Before the heavens had names, before the earth was called, only two waters existed: Apsu, the sweet deep, and Tiamat, the salt sea. From their mingling the first gods were born, and from their conflict came the world we know. The Enuma Elish is the great Babylonian poem of creation, sung in the temples of Babylon for more than a thousand years. This edition renders its seven tablets in clear, present-day English, faithful to the meaning and spirit of the ancient Akkadian. Follow the rise of Marduk, the young god who masters the winds, as he faces the roaring Tiamat and her monstrous host and earns supreme kingship over all the gods. Watch him shape the sky from Tiamat's body, set the stars in their courses, and fashion human beings from the blood of a rebel god, that the gods might be freed from labor. A story of chaos, courage, and cosmic order, it remains one of the world's oldest sacred texts. Part of The World Scriptures Library.