Babylonian Mythology Pdf

[Elenor Waas]

Babylonianreligion is the religious practice of Babylonia. Babylonia's mythology was largely influenced by its Sumerian counterparts and was written on clay tablets inscribed with the cuneiform script derived from Sumerian cuneiform. The myths were usually either written in Sumerian or Akkadian. Some Babylonian texts were translations into Akkadian from Sumerian of earlier texts, but the names of some deities were changed.[1]

Babylonian myths were greatly influenced by the Sumerian religion. Sometimes they were written on clay tablets inscribed with the cuneiform script derived from Sumerian cuneiform. The myths were usually either written in the Sumerian or Akkadian language. Some Babylonian texts were even translations into Akkadian from the Sumerian language of earlier texts, although the names of some deities were changed in Babylonian texts.[2]

Many Babylonian deities, myths, and religious writings are singular to that culture; for example, the uniquely Babylonian deity, Marduk, replaced Enlil as the head of the mythological pantheon. The Enma Eliš, a creation myth epic was an original Babylonian work. In it, Apsu and Tiamat created "the elements of the world", but fought for various reasons, with Tiamat winning but being slaughtered along with her army by Marduk.[3] Marduk became the first king within Tiamat's split body, which created the earth and sky, and founded Babylon.[3]

Tablet fragments from the Neo-Babylonian period describe a series of festival days celebrating the New Year. The Festival began on the first day of the first Babylonian month, Nisannu, roughly corresponding to April/May in the Gregorian calendar. This festival celebrated the re-creation of the Earth, drawing from the Marduk-centered creation story described in the Enma Eliš.[4]

In Babylonian religion, the ritual care and worship of the statues of deities were considered sacred; the gods lived simultaneously in their statues in temples and in the natural forces they embodied.[citation needed]

The pillaging or destruction of idols was considered to be a loss of divine patronage; during the Neo-Babylonian period, the Chaldean prince Marduk-apla-iddina II fled into the southern marshes of Mesopotamia with the statues of Babylon's gods to save them from the armies of Sennacherib of Assyria.[5]

At various times, a single god in Babylonian cities was assigned a primary "special duty" for each city, such as being "the god of earth and the air" or "the god of the sky", and seen as the god with the most influence in that city by far.[6]

Some of the oldest texts in the world history have come from the Babylon mythology. "Enuma Elish -- The Epic of Creation", in the Babylonian Mythology comprises of highly interesting events of creation presented as if one were reading the script of a hit Hollywood movie. The original story was written on the clay tablets, which were found during excavations.

In Enuma Elish we also see the rise of ordinary deity, Marduk to the stature of the supreme god. Having killed great monstrous, demons and serpents, he sets out on the path of creation. In this endeavor he creates the universe, the stars, the moon, and almost everything, including the mankind from the blood of his rival, Kingu.

Another wondrous hero is Gilgamesh. "The Epic of Gilgamesh" is probably the oldest story found on the earth and written by the oldest known author. This epic is also written in a very entertaining style based on which yet another super hit Hollywood movie could be made. Gilgamesh is the central figure in this story. We see his conversion from a flirt hero who abducted the women to a loyal friend of Enkidu. The duo carries out a number of adventures including the killing of the demon, Humbaba. The death of his close friend brings a shock to Gilgamesh, who is shaken from deep inside and sets out on the dangerous journey in search of victory over the death.

On the way he comes to know another mysterious story about the Great Flood from the only mortal man residing on the earth, Utnapishtim. He eventually tells him the secret of immortality. Was Gilgamesh successful in gaining eternal life? For this and many more answers, read, "The Epic of Gilgamesh."

You will come know about the location of Babylon and its historical importance. Short descriptions of the earliest dynasties have also been provided. It is pleasure to read the rise of Babylon to become the capital of Babylonia and the whole of Mesopotamia. But like almost all the other great empires there was a tragic end of Babylon.

Anu, Ea, Enlil, Shamash and Ishtar were some of the prominent gods of Babylonian mythology. These and other gods and goddesses will be described in the "Babylonian Deities" section below. Ishtar was a very colorful goddess having number of affairs and she would go to any extent to get her lover. When Gilgamesh refused her love, she forced god Anu to send the Bull of Heaven to destroy him.

Once Ishtar also forced the gate keeper of lower world to open the gates, but she got into trouble after going inside and gods had to interfere to bring her out. (Click here to read this story). Another famous story is of Adapa, who cut the wings of the south wind, whereby stopping the flow of wind. Read this story to find out how he missed the chance of attaining immortality when god Anu invited him to the heavens.

