Enuma Elish Vs Genesis

Creation stories are symbolic accounts of how the world and its inhabitants came about. These stories first developed in oral traditions, so there are multiple accounts of them from different cultures and societies. The Babylonian Creation story, the Genesis Creation story, and the Sumerian story of the Creation of Enkidu are examples of these and the similarities are interesting. As Dennis Bratcher states, “Because of many parallels with the Genesis account, some historians concluded that the Genesis account was simply a rewriting of the Babylonian Story. As a reaction, many who wanted to maintain the uniqueness of the Bible argues either that there were no real parallels between the accounts or that the Genesis narratives were

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 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.

Next, the appearance of water or setting is brought up by both texts. In (Genesis 1:7), “ God made the expanse, and it separated the water ….”, which gives the establishment of water in the story having water. While in the (Creation of Hymn: line 1,3) water is given a description as “... bottomlessly deep?” and water was also described as “ The life force was covered with emptiness, all this was water….”. Both articles, give statements where water is mystical, deep and empty.

People have been trying to explain the existence of humans and the origins of our world since ancient times. There are many different theories and myths that attempt to describe the earliest beginnings of our present world. In the Ancient Near East one of the most popular creation myths was the Babylonian creation myth also known as Enuma Elish. Hebrew nomads like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David lived in tents while traveling to different locations in search of water and pastures for their livestock. Nomads were constantly moving and searching for other places which would have allowed them to hear many different creation myths throughout the Ancient Near East. These nomads would have been

The Enuma Elish explains this creation by using numerous gods to create earth, for example: Apsu and Tiamat are the water that helps flood the landmass that is later created into earth. Lahmu and Lahumu are the silt that later is turned into the actual earth and dirt that individuals walk on. So the story uses the forces of nature and considers them as gods whereas many people just see rivers and ocean as just water and nothing else.

In Genesis, the first book of The Bible the Christian and Jewish creation story is told. God spoke and his Word was done. He made the heavens and the earth. He made light and drove away the dark. On the earth he created the waters and lands and man and beast.

In the beginning of Tablet VI of the Enuma Elish, the passage “I shall make stand a human being…” (The Norton Anthology, Volume A, pg. 35) is a reminder of Christianity because this passage begins to explain the Babylonian belief of how humankind was created. In comparison to the Biblical explanation for the creation of man which the passage states, “In the beginning God created the Heavens and the earth” (New International Version (NIV) Bible). The Babylonian and Hebrew belief both explain the creation of man and the two beliefs have similarities and differences which are stated below. For example, the Babylonian belief states that man was created from the blood of Qingu, the leader of the Anunna-gods who was sacrificed.

Secondly, the Ancient Hebrew creation myth is a little more familiar in Western society. First there was an all-powerful being that created the heavens and earth. While hover over the water in darkness he decided to bring in light (the sun was then created) to separate day and night. Then to separate the seas, he created Land and filled land and the seas with an array of animals and plants. After doing so he created man in his image, so the man can rule over all the animals and to survive off the plants, animals, water, and land.

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.

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.

As written in the Old Testament the "Creation Story" describing how the Earth and mankind were created became a fundamental part of Judaism and Christianity. Creation myths similar to the Judaic and Christian creation myth are found in other ancient civilizations and cultures of the Near East such as the Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians, Babylonians and the Persians. The Enuma Elish also known as the Seven Tablets of Creation, written as early as 1800BC, and discovered, in 1849AD, exhibits parallels to the creation as described in the Old Testament. These seven tablets written in a combination of Sumerian-Akkadian cuneiform script details the creation of the Earth and mankind in six days.

Throughout history many civilizations and cultures have had their own ways of explaining the world and its creation. Each of these civilizations has created unique descriptions and accounts of such events. However, when comparing them to each other, are they really different? Look at the ancient Greco - Roman creation myths as told by Hesiod in his Theogony and Works and Days and Ovid’s Metamorphoses, when compared to the creation myths as seen in the Old Testament’s book of Genesis they may not be as different as one would think. Taking a more in-depth look at both Genesis and Hesiod’s and Ovid’s work more closely, the reader can see that on multiple occasions the myths have almost identical similarities which reflect their views in

In Genesis 1:28 God says, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” By giving humans dominion, God wanted them to tend to the earth and take care of it—instead of dominating it—in the same way that he tends to humans and takes care of them. This shows that God gave humans authority over other beings for the purpose of nurturing them just as God has authority over humans which he uses for the purpose of nurturing. In this way humans’ authority shows that they are made in the image of

Creation stories written great time periods away from one another are shown to be very different. Our earliest creation story, the Atra-hasis and a more recent one, the Yijing were written centuries away from one another, this can be proved by the beliefs of the people. The Atra-hasis told its people to worship the gods and complete their tasks whereas the Yijing only described how man could utilize the earth for further development. Similarly, the Atra-hasis and Rig Veda have the same differences. When written in different time periods, creation stories do vary.