The Creation Accounts
Comparing and Contrasting the Creation AccountsComing from a family with a Christian lineage as far as the eye can see, its no wonder that my mouth widened just a bit when I read through the Enuma Elish for the first time. How could this "Ancient Babylonian Story" be so similar to the parable of the creation by God? The same story I had been preached and teached to since I was three now had a twin? Well, yes and no. Needless to say, I was surprised. As I began to read deeper into both accounts, I was happy to find that there were more distinct differences than there were striking similarities. To really make a fair comparison, you'd have to understand the story of the Enuma Elish creation account. Assuming people are familiar with the Bible's parable, I'll begin with the Enuma Elish. The story begins with two gods; godfather Apsu (freshwater) and godmother Tiamet (saltwater) coming together to form other gods and goddess. Tiamet is the direct relative to Anu, Ea Kishar and Marduk who are the gods of the sky, earth, horizon and spring
While Mesopotamian Creation Account Enuma Elish relies on many different gods, the Hebrew story uses one all-powerful God. This might be seen as the Genesis account for God's creation on the first day. Each part of creation happens at a specific segment in time. She takes a new husband named Qingu. However, Ea hears about the plan, and destroys Apsu. The Genesis account on the other hand, shows one all-powerful God creating everything except for humans by word of mouth. Leadership is fought for in the Babylonian story whereas in the Bible there is no attempt made for the crown. Polytheism and Monotheism are two of the larger pictures that people are able to pick out when contrasting two accounts. Humans in the Enuma Elish were created to work for the gods and are considered the lowest form of life. The moon phases are told to be the months of the year, and from Tiamet's saliva Marduk creates precipitation. The story of creation by God is one of the most recognized in the world; still the Enuma Elish is an interesting account. Humanity in the Genesis account shows that man is made in Gods likeness, and is ruler of the earth. However, the Bible seems to be more detailed in its explanation. Each story has its own way of creating creation. The Enuma Elish creation account is one of violence, pitting gods and goddess in battle to slay each other until one is crowned "king".
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Acceptance Essays
