Enuma Elish (The Seven Tablets of Creation)

Tablet VII

1 (10)Asarre, the giver of arable land who established plough-land,
2 The creator of barley and flax, who made plant life grow.
3 (11)Asaralim, who is revered in the counsel chamber, whose counsel excels,
4 The gods heed it and grasp fear of him.
5 (12)Asaralimnunna, the noble, the light of the father, his begetter,
6 Who directs the decrees of Anu, Enlil, and Ea, that is Ninšiku.
7 He is their provisioner, who assigns their incomes,
8 Whose turban multiplies abundance for the land.
9 (13) Tutu is he, who accomplishes their renovation,
10 Let him purify their sanctuaries that they may repose.
11 Let him fashion an incantation that the gods may rest,
12 Though they rise up in fury, let them withdraw.
13 He is indeed exalted in the assembly of the gods, his [fathers],
14 No one among the gods can [equal] him.
15 (14) Tutu-Ziukkinna, the life of [his] host,
16 Who established, the pure heavens for the gods,
17 Who took charge of their courses, who appointed [their stations],
16 May he not be forgotten among mortals, but [let them remember] his deeds.
19 (15) Tutu-Ziku they called him thirdly, the establisher of purification,
20 The god of the pleasant breeze, lord of success and obedience,
21 Who produces bounty and wealth, who establishes abundance,
22 Who turns everything scant that we have into profusion,
23 Whose pleasant breeze we sniffed in time of terrible trouble,
24 Let men command that his praises be constantly uttered, let them offer worship to
him.
25 As (16) Tutu-Agaku, fourthly, let humans extol him,
26 Lord of the pure incantation, who brought the dead back to life,
27 Who showed mercy on the Bound Gods,
28 Who threw the imposed yoke on the gods, his enemies,
29 And to spare them created mankind.
30 The merciful, in whose power it is to restore to life,
31 Let his words be sure and not forgotten
32 From the mouths of the black-heads, his creatures.
33 As (17) Tutu-Tuku, fifthly, let their mouth give expression to his pure spell,
34 Who extirpated all the wicked by his pure incantation.
35 (18) Šazu, who knew the heart of the gods, who saw the reins,
36 Who did not let an evil-doer escape from him,
37 Who established the assembly of the gods, who rejoiced their hearts,
38 Who subjugated the disobedient, he is the gods’ encompassing protection.
39 He made truth to prosper, he uprooted perverse speech,
40 He separated falsehood from truth.
41 As (19) Šazu-Zisi, secondly, let them continually praise him, the subduer of aggressors,
42 Who ousted consternation of from the bodies of the gods, his fathers.
43 (20) Šazu-Suh(rim, thirdly, who extirpated every foe with his weapons,
44 Who confounded their plans and turned them into wind.
45 He snuffed out all the wicked who came against him,
46 Let the gods ever shout acclamations in the assembly.
47 (21) Šazu-Suh(gurim, fourthly, who established success for the gods, his fathers,
48 Who extirpated foes and destroyed their offspring,
49 Who scattered their achievements, leaving no part of them,
50 Let his name be spoken and proclaimed in the land.
51 As (22) Šazu-Zah(rim, fifthly, let future gererations discuss him,
52 The destroyer of every rebel, of all the disobedient,
53 Who brought all the fugitive gods into the shrines,
54 Let this name of his be established.
55 As (23) Šazu-Zah(gurim, sixthly, let them altogether and everywhere worship him,
56 Who himself destroyed all the foes in battle.
57 (24) Enbilulu is he, the lord who supplies them abundantly,
58 Their great chosen one, who provides cereal offerings,
59 Who keeps pasturage and watering in good condition and established it for the land,
60 Who opened watercourses and distributed plentiful water.
61 (25) Enbilulu-Epadun, lord of common land and . . ., let them [call him] secondly,
62 Canal supervisor of heaven and netherworld, who sets the furrow,
Who establishes clean arable land in the open country,
63 Who directs irrigation ditch and canal, and marks out the furrow.
64 As (26) Enbilulu-Gugal, canal supervisor of the water courses of the gods, let them praise him thirdly,
65 Lord of abundance, profusion, and huge stores (of grain),
66 Who provides bounty, who enriches human habitations,
67 Who gives wheat, and brings grain into being.
68 (27) Enbilulu-H(egal, who accumulates abundance for the peoples . . . .
