Creation: Genesis vs. Enuma Elish
- From: mort <mort_tyler@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 1 Oct 2011 00:36:34 -0700 (PDT)
http://gabrielameilani.wordpress.com/2010/04/29/creation-genesis-vs-enuma-elish/
by mynerva24
Christians regard the Holy Bible as the only source of truth. They use
it as the point of reference in their daily life. Nevertheless, due to
do the amazing and beyond-human-comprehending facts of universe
explained in the Scripture, the Bible has been questioned by the
scholars about its reliability, and above all, its validity. One topic
that always is in a high tension debating is the Creation Story
described in the book of Genesis. Far before the scientific approaches
of creation developed, the scholar has been comparing the narrative of
Genesis with some ancient myths, in order to investigate which version
is valid. One of them is The Enuma Elish, the creation myth of the
Assyrian people.
The Enuma Elish (when on high) is the Babylonian creation myths, which
considered as one of the oldest creation myths in the world. It was
found in the library of Assyrian empire under governance of
Ashubanipal (667-626 BC) in Nineveh. (Introduction to the Enuma Elish,
n.d). The Enuma Elish tells the story of how the universe and the man
were created, written in seven stones, which are considered as the
seven Tablets dated around 2000 BC. The content of the tablets itself
are the stories of what happen in the beginning of the world, and how
everything became into existence. The story in this manuscript is
often compared to the story of creation in Genesis.
The Enuma Elish has, in fact, some similarities with the creation
narrative of the Bible written in the book of Genesis. It consists of
six tablets, which explain the actions of their gods in completing the
creation, and the seventh tablet, which tells about the rest of the
gods and exaltation of the greatness of the creation. In parallel,
Genesis also tells about the 6-day creation of God, and the 7th day,
which is the day of rest of God after finishing the creation. (Genesis
and Enuma Elish creation myth comparisons, n.d). In both story of
creation, light emerges from a watery chaos (Gen 1:3, Enuma Elish
Tablet 1). The creation story of both Enuma Elish and Genesis also
continue quite the same, although there are differences in the
arrangement as shown on the table below (made based on Genesis and
Enuma Elish creation myth comparisons, n.d, The Enuma Elish, n.d,
Enuma Elish: Babylonian Creation Myth, n.d, and Introduction to the
Enuma Elish, n.d,).
Creatures/ Acts of Creation Genesis Enuma Elish
Expanse the water Day 2, creation of sky Tablet 4, cut the body of
Tiamat, goddess of sea and sky, the upper body become the sky
Dry land Day 3, collected water into one place Tablet 4, the lower
part of Tiamat’s Body become the land
Lights in the sky Day 4, creation of sun, moon, and stars Tablet 5,
creation of celestial luminaries
Human Day 6, creation of man from the dust on the ground breathed
life, in God’s own likeness. Tablet 6, creation of man from the blood
of Marduk
In short, both versions of creation point out that light emerges from
a watery chaos, followed by the sky dry land, sun, moon, stars, and
finally people, and after that, the creators rested.
A part from those similarities, the book of Genesis, however, is in
obvious way, so distinctive from the Enuma Elish. Genesis says that
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth
was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and
the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters” (Gen 1:1-2, NIV).
Meanwhile, the opening words of Enuma Elish (as cited in The Enuma
Elish, n.d) are:
“When on high the heaven had not been named,
Firm ground below had not been called by name,
Naught but primordial Apsu, their begetter,
And Mummu-Tiamat, she who bore them all,
Their waters commingling as a single body;”
(Apsu is the god of water. Tiamat is the god of primeval chaos and
bearer of the sky and the earth.)
The condition in the beginning of creation on both stories is similar,
which is described as formless and water chaos. Nevertheless, the
creation in Genesis is “creatio ex nihilo” meaning “creation out of
nothing” (Ex nihilo, 2007). God created everything includes the heaven
and earth, out of nothing. While in Enuma Elish, the heaven and earth
were already there. Moreover, the narrative of Genesis told the true,
holy and omnipotent God is a self-existing Creator, He is not the part
of the creation, and He exist before the creation (Lasor et al, 1996,
p. 21-22). In contrast, since the very beginning, Enuma Elish
described their gods as the part of the creation itself (e.g. Apsu,
the god of water, as the water itself).
The most distinctive part of Genesis narrative, and Enuma Elish, is
that Genesis narrative has only one supreme God, who in His
sovereignty commands all things into existence (Lasor et al, 1996, p.
