When there was no heaven, no earth, no height, no depth, no name, when Apsu was alone, the sweet water, the first begetter; and Tiamat the bitter water, and that return to the womb, her Mummu, when there were no gods-
When sweet and bitter mingled together, no reed was plaited, no rushes muddied the water, the gods were nameless, natureless, futureless, then from Apsu and Tiamat in the waters gods were created, in the waters silt precipitated,
War Gods Of Babylon Torrent
Discord broke out among the gods although they were brothers, warring and jarring in the belly of Tiamat, heaven shook, it reeled with the surge of the dance; Apsu could not silence the clamour, their behavior was bad, overbearing and proud.
But still Tiamat lay inert till Apsu, the father of gods, bellowed for that servant who clouds his judgment, his Mummu, 'Dear counselor, come with me to Taimat.' They have gone, and in front of Tiamat they sit down and talk together about the young gods, their first-born children; Apsu said,
She loosed the irresistible missile, she spawned enormous serpents with cutting fangs, chock-full of venom in stead of blood, snarling dragons wearing their glory like gods. (Whoever sees this thing received the shock of death, for when they heave those b odies up they never turn them back.)
When he had learned how matters lay he was stunned, he sat in black silence till rage had worked itself out; then he remembered the gods before him. He went to Anshar, his father's father, and told him how Tiamat plotted,
'She has loosed the irresistible missile, spawned enormous serpents with cutting fangs, chock-full of venom instead of blood, snarling dragons wearing their glory like gods. (Whoever sees this thing receives the shock of death, for when they heave those b odies up they never turn them back.)
Anshar was dumb; he stared at the ground and his hair stood on end. He shook his head at Ea, all the Anunnaki, the host of gods gathered into that place tongue-tied; they sat with mouths shut for they thought,
Then the Lord, the father of gods, Anshar rose to his feet majestically. Having considered everything he spoke to the Anunnaki, 'Which one of us is impetuous in battle? The hero Marduk! Only he is strong enough to avenge us.'
Words broke from the lips of Anshar; he said to his counselor Kaka, 'You are the counselor in whom my heart finds its happiness, the one who judges truly and persuades fairly; go to Lahmu and Lahamu, I am sending you down to primeval sediments, call together the generations of the gods. 'Let them speak, let them sit down to banquet together, they shall eat the feast and drink the new-drawn liquor and then they shall all confirm in his destiny the avenger, Marduk! Kaka go off, stand in front of them and repeat what I say. '"I am sent here by your son Anshar, I am charged to tell you his secret thoughts,
'"She has loosed the irresistible missile, spawned enormous serpents with cutting fangs, chock-full of venom instead of blood, snarling dragons wearing their glory like gods. (Whoever sees this thing receives the shock of death, for when they heave those bodies up they never turn them back.)
He left and took his way down to Lahmu and Lahamu, stooping he kissed the primeval sediments, bowed to the ground at their feet and delivered the message to old gods, 'I have been sent here by your son Anu, I am charged to tall you his secret thoughts.
'She has loosed the irresistible missile, spawned enormous serpents with cutting fangs, chock-full of venom instead of blood, snarling dragons wearing their glory like gods. (Whoever sees this thing receives the shock of death, for when they heave those b odies up over the sides they never turn them back.
'One god is greater than all great gods, a fairer fame, the word of command, the word from heaven, O Marduk, greater than all great gods, the honor and the fame, the will of Anu, great command, unaltering and eternal word!
He surveyed her scanning the Deep, he sounded the plan of Kingu her consort; but so soon as Kingu sees him he falters, flusters, and the friendly gods who filled the ranks beside him- when they saw the brave hero, their eyes suddenly blurred,
'You made that bungler your husband, Kingu! You gave him the rank, not his by right, of Anu. You have abused the gods my ancestors, in bitter malevolence you threaten Anshar, the king of all the gods. 'You have marshaled forces for battle, prepared the war-tackle. Stand up alone and we will fight it you, you and I alone in battle.'
When Tiamat heard him her wits scattered, she was possessed and shrieked aloud, her legs shook from the crotch down, she gabbled spells, muttered maledictions, while the gods of war sharpened their weapons.
Those gods who had marched beside her now quaked in terror, and to save their own lives, if they could, they turned their backs on danger But they were surrounded, held in a tight circle, and there was no way out.
But the Temples of destiny taken from Kingu he returned as a first greeting to Anu; and those gods who hung up their weapons defeated, whom he had scattered, now fettered, he drove into his presence, the father of the gods.
