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Metadata
Object Name |
'Epic of Creation' |
Object ID# |
MC 0600 |
Date |
soon after 2000 BC |
Description |
This tablet contains a chapter of the Babylonian 'Epic of Creation' in which Marduk, champion of the gods, prepares for battle against the forces of Tiamat, god of the primeval Ocean, commanded by her son, Kingu. The Babylonian story of Creation has some points of connection with the biblical account, such as the order of Creation, but is markedly different in its portrayal of the Creator. Probably soon after 2000 BC Babylonian poets composed poems about the Creation, for copies of them, probably made in the seventh century BC were found in the libraries of the kings of Assyria at Nineveh during excavations carried out between 1848 and 1876 by A.H. Layard and others. Fragments of some of these tablets found at Nineveh are now in the British Museum. The Babylonian story of the Creation on these tablets bears some resemblance to the biblical story, but there are also significant differences in the two accounts. For example, the stories agree about the order in which Creation took place, but they differ profoundly in their views of the Creator. |
Place of Origin |
Babylon |
Medium |
Cuneiform Tablet |
Material |
Clay |
Location of Original |
The British Museum London |
Dimensions |
H-9 W-6 D-2 cm |