The creation story is one of the most peculiar and yet universal features among cultures all throughout the globe. In Africa, the Egyptians, the Fon people of West Africa, and the Mande people of Southern Mali have their own unique creation story. In the Americas, the Kiche people of Guatemala have Popol Vuh,[1] the Kiowa Apache of North America has Kuterastan, and the Chileans has Xolas. In Asia, the Koreans have Cheonjiwang Bonpuri, the Vietnamese have Au Co, and the Chinese have Nuwa and Pangu. In the Middle East, the Hebrews (Israelites) have the Genesis creation story[2] while the Babylonians (Iraqis) have Enuma Elish.[3]
Outside the Middle East, the Hebraic creation narrative is probably the most popular. Growing up, I was familiar with at least two creation accounts: the ancient Filipinos’ and the Hebrews’. Both were taught in public schools in the Philippines. The ancient Filipinos’ creation account is taught in history and literature classes while the Hebrews’ is taught during the catechism class through a Catholic lens. I could not remember one professing Christian in the family, Catholic or Evangelical, who believed the ancient Filipinos’ creation account conflicted with the Bible’s. Probably because we never had an in-depth discourse on religion, or probably because we upheld both, one being a part of our history and the other being a part of our embrace of Christianity. Moreover, I had yet to learn social sciences, hermeneutics, and theology. And my parents, God bless them, had a different interpretation of faith: an unquestioning clasp of what is taught from the pulpit.
The book of Genesis introduces the Hebrew Bible with the story of creation, covering the first and second chapter. In Genesis 1, readers were introduced to a God whose Spirit was hovering over a formless, void, dark, and watery earth.[4] Then God started His creative acts, speaking into the darkness and calling light into being. In six days, God created His masterpieces: the sky, the land, the seas, vegetation, the sun, the moon, the stars, and all the living creatures, including the first man and the first woman. Each day, he would pause and affirm the masterpieces and call them good.
Genesis 2 picked up where Genesis 1 left off. It started with the seventh day when God completed all His creative ventures, rested, and sanctified the Sabbath.[5] From here, the narrator zoomed into the creation of man and woman and went over the details. God formed the first man from the dust and breathed into his nostrils. He then placed the man in a garden named Eden. The first man was tasked to cultivate and keep the garden, with one condition: From any tree, he may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he shall not. For in the day that he ate from it he would surely die. Upon noticing that the man was alone, the Lord God caused him to fall into a deep sleep. And while the man was sleeping, God took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place and fashioned it into a woman.
Similarities and Differences in the Genesis and the Enuma Elish Creation Stories
Enuma Elish started by making an impression that the earth was in a formless state[6] before creation. While in this state, two gods comingled, the male fresh-water Apsu and the female salt-water Tiamat.[7] These two bodies of water became one at the mouths of Tigris and Euphrates rivers. When the waters of Apsu and Tiamat mixed, Lahmu and Lahamu (slime and mud) were born.[8] From them came another pair, Anshar (whole sky) and Kishar (whole earth),[9] who gave birth to the sky god Anu, who then begot Ea.[10] Ea and his wife Damkina gave birth to Marduk,[11] a Babylonian god with chief god status who killed Tiamat. From Tiamat’s defeat,[12] Marduk was able to create the universe. Ea, on the other hand, created humanity from Kingu’s blood, one of the rebel gods.[13]
Both the Genesis[14] and the Enuma Elish creation stories emphasized the role of chaos in creation. Contrary to popular belief, Genesis 1:1-2 presented a God who was making order out of a formless and void earth, not creating something out of nothing. Enuma Elish hinged on the same proposition: there was nothing but Godfather Apsu and Mummu-Tiamat, two bodies of water merging as one.[15]
Interesting enough, both accounts mentioned the darkness that there was before God’s creative acts. And because of this darkness over the surface of the deep (Gen. 1:2), God created light, the first of his creative ventures. From here, it could be safely concluded that light existed before the creation of the sun, the moon, and the stars. Enuma Elish made this clear by emphasizing that there was no heaven, earth, or divine elders yet during the birth of the divine assembly.[16]
Another striking similarity between the two accounts was the emphasis on the spoken words. God had to speak to make things happen. In Enuma Elish, the lines, “when on high, no heaven has been named, when no earth had been called,”[17] was alluding to a phase in the story where in the calling and the naming would happen. In Genesis, this allusion was signaled by, “And God said.”
Despite all the similarities mentioned above, the central difference between the two accounts was in the number of power players. In Genesis 1 and 2, it was only God. In Enuma Elish, it was the divine assembly[18] and the other gods created from the merging of the fresh-water and salt-water gods Apsu and Tiamat.[19] All the other differences in the two stories are anchored on this tenet: there is only one God without any rival from the very beginning. God only had to give a command to create the heaven, the earth, the mountains, and the seasons of each year. In Enuma Elish, Marduk had to wage war and won against Tiamat to make all these happened.[20] Marduk needed Tiamat’s body to create a new world[21].
