Babylonian Creation Myths Summary

Joseph M. Bolton RELS 103-02 Online Old Testament Studies Spring Semester 2011 Session E May 8, 2011 to July 2, 2011 The Old Testament TimeLine Creation & Primeval History The Creation: * God creates the Heavens and the Earth * God creates man in his image. *

Analyzing texts is one of the most fundamental and key parts to drawing conclusions about them. Upon analyzing the two versions of the Prometheus myth and the consequent chapters of Genesis, it is quite clear that how one views each piece is subject to their previous knowledge. Today, it is much easier to read Prometheus objectively. It would generally be safe to assume that no one in proximity is a worshipper of Zeus. Reading Genesis is fairly different. Everyone in North America, and most other parts of the world, have at least a very general idea of what Genesis says, or is believed to say. In this essay, the understanding of differences in texts that should be similar will be explored. Although the two versions of the Prometheus and Genesis should essentially be the same, there are many differences within their respective plots and in the language used that make them contradictory and forces the reader to rely heavily on interpretation to try to combat these inconsistencies.

John H. Walton is a professor of the Old Testament at Wheaton College. He is known for his intelligence of the Bible but especially of the Old Testament. Inspired by Joseph Free, a former Wheaton professor; Walton read a book called Archaeology and Bible History. After reading this book, he decided to not become an archaeologist. He switched his focus to comparing the culture and literature of the Bible and the Ancient Near East. With passion for the Old Testament, Walton finds it important to help others understand it better. Walton has been acknowledged for stepping on people’s toes by making them question what they know to be true in their mind. He is very firm in his beliefs. When it comes to his book The Lost World of Adam and Eve, there were many people that criticized it but also those who enjoyed it. This book talks about the first three chapters of Genesis and makes many various propositions

When reading the Babylon myth of creation Enuma Elish and Gods’ story of creation in Genesis we find that there are many elements of similarity. They both begins with a universe and that the creation starts by forming the formal universe. In both stories the universe was full of emptiness and shapelessness of water and by the particular power the universe was formed and created.

Creation myths can be profoundly revelatory of the values of the cultures that produce them. They reflect how the culture views its place in the universe, the relations between the sexes, and above all the relationship of human beings to God. The creation myths of the Judeo-Christian tradition and Islam share many similarities. Both put human beings squarely in the center of God's creation in terms of His importance, and give Man dominance over plants and animals to varying degrees. Women's inferior place in society is shown as natural rather than a product of social influences. However, the centrality of the myth within both cultures is profoundly different. In the Bible, Genesis is the first book, suggesting its central importance in defining the faith. Man is presented as essentially fallen and sinful in nature, and God's curse upon the race of Adam and humanity's expulsion from the Garden of Eden is eternal. In the Koran, the creation myth is not presented as a coherent whole, but piecemeal through the larger text, and there is no reference to an eternal curse for Man's disobedience.

Through these ancient text we can perceive, the importance of purpose for human beings in early civilizations. Considering the perceived role of human beings in the literature of the Mesopotamians, Hebrews, and Egyptians we can clearly say that religion and has shaped the worldview of each civilization. When comparing the similarities and differences in Emuna Elish, the Book of Genesis/Exodus in the Old Testament, and the Hymn to the Nile, the similarities and differences reveal the importance of religion to the overall worldview of each civilization. This is demonstrated through key pieces of text in the Emuna Elish, the Book of Genesis/Exodus in the Old Testament, and the Hymn to the Nile. When comparing the perceived role of human beings in these three texts the similarities reveal the importance of religion to the overall worldview of each

In the Genesis story, the reader has to assume that God has always existed with no external influences that created it. However, in the First Tablet of Enuma Elish it clearly states that an external force was involved with the Gods while the Gods were created from above. This leads the reader to believe that the Gods are not only created by someone else, but it also asks the reader who the creator is? Another clear distinction between the First Tablet and the Genesis story is the lack of gender identity. In the Genesis story, God makes it clear that Adam is a man and that Eve is a woman; however in the First Tablet of Enuma Elish there is really not a clear distinction whether the gods that were created were male or female. Another clear difference that shows how the Enuma Elish and Genesis 1-2 is the behavior of the world.