In general Mesopotamia is the region between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers north or northwest of the bottleneck at Baghdad, in modern Iraq. Babylonia is the ancient cultural region occupying southeastern Mesopotamia (South of Baghdad). Babylon was the capital of this region and was located on the Euphrates River about 55miles south of Baghdad, near the modern town of Al-Hillah, Iraq. Due to great influence of Babylon on this region, Babylonia has come to refer to the entire culture that developed in the area from the time it was first settled, about 4000 BC.

Babylon rose to the political prominence during 1850 BC before which the area was divided into two regions: Sumer in the southeast and Akkad in the northwest. Their history comprises of the constant warfare however, Sumer and Akkad developed rich cultures. The Sumerians were responsible for the first system of writing, cuneiform; the earliest known codes of law; the development of the city-state and much more.

By 1900 BC whole of Mesopotamia was conquered by the Amorites, a western Semitic tribe who ruled till 1600 BC. During this period Babylon became the political and commercial center of the Tigris-Euphrates area. At the same time Babylonia became a great empire, encompassing all of southern Mesopotamia and part of Assyria to the north.

It was Hammurabi (c. 1792-1750 BC) who was mainly responsible Babylon's rise power. He was the sixth king of the first dynasty of Babylon. He forged coalitions between various cities and states and promoted science and scholarship. The famous code of law was also declared by Hammurabi.

After the death of Hammurabi, Babylonian Empire went on declining. In 1595 BC, from the eastern mountains of Babylonia, under the leadership of Mursil I, Kassites assumed the power and established dynasty that lasted 400 years. During their rule religion and literature flourished in Babylonia. The most important literary work of this period was Enuma Elish, the Babylonian epic of creation. Towards the end, king Assyria broke away from the Kassites developing an independent kingdom and threatening Kassite dynasty and at the same time conquering Babylonia for some period. Soon Elam too grew powerful and he overthrew Kassite dynasty taking control of Babylonia in 1157 BC.

A number of wars took place during this period and at the end second dynasty of Isin was established. Their prolific leader Nebuchadrezzar I (reigned c. 1124-1103 BC), defeated Elam and successfully fought off Assyrian advances for some years.

After Nebuchadrezzar I there was three way struggles between Assyrians and Aramean and Chaldean tribesmen for control of Babylonia. For about 700 years Assyrian kings frequently ruled Babylonia. Ashurbanipal, the last ruling Assyrian king fought a civil war with his brother, the sub-king of Babylon, devastating the city and its population. It was from Ashurbanipal's library from where most of the clay tablets containing the history of Babylonia were discovered by the archeologists.

After Ashurbanipal's death Nabopolassar, as Chaldean leader, became the king of Babylonia and he made Babylon as his capital. He instituted the last and the greatest period of Babylonian supremacy. His son Nebuchadrezzar II (reigned 605-562 BC) conquered Syria and Palestine. It was he who had constructed the wondrous Hanging Gardens and rebuilt the Temple of Marduk and its accompanying ziggurat. But he is best remembered for the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem in 587 BC and for the ensuing Babylonian captivity of the Jews.

Nebuchadrezzar's last successor was Nabonidus, but he lost Babylonia to the Persians who attacked under the leadership of Cyrus, the Great, in 539 BC. Thereafter Babylonia could never become independent.

In 331 BC Alexander the Great took over the reins of Babylonia and he ordered the restoration of the temples. He also recognized the commercial importance of Babylon and allowed its satrap to coin money and began constructing a harbor to promote trade. He planned to make Babylon his imperial capital, but he died in Nebuchadrezzar's palace in 323BC.

After Alexander's death there was struggle for power among his generals, finally Babylon was passed to Seleucid dynasty in 312. Seleucids built a new capital and abandoned Babylon, thus bringing an end to the one of the greatest empires of the world history.

In their long period of history Babylonians achieved a high level of civilization that impacted the whole world existing at that time. Their basis was Sumerian culture which they recognized as traditional. Sumerians already had the system of gods with a main temple in all the cities. Some of the prominent gods were: Anu, god of heaven; Enlil, god of the air; and Ea, god of the sea and wisdom. Some other gods included Shamash, the sun god; Sin, the moon-god; and Ishtar, the goddess of love and war. Amorites promoted god Marduk so he became the chief god of the Babylonian religion. The religion of Babylonians centered on the temples and they celebrated many festivals.

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