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Page 7
[Illustration: Shamash the Sun-god setting (?) on the horizon. In his
right he holds a tree (?), and in his left a ... with a serrated
edge. Above the horizon is a goddess who holds in her left hand an ear
of corn. On the right is a god who seems to be setting free a bird
from his right hand. Round him is a river with fish in it, and behind
him is an attendant god; under his foot is a young bull. To the right
of the goddess stand a hunting god, with a bow and lasso, and a
lion. From the seal-cylinder of Adda ..., in the British Museum. About
2500 B.C. [No. 89,115.]]
Then the gods saluted him as their king, and gave him the insignia of
royalty, namely, the sceptre, the throne and the _pala_, whatever that
may be. And as they handed to him these things they commanded him to go
and hack the body of Ti�mat in pieces, and to scatter her blood to the
winds. Thereupon Marduk began to arm himself for the fight. He took a
bow, a spear, and a club; he filled his body full of fire and set the
lightning before him. He took in his hands a net wherewith to catch
Ti�mat, and he placed the four winds near it, to prevent her from
escaping from it when he had snared her. He created mighty winds and
tempests to assist him, and grasped the thunderbolt in his hand; and
then, mounting upon the Storm, which was drawn by four horses, he went
out to meet and defeat Ti�mat. It seems pretty certain that this
description of the equipment of Marduk was taken over from a very
ancient account of the Fight with Ti�mat in which the hero was Enlil,
i.e., the god of the air, or of the region which lies between heaven
and hell. Marduk approached and looked upon the "Middle" or "Inside" or
"Womb" of Ti�mat [1], and divined the plan of Kingu who had taken up his
place therein. In the Seventh Tablet (l. 108) Marduk is said to have
"entered into the middle of Ti�mat," and because he did so he is called
"Nibiru," i.e., "he who entered in," and the "seizer of the middle."
What the words "middle of Ti�mat" meant to the Babylonian we are not
told, but it is clear that Marduk's entry into it was a signal mark of
the triumph of the god. When Kingu from the "middle of Ti�mat" saw
Marduk arrayed in his terrible panoply of war, he was terrified and
trembled, and staggered about and lost all control of his legs; and at
the mere sight of the god all the other fiends and devils were smitten
with fear and reduced to helplessness. Ti�mat saw Marduk and began to
revile him, and when he challenged her to battle she flew into a rage
and attempted to overthrow him by reciting an incantation, thinking that
her words of power would destroy his strength. Her spell had no effect
on the god, who at once cast his net over her. At the same moment he
made a gale of foul wind to blow on her face, and entering through her
mouth it filled her body; whilst her body was distended he drove his
spear into her, and Ti�mat split asunder, and her womb fell out from it.
Marduk leaped upon her body and looked on her followers as they
attempted to escape. But the Four Winds which he had stationed round
about Ti�mat made all their efforts to flee of no effect. Marduk caught
all the Eleven allies of Ti�mat in his net, and he trampled upon them as
they lay in it helpless. Marduk then took the TABLET OF DESTINIES from
Kingu's breast, and sealed it with his seal and placed it on his
own breast.
[Footnote 1: Or perhaps the "belly of Ti�mat." The Egyptians
distinguished a portion of the heavens by the name of "Khat Nut," "the
belly of Nut," [Heiroglyphics] and two drawings of it are extant. The
first shows an oval object rimmed with stars and the other a
pear-shaped object, with a god inside it. (See Brugsch, _Inschriften
(Astronomische)_ Leipzig, 1883, p, 146.) [Illustration]]
Then returning to the dead body of Ti�mat he smashed her skull with
his club and scattered her blood to the north wind, and as a reward
for his destruction of their terrible foe, he received gifts and
presents from the gods his fathers.
The text then goes on to say that Marduk "devised a cunning plan,"
i.e., he determined to carry out a series of works of creation. He
split the body of Ti�mat into two parts; out of one half he fashioned
the dome of heaven, and out of the other he constructed the abode of
Nudimmud, or Ea, which he placed over against Apsu, i.e., the deep. He
also formulated regulations concerning the maintenance of the same. By
this "cunning plan" Marduk deprived the powers of darkness of the
opportunity of repeating their revolt with any chance of success. Having
established the framework of his new heaven and earth Marduk, acting as
the celestial architect, set to work to furnish them. In the first place
he founded E-Sharra, or the mansion of heaven, and next he set apart and
arranged proper places for the old gods of the three realms--Anu,
Bel and Ea.
[Illustration: Tablet sculptured with a scene representing the worship
of the Sun-god in the Temple of Sippar. The Sun-god is seated on a
throne within a pavilion holding in one hand a disk and bar which may
symbolize eternity. Above his head are the three symbols of the Moon,
the Sun, and the planet Venus. On a stand in front of the pavilion rests
the disk of the Sun, which is held in position by ropes grasped in the
hands of two divine beings who are supported by the roof of the
pavilion. The pavilion of the Sun-god stands on the Celestial Ocean, and
the four small disks indicate either the four cardinal points or the
tops of the pillars of the heavens. The three figures in front of the
disk represent the high priest of Shamash, the king (Nabu-aplu-iddina,
about 870 B.C.) and an attendant goddess. [No. 91,000.]]
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