Also, the Hebraic creation narrative was organized and linear: from day one to day six in chapter 1 and day seven and the detailed account of the creation of human beings in chapter 2. In Enuma Elish, there was no concept of days,[22] which was understandable because the seasons, and perhaps the days too, of each year was not established until after the death of Tiamat, which happened a little later in the story. Additionally, all other important aspects of creation like the discussion on the plan to create humans did not take place until after the defeat of Tiamat.[23] From the very beginning, the creation in Enuma Elish was a power struggle, chaos in its own right. The Bible had a different take: from the outset, there was one mighty God who has always been in control.
Parting Thoughts
Reading Enuma Elish took me back to the time I was a first grader reading the ancient Filipino creation story Si Malakas At Si Maganda (The Strong and The Beautiful). Apsu’s reaction to the warriors’ noise[24] reminded me of Malakas’ desperation of his kids that he whacked them with a stick. The divine assembly in Mesopotamia’s birth out of a chaos[25] reminded me of the quarrel between Alapaap (Sky) and Karagatan (Sea) in my culture’s version of creation. And lastly, all the similarities and differences in the two creation accounts reminded me that faith is believing, questioning if necessary, with eyes, hearts, and minds open.
Creation stories from around the world should be understood in its ancient context, including the Genesis and Enuma Elish stories. Genesis chapters 1 and 2 and Enuma Elish were a reminder that God’s hand was in His chosen servants, from Moses to Paul. Jesus and Paul were situational leaders known to start their teaching at their target audience’s level of understanding. They were also known to use objects and illustrations familiar to whomever they were talking and utilize the context to introduce new teaching. Amazingly, this was true to Moses as well, assuming he was indeed the one who wrote the book of Genesis. And so, it can be deduced that the story structure of Genesis was not a coincidence, but a strategic approach to speak the language of the people it was trying to reach out.
According to John J. Collins,[26] the belief that only one God exists was an exception rather than the rule in the ancient world. If the Genesis creation narrative were intended to speak to the polytheistic understanding of the people during that time, then it had successfully done so. Thus, these creation stories matter, the Genesis account in particular. It can be argued then that Enuma Elish is not a challenge to the historical value of the book of Genesis. Rather, it is a testament to God’s redemptive plan. He would use any means to reach out to us – to restore a relationship that has been tainted with betrayal, disobedience, and sin – even through an out-of-this-world story like Enuma Elish. Or for the seven-year-old me, our culture’s version of creation.
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[1] Lewis Spence, The Popul Vuh: The Mythic and Heroic Sagas of the Kiches of Central America (New York City, NY: Cosimo Inc., 2010), 7.
[2] Genesis 1-2.
[3] Victor H. Matthews and Don C. Benjamin, Old Testament Parrallels: Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East, 4th ed. (New York, NY: Paulist Press, 2016), 11.
[4] Genesis 1:2 NASB.
[5] Genesis 2:1-3 NASB.
[6] Matthews and Benjamin, 11.
[7] Matthews and Benjamin, 12.
[8] Matthews and Benjamin, 12.
[9] Matthews and Benjamin, 12.
[10] Matthews and Benjamin, 13.
[11] Matthews and Benjamin, 13.
[12] Matthews and Benjamin, 17.
[13] Matthews and Benjamin, 18.
[14] Genesis chapters 1 and 2 are treated as one creation story. The writer does not believe they are separate accounts.
[15] Matthews and Benjamin, 12.
[16] Matthews and Benjamin, 12.
[17] Matthews and Benjamin, 12.
[18]Matthews and Benjamin, 12.
[19] Matthews and Benjamin, 12.
[20] Matthews and Benjamin, 12.
[21] Matthews and Benjamin, 17.
[22] Matthews and Benjamin, 17.
[23] Matthews and Benjamin, 17.
[24] Matthews and Benjamin, 13.
[25] Matthews and Benjamin, 11.
[26]John J. Collins, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible, 2d ed. (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2014), 36.
Works Cited:
Collins, John J. Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. 2d ed. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2014.
Matthews, Victor H. and Don C. Benjamin. Old Testament Parallels: Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East. 4thed. New York, NY: Paulist Press, 2016.
Spence, Lewis. The Popul Vuh: The Mythic and Heroic Sagas of the Kiches of Central America New York City, NY: Cosimo Inc., 2010.
Note:
*Part of this post was lifted from a paper I worked on for my Old Testament class in 2017.
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