22), while Enuma Elish describe the appearance of things as the birth
of gods of those things in basically the same process of giving birth
of mankind. Genesis told about Triune God, who did the creation
together (Gen 1:1); while Enuma Elish told about 6 generation of gods,
with each god born in each generation represent each creature: Tiamat
– goddess of primeval chaos and Apsu – god of water (1st generation),
who produced Lahamu – god of muddy silt (2nd generation), who produced
Kishar – god of the earth (3rd generation) who produced Anu – god of
the sky (4th generation), who produced Ea – god of all things of the
earth (5th generation), who produced Marduk (6th generation) (Genesis
and Enuma Elish creation myth comparisons, n.d).
Another difference is in the creator’s control over the creatures. The
Enuma Elish has the expectation that someday and somehow, the upper
and the below part of Tiamat will merge and put things back into chaos
(Drane, 2000, p. 262). That is why the Assyrian held the Assyrian New
Year annually, to make sure that it will not happen (Drane, 2000, p.
262; Assyrian New Year, 2007). The gods of the Assyrian seems have not
enough power to sustain their creation, that they need humankind to
“help” them. In contras of that, the Genesis narrative, even the whole
Bible, point out firmly that “…creation happened once and for all, and
the days of creation themselves could not be repeated” (Drane, 2000, p.
263). Genesis 2:2 said that God had finished the work He had been
doing, but still is sustaining the creation. God as described in the
Scripture is the omnipotent God who reign absolutely over the
universe, that there is nothing could happen without His
acknowledgement and permission. He has the absolute authority over the
universe.
Both Genesis and Enuma Elish describe the creation of humankind; in
Genesis from the dust of the earth to which God breathed the breath of
life, in Enuma Elish from the blood of Marduk, the king of gods.
Nevertheless, the purpose of the creation of humankind is so different
in both stories. The Enuma Elish describe that the purpose of the
creation of humankind is to ease the job of the gods. They are given
the authority over the other creatures, and are given mandate to rule
over it, but as the slave of the gods. Marduk creates humankind so
that the gods can rest (again, another sign of the powerless of the
Assyrian’s God). Meanwhile, the Genesis and the entire Bible reveal
that God created humankind simply because he chooses to do so. Man is
the “crown of God’s creation”, commissioned to have a special role in
God’s creation. Man is created in the likeness of God, thus became the
representative of God on the earth (Anderson, 1990, p. 458). Moreover,
the ultimate purpose of the creation of human beings is that we can
join in the beautiful full of love, peace, and orderliness fellowship,
which God has within Him, as the Triune God.
The creation story of both versions shows the different point of view
and understanding of the nature of God (Drane, 2000, p. 265). The
Assyrian people view their gods as merely more powerful form of
themselves, which creates human so that they can rest, thus no longer
sustain their creatures. The Hebrew understand their God as the
sovereignty being who gives His likeness for human beings, who in His
act of creation did everything in true order as the replacement of the
chaotic situation, and, who rest on the seventh day of creation, but
keep sustaining the world. Moreover, the differences appear because
Assyrian has it as their myth, something created by man in their
effort to explain their place in the universe, while Hebrew has it as
the revelation of God Himself, through His Spirit who works in every
heart. Consider how the creation narrative of the book of Genesis was
inspired, it is understandable why the amazing and beyond-human-
comprehending version of the Bible, is the one that most people rely
on as the ultimate truth.
Reference:
Anderson, B. (1990). The living world of OT. Longman.
Assyrian New Year. (2007) Retrieved April 30, 2007, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_new_year
Drane, J. (2000). Introducing the OT (rev. ed.). Lion.
Enuma Elish: Babylonian Creation Myth. (n.d). Retrieved April 30,
2007, from http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~humm/Resources/Ane/enumaA.html
Ex nihilo. (2007). Retrieved April 30, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_nihilo
Genesis and Enuma Elish creation myth comparison. (n.d). Retrieved
April 30, 2007, from
http://www.meta-religion.com/World_Religions/Ancient_religions/Mesopotamia/genesis_and_enuma_elish_creation.htm
Introduction to the Enuma Elish. ( n.d). Retrieved April 30, 2007,
from http://www.theologywebsite.com/etext/enuma/eintro.shtml
Lasor, W., Hubbard, D., Bush, F. (1996). OT survey (2nd ed.) Eardemans
The Enuma Elish. (n.d). Retrieved April 30, 2007, from
http://www.theologywebsite.com/etext/enuma/enuma.shtml
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