Creation of the Cosmos – Genesis vs Enuma Elish
8 min read
Genesis describes the creation of the "Heavens and the Earth" over the course of a 6 day period, with 1 additional day of rest. It implies that God, a conscious entity with boundless power, created substance and shaped the Earth and then everything else around it.
NASA/JPL / Public domain
Genesis seems to copy its story from a much older source, the oldest tale of cosmic creation known to man, The Enuma Elish. The true meanings lost in misinterpretation, but when putting the texts side by side we can begin to draw parallels. We begin to gain a new understanding of who (or what) God in this portion of Genesis is, and understand how the Earth and our solar system came to be as it is today.
Creation of Heavens and Earth
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
(Tablet IV: A rogue planet named Marduk strikes another planet, Tiamat, shattering it into two. The top half became Earth.)
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning–the first day.
(During the planet Marduk’s passing, its gravitational force caused rotation to the newly formed Earth, causing a day and night cycle.)
Creation of the Sky
6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning–the second day.
(The bottom half of Tiamat shattered as a result of Marduk passing, the broken pieces form the firmament. The Asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.)
9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
(Eventually the shattered Earth settled into its form.)
11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning–the third day.
(Vegetation began to grow)
Creation of the Sun, Moon, and Stars
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights–the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning–the fourth day.
(The debris from the collision settled allowing the Sun, Moon, and stars to be more prominent)
20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning–the fifth day.
(The seeds of life that Marduk left behind the collision had begun to grow.)
Creation of Animals and Man
24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
(Larger land animals evolved.)
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
(The creation of man takes place on Tablet VI of the story’s source myth, The Enuma Elish. Because its on the 6th tablet, the Bible places this event on Day 6.)
29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground–everything that has the breath of life in it–I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning–the sixth day.
Enuma Elish (Cut)
Tablet I
1. When in the height heaven was not named,
2. And the earth beneath did not yet bear a name,
3. And the primeval Apsû, who begat them,
4. And chaos, Tiamat, the mother of them both,–
5. Their waters were mingled together,
6. And no field was formed, no marsh was to be seen;
7. When of the gods none had been called into being,
8. And none bore a name, and no destinies [were ordained];
9. Then were created the gods in the midst of [heaven]
(Gods, monsters, and all other characters are celestial orbs aka planets, dwarf planets, and moons. Tiamat was the largest planet, while her counterpart Apsu could still rival the younger gods (planets). . Their “waters mingling” could be another term for a collision, the seeding life onto the other, or pulling other objects into their orbit.”)
Tablets II – III
To summarize, these tablets explain the growing tension between the gods and their begetters, and the entrance of the chief of all Gods, Marduk.
(The creation or appearance of these new planetary bodies (Gods) from Tablet I results in multiple planets circling Tiamat and Apsu, likely throwing debris at them and seemingly being a nuisance. Then, a rogue planet referred to as Marduk enters the newly created Solar System.)
Tablet IV
9. “Established shall be the word of thy mouth, irresistible shall be thy command;
10. “None among the gods shall transgress thy boundary.
11. “Abundance, the desire of the shrines of the gods,
12. “Shall be established in thy sanctuary, even though they lack (offerings).
13. “O Marduk, thou art our avenger!
14. “We give thee sovereignty over the whole world.
30. They give him an invincible weapon, which overwhelmeth the foe.
31. “Go, and cut off the life of Tiamat,
34. They caused him to set out on a path of prosperity and success.
47. He sent forth the winds which he had created, the seven of them;
93. Then advanced Tiamat and Marduk, the counsellor of the gods;
94. To the fight they came on, to the battle they drew nigh.
100. And her courage was taken from her, and her mouth she opened wide.
103. He overcame her and cut off her life;
106. Her might was broken, her host was scattered.
137. He split her up like a flat fish into two halves;
138. One half of her he stablished as a covering for heaven.
(Likely rivaling Tiamat in size, Marduk travels at great speed with a rapid rotation, carrying multiple moons referred to as weapons in the myth. Upon passing Tiamat, Marduk splits her in two. Her host or lower part, the body, was scattered and formed the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter.)
Tablet V
1. He.(i.e. Marduk) made the stations for the great gods;
2. The stars, their images, as the stars of the Zodiac, he fixed.
3. He ordained the year and into sections he divided it;
4. For the twelve months he fixed three stars.
5. After he had […] the days of the year […] images,
6. He founded the station of Nibir to determine their bounds;
7. That none might err or go astray,
8. He set the station of Bêl and Ea along with him.
9. He opened great gates on both sides
10. He made strong the bolt on the left and on the right.
11. In the midst thereof he fixed the zenith;
12. The Moon-god he caused to shine forth, the night he entrusted to him.
13. He appointed him, a being of the night, to determine the days;
14. Every month without ceasing with the crown he covered(?) him, (saying):
15. “At the beginning of the month, when thou shinest upon the land,
16. “Thou commandest the horns to determine six days,
17. “And on the seventh day to [divide] the crown.
(During Marduk’s passes through the solar system, it pulled planets and moons into their orbits, thus fixing their stations.)
Tablet VI has a portion taken from The Atrahasis Epic, where the creation of man is mentioned. Tablet VII is the time of rest and celebration of Marduk after creating the Heavens and Earth. Just as on the 7th day God rested, on the 7th tablet Marduk allows all to rest.
What is Marduk?
God/Gods can be classified into 2 categories, you must be able to distinguish which of the 2 are being referred to. In some myths the Gods are planets and celestial bodies. In other myths the Gods are flesh and blood beings that share the name of a celestial body. So who or what is Marduk? Many propose Marduk to be a distant planet that orbits the Sun beyond Pluto. However, the story clearly describes Marduk to be none other than the planet Jupiter.
