the clouds,
- And give sustenance to the people below.
- ASHARU, who like his name is responsible for the gods of destinies:
- He does indeed take charge over every single person.
- NEBERU: he does indeed hold the crossings of heaven and earth.
- Neither up nor down shall they cross over; they must wait on him.
- Neberu is the star which is bright in the sky.
- He controls the crossroads; they must look to him,
- Saying: "He who kept crossing inside Tiamat without respite,
- Shall have Neberu as his name, grasping her middle.
- May he establish the paths of the heavenly stars,
- And may he shepherd all the gods like sheep.
- Let him defeat Tiamat, constrict her breath and shorten her life,
- So that for future people, till time grows old,
- She shall be far removed, not kept here, distant forever,
- Because he created a place, he fashioned Dannina."
- ENKURKUR, father Ellil named him.
- Ea heard that name, by which the Igigi all called him,
- And was delighted, saying,
- "He whose fathers have given him such a splendid name
- Shall have the name Ea, just like me.
- He shall have mastery over the arrangement of all my rites,
- And shall direct every one of my decrees."'
- With fifty epithets the great gods
- Called his fifty names, making his way supreme.
- May they always be cherished, and may the older explain (to the younger).
- Let the wise and learned consult together,
- Let the father repeat them and teach them to the son.
- Let the ear of shepherd and herdsman be open,
- Let him not be negligent to Marduk, the Ellil of the gods.
- May his country be made fertile, and himself be safe and sound.
- His word is firm, his command cannot alter;
- No god can change his utterance.
- When he is angry, he does not turn his neck (aside);
- In his rage and fury no god dare confront him.
- His thoughts are deep, his emotions profound;
- Criminals and wrongdoers pass before him.
- He (the scribe?) wrote down secret instruction which older men had recited in his presence,
- And set it down for future men to read.
- May the [people?]s of Marduk whom the Igigi gods created
- Weave the [tale?] and call upon his name
- In remembrance of the song of Marduk
- Who defeated Tiamat and took the kingship.
Enuma Elish 1--2--3--4--5--6--7