DAMASCUS “SEVEN TABLETS” I

{’Apason—–­Tauthe}                       Apsu—–­Tiamat
|
{Moumis}                               Mummu
{Lakhos—–­Lakhe}(2)                   Lakhmu—–­Lakhamu
{’Assoros—–­Kissare}                    Anshar—–­Kishar
{’Anos, ’Illinos, ’Aos}              Anu, ( ), Nudimmud (= Ea)
{’Aos—–­Dauke}
|
{Belos}

     (1) Quaestiones de primis principiis, cap. 125; ed.  Kopp,
     p. 384.

     (2) Emended from the reading {Dakhen kai Dakhon} of the
     text.

In the passage of the poem which describes the birth of the great gods after the last pair of primaeval deities, mention is duly made of Anu and Nudimmud (the latter a title of Ea), corresponding to the {’Anos} and {’Aos} of Damascius; and there appears to be no reference to Enlil, the original of {’Illinos}.  It is just possible that his name occurred at the end of one of the broken lines, and, if so, we should have a complete parallel to Damascius.  But the traces are not in favour of the restoration;(1) and the omission of Enlil’s name from this part of the poem may be readily explained as a further tribute to Marduk, who definitely usurps his place throughout the subsequent narrative.  Anu and Ea had both to be mentioned because of the parts they play in the Epic, but Enlil’s only recorded appearance is in the final assembly of the gods, where he bestows his own name “the Lord of the World"(2) upon Marduk.  The evidence of Damascius suggests that Enlil’s name was here retained, between those of Anu and Ea, in other versions of the poem.  But the occurrence of the name in any version is in itself evidence of the antiquity of this strand of the narrative.  It is a legitimate inference that the myth of the Birth of the Gods goes back to a time at least before the rise of Babylon, and is presumably of Sumerian origin.

(1) Anu and Nudimmud are each mentioned for the first time at the beginning of a line, and the three lines following the reference to Nudimmud are entirely occupied with descriptions of his wisdom and power.  It is also probable that the three preceding lines (ll. 14-16), all of which refer to Anu by name, were entirely occupied with his description.  But it is only in ll. 13-16 that any reference to Enlil can have occurred, and the traces preserved of their second halves do not suggestion the restoration.

     (2) Cf.  Tabl.  VII, . 116.

Further evidence of this may be seen in the fact that Anu, Enlil, and Ea (i.e.  Enki), who are here created together, are the three great gods of the Sumerian Version of Creation; it is they who create mankind with the help of the goddess Ninkharsagga, and in the fuller version of that myth we should naturally expect to find some account of their own origin.  The reference in Damascius to Marduk ({Belos}) as the son of Ea and Damkina ({Dauke}) is also of interest in this connexion, as it exhibits a goddess in close connexion with one of the three great gods, much as we find Ninkharsagga associated with them in the Sumerian Version.(1) Before leaving the names, it may be added that, of the primaeval deities, Anshar and Kishar are obviously Sumerian in form.