Often a topic of debate, there are several different takes on the creation story existent in literature. Dependent on one’s religion, different beliefs about how the world we live in was created may arise. Looking deeper into the literature, one will realize there are also many similarities between creation stories. Based on the strong possibility that Genesis was influenced by the Enuma Elish, there are similarities that stem from the fact that they both describe the creation of a new world as well as differences in their interpretations and approaches to creationism.

The Babylonian Creation Epic reminds me of Christianity because the poem explains the creation of their gods and humankind, however, the Bible tells how God was not created by other gods and He created mankind. Enuma Elish has points of similarity to the Bible regarding the first creation but there are differences between each story.

The questions about the existence of life and the creation of the world are always mind-boggling and fascinating, however, the real answer to these questions may never surface. All there is to rely on are the myths, stories and legends passed on from generation to generation by ancestors and the clues they have left. This essay will try to uncover the ancient Mesopotamian and Hebrew views on existence and creation by looking at sources like the Genesis and other ancient Mesopotamian texts and poems. Mesopotamians and Hebrews had contrasting views on how they explained the events in their lives, and through analysis of ancient sources, those differences will be outlined. In such populated and booming areas, human conflict was

The Babylonians were an interesting society with many amusing practices in life. They were a patriarchal society, however, the women did have a good amount of rights. Marriages were arranged by parents, however, a woman could leave her husband and keep her stuff if he was cruel. This was not considered divorce though. Some Babylonians were very skilled astronomers. The study of planets heavily influenced the Babylonians’ beliefs. Their religious beliefs were directly tied to astrology and this is where they developed their practices. The Babylonians were the first to invent the composite bow, and they made it out of wood and animal bone or horn to make it stronger. This weapon gave them a great advantage over their rivals in battle. They had

The story of creation begins with Genesis 1 and 2, it explains how the world and it’s living inhabitants were created from God’s touch. From Genesis 1 we see how the sky, seas, land, animals, and mankind were created. However Genesis 2 focuses more on the first of mankind, known as Adam and Eve and how they are made to be. In this paper I will compare Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 and what the main idea for creation is in each one, however in my opinion there is no contradiction between the two. Genesis 2 merely fills in the details that are "headlined" in Genesis 1.

The book of Genesis (which means “in the beginning” in its original Hebrew language) weaves an intricate tapestry of Who YHWH is through the creation of the world and mankind, the Fall of mankind through Adam and Eve, and YHWH’s plans to reconcile the broken relationship between His creation and Himself. A parallel is constructed in Genesis by “[opening] with the ‘beginning days’ (Genesis 1:1-2:4a) and [closing] with the ‘last days’ (Genesis 49:1),” creating “the framework for the entire story of humankind.” This parallelism is profound, not only in modern contexts, but because it was so unusual for an ancient Near Eastern text to have eschatology theories. While ancient Near Eastern deities might create the world, none of them had plans to

Now a days people say our generation is sensitive, but oh boy they didn’t know just how sensitive nationalities so called “higher powers” were. The way ancient nationalities projected their beliefs and punishment onto their gods is a very interesting contemplation. Was ripping people you disagree with to shreds and using their crotch to hold up the heavens really what people thought was an appropriate penalty? Or was it just amusing? The act of retaliation is a common event that occurs in multiple religions. In Babylonian myth there’s Tiamat, who stood against her children (also common, for example Greek mythology’s titans versus gods). Then there was Ra who was plotted against by Isis, who sent a secret snake to poison him in order to gain

In the article “Genesis 1 and Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths,” the author, Gordon H. Johnston, explains the similarities between Genesis 1 and Egyptian myths by explaining the beginnings of the myths and magical light. The thesis of this article states that there are a number of Egyptologists that note similarities among Genesis 1 and myths from Egypt (Johnston, 179). Furthermore, the author sums up significant findings from Egyptian records and makes an effort to available for others to absorb (Johnston, 180). The author notes a variety of similarities between Egyptian and Genesis 1 versions of creation in comparison to Mesopotamian myths, which were previous ignored by scholars for a number of reasons including simple references from Mesopotamia,