The epos is written in a style which is different from every day speach at the time. It uses an extended word variation with literary words that are normally not very frequent, characteristic for poetry. In prose texts there is no such inclination to use alternative formulations, like in the bible in Genesis I: ''And God saw ..., and God saw ..., and God created ..., and God created ....'' with little variation.
The text is constructed from two-line verses (sentence units). A concept is explained in two lines, a distich (from Greek di 'two' and stichos 'verse'). The two members maintain a relation that one could call ''rhyme in an abstract sense'' on the level of meaning. The meaning content of each verse appears in two parallel formulations often separated by leaving a blanc space, the so called parallelismus membrorum. The second part either emphasize the first part in different wording thereby extending the meaning, or the second part is an opposite statement, contrasting the first part. Compare the opening verse:
When above: the heaven has not been namedMetre in the strict sense in which Greek and Latin literature is composed (groups of long and short syllables) was not used, but a line often has three to four (rarely five) stresses/beats. End rhyme nor alliteration occurs.
Nor earth below: pronounced by name
Summary The poet describes on tablet V the organization of heaven and earth, the assignment of duties and fuctions to Gods and stellar bodies by Marduk, who has now become the supreme deity. The story of the creation of man from the blood of a fallen god (on tablet VI) is transferred from an earlier story an Ea and ascribed here to Marduk. It is reinterpreted as Marduk having the idea and Ea doing the work.
In the epic of creation Tiamat is the first primaeval being, a kind of primordeal godlike creature that existed before the gods were created. These beings were thought of as being monstrous and having cosmic dimensions. In Akkadian tiamat means 'sea' and is used for the Perzian Golf ('Nether sea') and the Mediterranean Sea ('Upper sea'), 'nether' and 'upper' with respect to course of the rivers.
Tiamat is the (female) personification of 'Sea' and 'sea water'. She appears as such in other epics as well. De names of Tiamat and the other primaeval beings to be mentioned (Apsu, Mummmu) are missing the determinative sign for divinity. The reason is unknown but should not be seen in relation to their wicked disposition, because e.g. names of demons do carry this determinative sign.
Apsu, the second primaeval being that existed before the creation of
heaven and earth, is the male personification of subterranean waters.
The personification of Apsu (as somebody who acts and speaks) is
unique in the epic of creation, probably induced by the personification
of Tiamat.
In other texts Apsu is used in the objective/impersonal
sense as the 'underground water', representing the depot of
precipitation and mineral water, something that can be reached by digging
a hole. It is the domain of the (water)god Ea, who controls this
water supply. The Apsu feeds the rivers with respect to their continuous
water supply. The seasonal changes and the precipitation itself are
the domain of the (weather)god Adad; Ea and Adad both are responsible for
the fertility of the fields.
On cylinder seals one sees the Apsu as a shrine with Ea seated on his throne
with running water aside.
The Apsu borders the underworld, the residence of the deceased, the domain
from which no return is possible. In other context Apsu is sometimes
equivalent with the underworld.
Tiamat and Apsu create their offspring. Apsu is called the begetter of the great gods in line 29 of tablet I. The first pair is
Lahmu and Lahamu. These names known in Sumerian times in the 21st century BC (texts of Gudea, Cylinder A). Lahmu is the gatekeeper of the Apsu, seen as the domain of the god Ea (Sumerian Enki). He is portraited as a strong person with %%%%%%%%%%%Lahmu kerel met zes tressen (dikke vlechten haar), die de deurpost ondersteunt. Er zijn meerdere Lahmu's. In godenlijsten twee, soms 8, ook wel 50. Gudea (op Kleicylinder A) spreekt van 50 Lahama's van de engur (ong.\ synoniem met abzu). Het grote aantal is in het scheppingsepos de En\uu ma eliš gereduceerd tot het paar Lahmu en Lahamu (man en vrouw? Het staat er niet!) omdat dat nodig is in deze theogonie, naar analogie van de andere paren. Elders wordt over Lahmu in meervoud gesproken. Ze worden ook wel voorgesteld als portiers van een tempel, daar waar de zonnegod Šamaš dagelijks in het oosten en westen van de onderwereld naar de hemel vertrekt en omgekeerd. De poort van Aps\^u wordt gepasseerd door de zonnegod. De Lahmu's doen hem 's avonds bij zijn intree in de Apsu en onderwereld de deur open. Enki/Ea zwaait hem uit. Lahmu en Lahamu worden verbonden met de deurstijlen van die poort, als personificatie van de deurpost. Zij staan met hun voeten op de aarde en torsen met hun handen de hemel. Zij zorgen ervoor dat het hemeldak niet op de aarde valt en bewerken daarmee de scheiding tussen hemel en aarde. Ze cre\"eren daarmee de ruimte op aarde. Deze kosmische symboliek komt terug in veel tempels, waarbij de deurstijlen gezien worden als de poorten en stutten van hemel en aarde. %%%%%%%%%Ansjar
\citem[An\sj ar], Oergod, (Sum.\ an 'hemel',
\sj ar '3600', v\'e\'el, totaliteit):
In het scheppingsepos En\uu ma eli\sj samen met
Ki\sj ar het eerste godenpaar dat, als personificatie van
hemel en aarde, geschapen wordt door de
oerpersonen \see Ti\aa mat en \see Apsu. Dit ouderpaar
verwekt de hemelgod Anum.
An\sj ar als oergod komt ook wel el-ders voor, maar is meestal
een vorm van Anum en niet zozeer zijn vader.
Ki\sj ar (Sum.\ ki 'aarde') is in het epos slechts een
analogie uitgelokt door An\sj ar.
An\sj ar \deus Ki\sj ar ibb\^an\uu:
'An\sj ar en Ki\sj ar werden geschapen' \refer{Ee-i-12}
An\sj ar \logo{lugal dingir\mdot dingir $=$
An\sj ar \sj ar il\ii,
'An\sj ar koning der goden' \refer{Ee-iv-83}
Epitheton van An\sj ar, die a.h.w.\ op teken-niveau een
verklaring geeft voor de naam An\sj ar: \LUGAL\BB
\logo{lugal} is ook \logo{\sj\`ar} en \DINGIR\BB
\logo{dingir} is ook \logo{an}
%%%%%%%%%
%%%%%%%%%Kisjar
\citem[Ki\sj ar], Oergod, (Sum.\ ki 'aarde',
\sj ar '3600', v\'e\'el, totaliteit):
In het scheppingsepos En\uu ma eli\sj samen met
An\sj ar het eerste godenpaar dat, als personificatie van
hemel en aarde, voortgebracht wordt door de
oerpersonen \see Ti\aa mat en \see Apsu. Dit ouderpaar
verwekt de hemelgod Anum.
An\sj ar als oergod komt ook wel elders voor, maar is meestal
een vorm van Anum en niet zozeer zijn vader.
Ki\sj ar (Sum.\ ki 'aarde') is in het epos slechts een
analogie uitgelokt door An\sj ar.
An\sj ar \deus Ki\sj ar ibban\^u
'An\sj ar en Ki\sj ar werden geschapen' \refer{Ee-i-12}
%%%%%%%%
Different versions of the epic of creation
Copies discovered at Nineveh, Assur, and Sultantepe in Assyria, and at various
Babylonian sites differ very little; they all seem to go back to
one prototype.
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