Marduk considered and began to speak to the gods assembled in his presence. This is what he said, 'In the former time you inhabited the void above the abyss, but I have made Earth as the mirror of Heaven, I have consolidated the soil for the foundations, and there I will build my city, my beloved home.
When the older of the gods had heard this speech they had still one question to ask: 'Over these things that your hands have formed, who will administer law? Over all this earth that you have made, who is to sit in judgment?
Ea answered with carefully chosen words, completing the plan for the gods' comfort. He said to Marduk, 'Let one of the kindred be taken; only one need die for the new creation. Bring the gods together in the Great Assembly; there let the guilt die, so the rest may live.'
The king speaks to the rebel gods, 'Declare on your oath if ever before you spoke the truth, who instigated rebellion? Who stirred up Tiamat? Who led the battle? Let the instigator of war be handed over; guilt and retribution are on him, and peace will be yours for ever.'
Then Marduk, as king, divided the gods: one host below and another above, three hundred above for the watchers of heaven, watchers of the law of Anu; five times sixty for earth, six hundred gods between earth and heaven.
When universal law was set up and the gods allotted their calling, then the Annunnaki, the erstwhile fallen, opened their mouths to speak to Marduk: 'Now that you have freed us and remitted our labor how shall we make a return for this? Let us build a temple and call it
When all the gods sat down together there was wine and feasting and laughter; and after the banquet in beautiful Esagila they performed the liturgy from which the universe receives its structure, the occult is made plain, and through the universe gods are assigned their places.
'We will wait and listen, we bend and worship his name! His word is the last appeal, his writ will run from the zenith to the pit. All glory to the son, our avenger! His empire has no end, shepherd of men, he made them his creatures to the last of time, they must remember. He shall command hecatombs, for the gods, they shall commend food, for the fathers, and cherish the sanctuary where the odor of incense and whisper of liturgy echo on earth the customs of heaven. Black-headed men will adore him on earth, the subjected shall remember their god, at his word they shall worship the goddess. Let offerings of food not fail for god and goddess, at his command. Let them serve the gods, at his command, work their lands, build their houses. Let black-headed men serve the gods on earth without remission; while as for us, in the multitude of his names he is our god. Let us hail him in his names, let us hail him by his fifty names, one god.'
ASARUALIM, the gods in fear and hope at Council turn to him. He is the light, ASARUALIM NUNNA, light of the glory of his father; he is the law of Anu and Enlil and Ea, he is fullness and plenty, the gods grow fat on his bounty.
AGAKU, the love and the wrath, with living words he quickens the dead, he pitied fallen gods, remitted the labor laid on the adversary. For your relief he made mankind, his words endure, he is kind, he has power of life, it is in the mouth of black-headed men who remember him.
He is SUHGURIM who can destroy, but is an open court to hear all causes; old gods created new, the enemy erased and to the children's children nothing is left of them or what they did; his name alone answers the summons of the world.
ESIZKUR, up there he sits in the chapel of prayer, at the Great Festival, when the gods all come, presents are given, duties imposed. Unless he is by nothing is created subtle or beautiful, but when he would man was made in the quarters of the world, without him the gods would not know their hour.
'He who once crossed the firmament tirelessly now is the nub of the universe, and all the other gods hold course on him; he shall fold the gods like a flock and conquer Tiamat. Let her life be narrow and short, let her recede into the future far-off from man-kind, till time is old, keep her for ever absent.'
Let men rejoice in Marduk! The prince of the gods. Man and earth will prosper, for his rule is strong, his command is firm, none of the gods can alter his will; where his eyes have fixed they do not falter.
The place where they built the Tower was called Babylon, on account of the confusion of languages. Here we have again the statement as in Ge that the meaning of Babel is "confusion." This, as is well known, is based upon the purely Hebrew etymological law, which makes balal, "to confuse," or "mingle," assume a reduplicate form; but as far as the cuneiform inscriptions, which are now very numerous, give us information, Babel, from baldlu, "to mingle" (the root in question), was an impossibility. But on the Babylonian side, that the rendering of the name as Bab-ili (-ilani), "gate of god" ("of the gods") was a folk-etymology, is undoubted, notwithstanding that the Sumero-Akkadian form Ka-dingira, with the same meaning, is far from rare. It is noteworthy, however, that one of the forms used by Nebuchadrezzar is Babilam, with the mimmation or "emming," which is a characteristic of the Babylonian language; moreover, a place-name Babalam also occurs, which may be a still earlier, and perhaps the original, form. Notwithstanding that one would like to see in Babalam, "the place of bringing together," and in Babilam, "the bringer together," the termination -am would seem to be an insurmountable difficulty. 2ff7e9595c
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