The myth of ancient Babylon refers to the myth of ancient Babylon, including the earliest narrative poem in the world, the Epic of Gilgamesh. The mythical characters include Ishutan and the goddess Ishkantar. Among them, the legend of the great flood also appeared.
Babylonian culture mostly inherits Sumerian Akkad culture, especially mythology (also inherits Sumerian mythology). As a result of the unification of the two river basin countries, religious beliefs have gradually become consistent. In the Akkad Kingdom, the god Anqi was renamed Anu, Dumz was renamed Tamz, and E'a shared the same name with Anqi. In the Babylonian Kingdom, religion was represented by polytheism and monotheism. The gods of heaven, earth, and atmosphere, such as Anu, E'a, Enlil, are still the main gods. In addition, there are the moon gods Xin, the sun gods Shamash, the agricultural gods Tamz and Ishtar (i.e., Indona). Other gods are called Anunnaki. However, as the kingdom of Babylon unified the two river basins, the city of Babylon became the capital of the kingdom. In order to express the unity of the kingdom, there appeared many songs to express the Babylonian god Marduk and reflect the achievements of the emperor. Their main representative works were Enuma Elish and Ode to Gilgamesh.

The famous epic "Enuma Elish" (also known as "Singing the Creation of the World") mainly collects the creation thoughts of the Sumerian nation, focusing on the deeds of the son of the earth god Aa and the main god Malduk. This poem is about 1000 lines. It was written in about the 15th and 14th century BC. Later, it was collated from seven mud tablets by scholars, so it is also called "seven mud tablets of creation". It is one of the earliest themes about creation myths in history.
Myth Story
Enouma Elish
It is said that at the beginning of ancient times, the world was chaotic. There was no sky, no land, only a vast ocean. There is a stream of salt water in the sea, called Tiamat, and a stream of sweet water, called Apsu. They represent yin and yang respectively. They constantly meet in the ocean and give birth to several gods. When they arrive at Anshal and Kishal, they give birth to Anu, the god of heaven, and E'a, the god of earth. So the first generations of gods appear in the universe. As the number of gods gradually increased, the gods had disputes. Tiamat and Apsu increasingly felt that their power was shrinking, so they decided to punish the gods. However, Apsu was not satisfied with Tiamat's plan and decided to kill all the gods. When the gods learned this secret news, they killed Apsu under the leadership of God E'a, and God E'a became the head of the gods. Before long, God E'a gave birth to his son Marduk. He was born with distinctive features, thick eyebrows, big eyes and strong physique. God E'a gave him all wisdom and strength. Later, in order to avenge his father, Apsu's son began to challenge the gods of heaven and earth, and Tiamat also went to help. The gods and gods had lost their first battle and decided to let Marduk show his prestige. Malduk readily agreed, and became the ruler of the gods. He did not disappoint the expectations of the people. He fought bravely, annihilated the aggressors at one stroke, cut off Tiamat's waist, built the sky with her upper body, and created the earth with her lower body. Then he killed one of Tiamat's auxiliary gods, created human beings with his blood, and stipulated that man's duty was to serve the gods. In this way, Malduk finally established the kingdom of Babylon, and he became the Lord of the Kingdom of Heaven and the King of the Gods.
The epic was first unearthed by the British from 1848 to 1876 in the ruins of the Ashur Banipa Library in Nineveh (located in Mosul, Iraq). From 1902 to 1904, the German archaeological team unearthed the Assyrian version of the epic in Ashur, the capital of the Assyrian Empire. In this version, the Assyrians replaced the Maduk god with the main god of Ashur, and the gods He and Lahamu became the father and mother of Ashur. This change was most obvious in the first, sixth and seventh mud tablets. Later, Harvard University and the Chicago Museum excavated the first and sixth mud tablets of the complete new Assyrian version in the Kish site from 1924 to 1925. From 1928 to 1929, the German archaeological team excavated the seventh mud board of the new Assyrian version at the Uruk site. Through the above archaeological discoveries and the purchase of fragments from the antiques market, this epic has been largely restored, with only the fifth clay board seriously damaged.
Babylonian Flood Myth: Atrahassez
Aterahasis was first found in the Sumerian King's Table unearthed in the site of Sulubak, which is one of the three mud tablets of flood myth found in Babylon. There are many versions of this myth. The oldest known version can be traced back to the reign of Amisaduka (1646-1626 BC), the King of Babylon in Cuba. This version has been circulating for nearly 1000 years. Also found in the Ashur Banipa Library are some fragmented Assyrian versions. Because the myth is carved on the broken mud board, the translation work is extremely difficult. In 1876, George Smith, who served as the assistant of the Department of Oriental Archaeology in the British Museum, took advantage of the advantages of being close to the water and his rich knowledge to publish the book The Creation of the Chaldeans, which contains many works of Babylonian literature, including the famous Babylonian flood myth, The Story of Atarpi. Although Smith only restored the three broken mud boards, and even studied the front side of the mud board as the reverse side, his work still took a pioneering first step in the study of the myth. In 1876, after Smith's death, the three mud tablets were separated again. Until 1899, two of the mud tablets were put together, Latin, translated and published. In 1899, the French scholar Heinrich Zimmern, with his ability to understand the Babylonian and Sumerian literature, Latinized and translated two of the three mud tablets arranged by Smith, and corrected the name of the hero in the myth from "Atar pi" translated by Smith to "", which laid a milestone foundation for the study of the Babylonian flood myth. In 1956, the Danish scholar Eugene Lesser finally proved the order of the content of the myth and connected it into a detailed and vivid story, which began with the creation of human beings. Later, a number of small mud slab fragments from the ancient Babylon period and the late Assyrian period were successively found, so Lambert and Millard collected all the materials and published Atra Hasis: The Babylonian Flood Myth in 1969. The book was republished in 1999. The Sumerian flood myth of Migler was also included in the book, which can better compare the flood myths of two different periods, At the same time, it provides inspiration for the restoration of the flood myth in the Sumerian period. [1]
The Connotation of Myth
This fairy tale is a more representative work in Babylonian literature. It not only shows Babylonians' concern for the creation of the world and the origin of human beings, their worship of nature, but also reflects the unity of national politics in the two river basin, the transformation of religion from polytheism to monotheism, and also shows the transition of Babylonian society from matriarchy to patriarchy, and the historical process of the transformation of primitive society to slavery. In the poem, Tiamat represents the feminine world. She is dissatisfied with the power of the gods, and wants to punish them. On behalf of the masculine world, E'a, fearing the power of the ancestors, kills first and reports later to seize the throne. Malduk, the son of E'a, inherited his father's career and became the leader of the masculine world. He was brave and indomitable, and finally defeated the god mother Tiamat after a desperate struggle, reflecting the masculine strength and greatness. This story is somewhat similar to the story of Gaia the Earth Mother and Zeus the Lord of the Gods in the ancient Greek mythology. It shows the process of history moving forward, reflects the reality of the continuous strong unity of the Kingdom of Babylon in the two river basins, as well as the centralized political system and the religious concepts granted by the king.