The World of the Enuma Elish Trivia Quiz

Answer: The first words of the poem

"When up high, the heavens had not been named; and down below, the Earth was not given a name" is how the poem begins. It refers to the absence of the world in which we now live. In much the same way as art, ancient stories generally did not have a title or author, so scholars simply named this story after its beginning lines.

Answer: The Library of Ashurbanipal

Ashurbanipal, a late, powerful king of the Neo-Assyrian empire collected many great works of writing and kept them in a library, much the same as the Ptolemys of Egypt would do in Alexandria. This library was discovered in the mid-19th century in the ancient city of Nineveh (upstream from Babylon), the later Assyrian capital.

In it, archaeologists have discovered the first few tablets of the Babylonian version of the Enuma Elish, a complete form of the Epic of Gilgamesh, a story of Adapa, and many other short stories.

Answer: Sumerian

The Sumerians were a culture who had a very unusual language which is not Semitic, Indo-European, or related to any other known language group. Though we have not found a written copy of the Sumerian version, the names show a Sumerian origin. Likely the hero of the Sumerian version would have been Enlil, who does not show up in the Babylonian version except at the end when he is given the domain of the surface of the Earth to rule by Marduk.

Answer: The New Year

This poem describes the creation of the world and the new year marks this event. The celebration is also known as the Akitu Festival. Though not much is known about what occurred during this festival, scholars believe this poem was recited in front of the entire city at least in Babylon, though likely in other cities as well.

It may also have been acted out similarly to an Athenian drama.

Answer: Ea was wise and powerful enough to discover Apsu's plans and kill him first

As the god of wisdom, Ea was able to see Apsu's plans before Apsu could do anything but conspire. While Apsu did discuss the slaughter of his children with Mummu and his wife Tiamat, Mummu also did not do anything but conspire as well.

Answer: Ea fashioned a palace for his family out of his body

After Ea put Apsu under a magic spell, he stole his crown and killed him. With his body he created a home which he also named Apsu and in which he, his wife, and his later son Marduk live. This occurred in the time before the Heavens and Earth had been formed, which occurred when Tiamat was killed.

In other Mesopotamian mythology Absu is the personification of the fresh water found in wells and aquifers which belongs in the domain ruled by Ea.

Answer: He was the most powerful of the Anunaki

The myth describes each descendant generation of Anshar (the forefather of the Anunaki) as being greater than the last. As the youngest god, Marduk was therefore the largest and most powerful of the gods. Though he was the son of Ea, he was not blamed for Ea's deed as all of them would be dead if Ea had not killed Apsu.

Answer: The right to rule the gods and the world

Marduk had to get permission to acquire this distinction from each of his ancestors, Ea, Anu, Anshar, and even Lahma. All of these gods consented without question and Marduk was off to kill Tiamat and fulfill his destiny. This event shows that the political motive of this story was to show Babylon's right to dominate all other cities in this time period since Marduk was the god of Babylon.

This is also why Marduk's position is completely replaced by other gods in the other versions of this story, such as with the Assyrian patron Ashur in their later version. Babylon was later built and given as a gift by the Anunaki to Marduk after they were each given their individual roles in maintaining the world.

Answer: Anshar

Anu ruled the heavens, Enlil ruled the air and surface, and Ea ruled the underworld, particularly the waters underneath the surface. Marduk gave the domains to the youngest three male gods. These three called the triad by scholars had been the three most important Mesopotamian gods since Sumerian times and had always ruled these areas. Since this is a creation myth, the Enuma Elish needed to include a demonstration of why the pantheon was the way it was and why these gods were worshiped the way they were.

Answer: The temple dedicated to Marduk

The Esagila was an actual building in historic Babylon. It was built next to the lake known as the Apsu. It was also the central location for the worship of Marduk. In the Enuma Elish, it was also built by the Anunaki rewarding Marduk for his victory. Adapa is the name of the first man.

The followers of Tiamat and Kingu were described as being diminished below death, but the story doesn't describe a prison for them. The Mesopotamians didn't believe in an afterlife realm beyond the sea. In fact they don't appear to show much concern at all for life after death, but rather their myths show more concern for the unattainable aspect of eternal life.