| 126.) All of the Igigi wailed bitterly, (saying): 127.) “What has been altered so that they should… 128.) “We do not understand the d[eed] of Tiamat!” 133.) They made ready for the feast, at the banquet [they sat] 134.) They ate bread, they mixed [sesame wine] ??? 135.) The sweet drink, the mead, confused their […] 136.) They were drunk with drinking, their bodies were filled. 137.) They were wholly at ease, their spirit was exhalted. 138. Then for Marduk, their avenger, did they decree the fate. (@134 I am questioning this translation - @135 Here we have the gods getting intoxicated on mead, which may not necessarily be the honey drink we consider it today. It may be a mushroom mixture with honey that is being implied.) Tablet 4 1.) They prepared for him a lordly chamber, 2.) Before his fathers as prince he took his place. (Line 2 indicates that Marduk has many fathers, since the term is used in plural fashion.) 17.) “O lord, spare the life of him that putteth his trust in thee, 18.) “But as for the god who began the rebellion, pour out his life.” 20.) And unto Marduk their first-born they spake: (Again, here, the use of the word “their” firstborn, indicates multiple fathers or parents.) 21.) “May thy fate, O lord, be supreme among the gods, 22.) “To destroy and to create; speak thou the word, and (thy command) shall be fulfilled. 23.) “Command now and let the garment vanish; 24.) “And speak the word again and let the garment reappear!” 25.) Then he spake with his mouth and the garment vanished; 26.) Again, he commanded it and the garment reappeared. 27.) When the gods, his fathers, beheld (unto him, saying), “Marduk is king!” 29.) They bestowed upon him the scepter, and the throne, and the ring, 30.) They give him an invincible weapon, which overwhelms the foe. 58.) With overpowering brightness his head was crowned. (melammu- see next section) (The story goes on to describe the battle. Then after conquering the rebellious gods, the Tablets are taken back from Kingu) 121.) He took from him the Tablets of Destiny that were not rightly his, 122.) He sealed them with a seal and in his own breast he laid them. 123.) Now after the hero Marduk had conquered and cast down his enemies, 124.) And he made the arrogant foe even like …, |
125.) And had fully established Anshar’s triumph over the enemy, 126.) And had attained the purpose of Nidimmud, 127. Over the captive god he strengthened his endurance, 128.) And unto Tiamat, whom he had conquered he returned. 129.) And the Lord stood upon Tiamat’s hindered parts, 130.) And with his merciless club he smashed her skull. 131.) He cut through the channels of her blood, 132.) And he made the North Wind bear it away into secret places. 133.) His fathers beheld, and they rejoiced and were glad; 135.) Then the lord rested, gazing upon her dead body, 136.) While he divided the flesh of the…., and devised a cunning plan. At this point we should take notice the text “the flesh of the …..,“ is missing from all texts versions. Why is this one part missing, I wonder? Now let’s trace back the story a few lines. Marduk returns, and “stood upon Tiamat’s hindered parts,” kind of like St. George, over the Dragon, right? Joseph Fontenrose, in Python: a study of Delphic Myth and its Origins, writes: “there is reason to believe that Tiamat was sometimes, not necessarily always, conceived as a dragoness.” (95) According to Leonard King, although Tiamat gives birth to serpents and dragons she is not described as one in Enuma Elish, however, she is in other early text sources concerning the same myth. (96) 137.) He split her up like a flat fish into two halves; 138.) One half of her he stabilized as a covering for heaven. 139.) He fixed a bolt, he stationed a watchman, At this juncture of the story, Taimat is slain. Marduk “smashed her head with a club,” reminding us of the tales of Hercules. Her head is being smashed, bringing to mind the head of medusa as well. This key fits into many locks. When he split her like a fish in two halves, we have the fish association here first and foremost, and possibly the reason why Oannes was dressed as a fish-deity. More importantly though is the fact that her “flesh was cut up” and then half of it was used to prop up the heavens. Her flesh is “dragon or serpent” flesh. Next, a bolt is fixed. A bolt is a long pole, so a long pole is now holding up the dragon flesh that acts as a covering for heaven and next, a watchman is stationed. This is the role Indra as well as Atlas plays when he holds up the sky as “Pillar of the Sky,” the sky being the mushroom cap, which became the “Bird Goddess” while the stem or “Serpent Goddess” morphs into a bolt-god, Atlas. (95) Fontenrose, Joseph (1980). Python: a study of Delphic Myth and its Origins. University of California Press. pp. 153–154 (96) King, Leonard William (1902). The Seven Tablets of Creation (Vol. II: Supplementary Texts). p. 117 |