Compare and Contrast Genesis and Enuma Elish

To study Genesis in terms of its literary and historical content is not to say that we are in any way being irreverent in our reading of this part of the Old Testament. In other words, it is possible to read Genesis in both a spirit of appreciation for its position as the opening exegetical narrative of the Bible and as a document that reflects literary and historical realities and influences during the time when it was being written down. This paper examines some of the contemporary sources that influenced the two sets of writers who recorded the events of Genesis.

The creation of the Earth, human beings, and all that is existent and nonexistent is a topic that has been discussed and pondered as long as time itself. Cosmologies may contrast greatly from region to region, while some cultures’ beliefs run parallel to each other. The Babylonian creation myth detailed in the “Enuma Elis” and one of the Egyptian creation myths narrated in the “Hymn to Aten” outline the culture’s own religious answer to the working of the universe. The “Enuma Elis” follows the story of multiple gods that, when working with and working against each other, create a greater being which ultimately creates human life. The Egyptian “Hymn to Aten” depicts the power of their god and the nature in which their Earth exists. The

    The Enuma Elish, often known as The Creation Epic, is often considered the primary source of Mesopotamian cosmology. However, to view the Enuma Elish as a cosmological myth obscures the true intent of the epicís author. The cosmological elements of the Enuma Elish are secondary to the authorís effort to explain the supremacy of Marduk, to justify absolute oriental monarchy, and to defend Babylon as the axis mundi.

The creation myth, Enuma Elish allows historians to see that early Babylonians valued power, and triumph over those who try to take it away. There is no compromise or peace in the myth, but rather destruction, gossip, and eventually the overthrowing of evil. Words such as, "rival", "overbearing", "raged", "destroy", "triumph",

This mythical tale of creation differs a great deal from what we know to be the story of creation in biblical terms. In the Enuma Elish, creation is stemmed from the gods and goddesses. Human is created to cater to the gods and not to cater to the land and animals as in the Bible. The water is formed from a bond between the god of fresh water, Apsu, and the goddess of salt waters, Tiamat (p.28). Their bond formed the next generation of gods consisting of the god of earth and the god of sky (p.28).

The book of genesis in the bible is where its considered to be the noted beginning of the world. The article “the bible is fiction: A Collection of Evidence” written by Daniel Miessler shows that there are those who feel otherwise. The book of genesis’s flood story is said to have been a copycat of the Epic of

It is an important thing to learn about other cultures and how they believe that the earth was formed. By reading these two accounts of creation, one can begin to have a deeper understanding of the people that believe it. It also seems that although there may be some differences between the account in Genesis and the account in the Popul Vuh, the similarities are what matters. It is through the similarities that one can see the hand of God over everything. Everything points to God, the true Creator, in the

The story of Enuma Elish is about the creation of life and how gods constructed Babylon. This story also sounds very similar to the creation of life in the book of Genesis. The story about Tiamat may also have been created to show that all human beings need to have a

From the first part of each writing, book of Genesis and Enuma Elish, the similarity and difference can be found. In the beginning, the world in both Genesis and Enuma Elish does not have shape. There is nothing but just emptiness before creation in Genesis: “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” (New International Version 1:1-2). Enuma Elish also does not have things to be called but just gods are existed: “When on high no name was given to heaven / Nor below was the netherworld called by name, / Primeval Apsu was their progenitor. / And matrix-Tiamat was she who bore them all, / They were mingling their waters together, / No canebrake was intertwined nor thicket matted close. / When no gods at all had been brought forth, Nor called by names, non destinies ordained” (Enuma Elish Tablet 1 1-8). Furthermore, both God and gods are staying in the water in the beginning of the creation. It is interesting that the water is mentioned in both writings. However, although there are some similarities in both, there is a radical difference inherent between both stories. Genesis is written and fiducially focusing on the one and only God that no other god is mentioned. It simply says God creates the world. In contrast, Enuma Elish mentions two names Apsu and Tiamat and explains that they are the parents of other gods. Two books are divided into two different ideas of monotheism and

In this essay I will compare and contrast the Babylonian creation story found in the Enuma Elish with the creation accounts presented in Genesis, the Jahwist and Priestly source. The reason for this comparative essay is to show that the creation stories in the Jahwist and Priestly sources of Genesis, and that the Enuma Elish have some similarities along with major differences. Including but not limited to a chaotic primitive state, the creation of mankind, the idea of “image”, and the division of primitive waters. I will then close the essay by stating what we can learn from the comparisons between these accounts.

Since the beginning of time, societies have created stories to explain the mystery of the origin of man and the universe. In the Babylonian text, Enuma Elish and the book of Genesis-which originated in the same part of the world-one finds two very different stories about the creation of man. These two creation stories contrast the two societies that created them: the chaotic lives of servitude of the Babylonians and the lives of the recently freed Jewish people.

After reading the Enuma Elish I found several correlations and distinct differences between the ancient Mesopotamian text and Genesis 1. Both stories share a similar beginning, a time without form, covered in darkness. From here they deviate in a very noticeable way, the Enuma Elish is a polytheistic story where Genesis 1 is decidedly monotheistic. While they share plot elements such as light, the separation of sky and earth, creation of night and day, and the creation of humans, they differ in the way they are introduced. The creation story in Genesis 1presents each new element of the freshly created Earth as derived entirely from one god: the all-powerful God.

There are several types of creation stories. There is the Genesis Chapter 1 and the Babylonian creation myth “Enuma Elish”. Genesis Chapter 1 is a more fictional type of story whereas the Babyonian creation myth is a more mythical type of story. The Babylonian creation myth story occurred from a battle between Marduk and Tiamat. Marduk succeeded in the battle, and sliced Tiamat into half. One half of Tiamat became the earth and the other half became heaven. Marduk ended up becoming the king for that civilization and created planet, moons, star, and the sun. This is how the Babylonians believed in how the world was created the world.

Enuman Elish (which means When on High) is a Babylonian creation myth dating to the late second millennium BCE. Enuman Elish tells the story of how the universe came into being, a great struggle among the gods, and the creation of the world and humanity. Enuman Elish is broken down into two distinctive parts, the Theogony part (encompasses the birth of the gods) and the Cosmogony part (The beginning of the universe and mankind). The first part of the story (Theogony part) describes the birth of the gods from the union of the fresh water god, Apsu, and the salt water goddess Tiamat. When Apsu plots to kill the young gods (his children) for making too much noise, Tiamat informs her son Ea, the most powerful of the young gods; in turn Ea kills

The epic of Gilgamesh makes reference to the Enuma Elish, because both stories include gods and heroes. With expressing all details in a clear and obvious way, leaving no doubt as to the true intended meaning one can easily identify an explicit view in the Epic of Gilgamesh, when the main character, Gilagamesh tries to defeat a giant, similar to how Marduk tried to defeat Tiamat in the Enuma Elish. Both wanted to show that they have power, but more so Gilgamesh wanted show that he deserves to be immortal and that he should live with no limits. Gilgamesh was created by several gods in their likeliness with only one problem, he was not immortal. He continued to live his life to the fullest just like Marduk.