The Creation Account From Ashur

Marduk and the goddess Aruru with him created mankind, Cattle of the field, in whom is breath of life, he created. He formed the Tigris and Euphrates and set them in their places, Their names he did well declare.

  1. A holy house, a house of the gods, in a holy place had not been made;
  2. No reed had spring up, no tree had been created.
  3. No brick had been made, no foundation had been built,
  4. No house had been constructed, no city had been built;
  5. No city had been built, thrones had not been established:
  6. Nippur had not been constructed, Ekur had not been built;
  7. Erech had not been constructed, Eanna had not been built;
  8. The deep had not been formed, Eridu had not been built;
  9. The holy house, the house of the gods, the dwelling had not been made,--
  10. All lands were sea,--
  11. Then in the midst of the sea was a water-course;
  12. In those days Eridu was constructed, Esagila was built,
  13. Esagila where, in the midst of the deep, the god Lugal-dul-azaga abode,
  14. (Babylon was made, Esagila was completed_.
  15. The gods and the Anunaki he made at one time.
  16. (The holy city, the dwelling of their hearts' desire, they named as first),
  17. Marduk bound a structure of reeds upon the face of the waters,
  18. He formed dust, he poured it out beside the reed-structure.
  19. To cause the gods to dwell in the habitation of their heart's desire
  20. He formed mankind.
  21. the goddess Aruru with him created mankind,
  22. Cattle of the field, in whom is breath of life, he created.
  23. He formed the Tigris and Euphrates and set them in their places,
  24. Their names he did well declare.
  25. The grass, marsh-grass, the reed and brushwood (?) he created,
  26. The green grass of the field he created,
  27. The land, the marshes, and the swamps;
  28. The wild cow and her young, the wild calf; the ewe and her yhoung, the lamb of the fold;
  29. Gardens and forests;
  30. The wild goat, the mountain goat, (who) care for himself (?).
  31. The lord Marduk filled a terrace by the seaside,
  32. .......a marsh, reeds he set,
  33. ...........he caused to exist.
  34. [Reeds he creat]ed; trees he created;
  35. In their.....in their place he made;
  36. [Bricks he laid, a founda]tion he constructed;
  37. [Houses he made], a city he built;
  38. [A city he built, a throne] he established;
  39. [Nippur he constructed], Ekur he built;
  40. [Erech he constructed], Eanna he built.
 
Line 21 states that Marduk and the goddess Aruru created. In another, it was just Aruru:
 
The godess Aruru, when she heard this,
A man like Anu she formed in her heart.
Aruru washed her hands;
Clay she pinched off and spat upon it;
Eabani, a hero she created,
An exalted offspring, with the might of Ninib.
 
Source: George Barton, Archaeology and the Bible, 7th Edition, p. 303-305

Kenneth Sublett

Babylonian Documents

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