69 Who rains down riches on the broad earth, and supplies abundant vegetation.
70 (28) Sirsir, who heaped up a mountain on top of Tia-mat,
71 Who plundered the corpse of Tia-mat with [his] weapons,
72 The guardian of the land, their trustworthy shepherd,
73 Whose hair is a growing crop, whose turban is a furrow,
74 Who kept crossing the broad Sea in his fury,
75 And kept crossing over the place of her battle as though it were a bridge.
76 (29) Sirsir-Malah( they named him secondly—so be it—
77 Tia-mat was his boat, he was her sailor.
78 (30) Gil, who ever heaps up piles of barley, massive mounds,
79 The creator of grain and flocks, who gives seed for the land.
80 (31) Gilima, who made the bond of the gods firm, who created stability,
81 A snare that overwhelmed them, who yet extended favours.
82 (32) Agilima, the lofty, who snatches off the crown, who takes charge of snow,
83 Who created the earth on the water and made firm the height of heaven.
84 (33) Zulum, who assigns meadows for the gods and divides up what he has created,
85 Who gives incomes and food-offerings, who administers shrines.
86 (34) Mummu, creator of heaven end underworld, who protects refugees,
87 The god who purifies heaven and underworld, secondly Zulummu,
88 In respect of whose strength none other among the gods can equal him.
89 (35) Gišnumunab, creator of all the peoples, who made the world regions,
90 Who destroyed Tia-mat’s gods, and made peoples from part of them.
91 (36) Lugalabdubur, the king who scattered the works of Tia-mat, who uprooted her weapons,
92 Whose foundation is secure on the “Fore and Aft”.
93 (37) Pagalguenna, foremost of all lords, whose strength is exalted,
94 Who is the greatest among the gods, his brothers, the most noble of them all.
95 (38) Lugaldurmah(, king of the bond of the gods, lord of Durmah(u,
96 Who is the greatest in the royal abode, infinitely more lofty than the other gods.
97 (39) Aranunna, counsellor of Ea, creator of the gods, his fathers,
98 Whom no god can equal in respect of his lordly walk.
99 (40) Dumuduku, who renews for himself his pure abode in Duku,
100 Dumuduku, without whom Lugalduku does not make a decision.
101 (41) Lugalšuanna, the king whose strength is exalted among the gods,
102 The lord, the strength of Anu, he who is supreme, chosen of Anšar.
103 (42) Irugga, who plundered them all in the Sea,
104 Who grasps all wisdom, is comprehensive in understanding.
105 (43) Irqingu, who plundered Qingu in . . . battle,
106 Who directs all decrees and establishes lordship.
107 (44) Kinma, the director of all the gods, who gives counsel,
108 At whose name the gods bend down in reverence as before a hurricane.
109 (45) Dingir-Esiskur—let him take his lofty seat in the House of Benediction,
110 Let the gods bring their presents before him
111 Until he receives their offerings.
112 No one but he accomplishes clever things
113 The four (regions) of black-heads are his creation,
114 Apart from him no god knows the measure of their days.
115 (46) Girru, who makes weapons hard (?),
116 Who accomplished clever things in the battle with Tia-mat,
117 Comprehensive in wisdom, skilled in understanding,
118 A deep mind, that all the gods combined do not understand.
119 Let (47) Addu be his name, let him cover the whole span of heaven,
120 Let him thunder with his pleasant voice upon the earth,
121 May the rumble fill (?) the clouds
And give sustenance to the peoples below.
122 (48) Aša-ru, who, as his name says, mustered the Divine Fates
123 He indeed is the warden of absolutely all peoples.
124 As (49) Ne-beru let him hold the crossing place of heaven and underworld,
125 They should not cross above or below, but should wait for him.
126 Ne-beru is his star, which he caused to shine in the sky,
127 Let him take his stand on the heavenly staircase that they may look at him.
128 Yes, he who constantly crosses the Sea without resting,
129 Let his name be Ne-beru, who grasps her middle,
130 Let him fix the paths of the stars of heaven,
131 Let him shepherd all the gods like sheep,
132 Let him bind Tia-mat and put her life in mortal danger,
133 To generations yet unborn, to distant future days,
134 May he continue unchecked, may he persist into eternity.
135 Since he created the heavens and fashioned the earth,
136 Enlil, the father, called him by his own name, (50) ‘Lord of the Lands’.
137 Ea heard the names which all the Igigi called
138 And his spirit became radiant.
139 “Why! He whose name was extolled by his fathers
140 Let him, like me, be called (51) ‘Ea’.
141 Let him control the sum of all my rites,
142 Let him administer all my decrees.”
143 With the word “Fifty” the great gods
144 Called his fifty names and assigned him an outstanding position.
145 They should be remembered; a leading figure should expound them,
146 The wise and learned should confer about them,
147 A father should repeat them and teach them to his son,
148 One should explain them to shepherd and herdsman.
149 If one is not negligent to Marduk, the Enlil of the gods,
150 May one’s land flourish, and oneself prosper,
151 (For) his word is reliable, his command unchanged,
152 No god can alter the utterance of his mouth.
153 When he looks in fury, he does not relent,
154 When his anger is ablaze, no god can face him.
155 His mind is deep, his spirit is all-embracing,
156 Before whom sin and transgression are sought out.
157 Instruction which a leading figure repeated before him (Marduk):
158 He wrote it down and stored it so that generations to come might hear it.
159 [ . . ] . Marduk, who created the Igigi gods,
160 Though they diminish . . . let them call on his name.
161 . . . the song of Marduk,
162 Who defeated Tia-mat and took kingship