1 "The holy house, the house of the gods in the holy place had not yet been made.
2 "No reed had sprung up, no tree had been made.
3 "No brick had been laid, no structure of brick had been erected.
4 "No house had been made, no city had been built.
5 "No city had been made, no creature had been constituted.
6 "Enlil's city, (i.e., Nippur) had not been made, E-kur had not been built,
7 "Erech had not been made, E-Aena had not been built,
8 The Deep (or Abyss) had not been made, Eridu had not been built.
9 "Of the holy house, the house of the gods, the dwelling-place had not been made.
10 "All the lands were sea
11 "At the time that the mid-most sea was [shaped like] a trough,
12 "At that time Eridu was made, and E-sagil was built,
13 "The E-sagil where in the midst of the Deep the god Lugal-dul-azaga dwelleth,
14 "Babylon was made, E-sagil was completed. Source objects for this passage
Preview Context object Esarhaddon cuneiform prism describing the restoration of Babylon, with the source record explicitly tying the rebuilding claim to Marduk and legitimate rule.
Source details ca. 676–672 BCE - 86.11.283
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Public-domain object image and collection data released through The Met Open Access program under CC0.
Source record Preview Context object Esarhaddon cuneiform prism associated with Babylon, adding Assyrian royal-inscription context beside Babylon temple and creation passages.
Source details ca. 680–669 BCE - 86.11.277
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Public-domain object image and collection data released through The Met Open Access program under CC0.
Source record Preview Context object Esarhaddon cuneiform prism from the Babylon region, preserved as royal-inscription context for Babylon, temple building, and sacred kingship.
Source details ca. 676–672 BCE - 86.11.278
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Public-domain object image and collection data released through The Met Open Access program under CC0.
Source record 15 "The gods the Anunnaki he created at one time.
16 "They proclaimed supreme the holy city, the dwelling of their heart's happiness.
17 "Marduk laid a rush mat upon the face of the waters,
18 "He mixed up earth and moulded it upon the rush mat,
19 "To enable the gods to dwell in the place where they fain would be.
20 "He fashioned man.
21 "The goddess Aruru with him created the seed of mankind. Source object for this passage
Preview Parallel object Old Babylonian balag to Aruru, linked to creation passages where Aruru participates in forming humankind.
Source details ca. 19th–16th century BCE - 86.11.62
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Public-domain object image and collection data released through The Met Open Access program under CC0.
Source record 22 "He created the beasts of the field and [all] the living things in the field.
23 "He created the river Idiglat (Tigris) and the river Purattu (Euphrates), and he set them in their places,
24 "He proclaimed their names rightly.
25 "He created grass, the vegetation of the marsh, seed and shrub;
26 "He created the green plants of the plain,
27 "Lands, marshes, swamps,
28 "The wild cow and the calf she carried, the wild calf, the sheep and the young she carried, the lamb of the fold,
29 "Plantations and shrub land,
30 "The he-goat and the mountain goat ...
31 "The lord Marduk piled up a dam in the region of the sea (i.e., he reclaimed land)
32 "He ... a swamp, he founded a marsh.
33 "... he made to be
34 "Reeds he created, trees he created,
35 "... in place he created
36 "He laid bricks, he built a brick-work,
37 "He constructed houses, he formed cities.
38 "He constructed cities, creatures he set [therein].
39 "Nippur he made, E-Kur he built.
40 "[Erech he made, E-Anna] he built. formed part of an incantation which was recited in the Temple of E-Zida, possibly the great temple of Nabu at Borsippa.]
Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public domain