In this episode of Echoes of Eternity, we explore the Enuma Elish, the ancient Babylonian creation myth. The cosmos begins in a vast ocean, where the primordial beings Tiamat (saltwater) and Apsu (freshwater) give birth to the gods. After Apsu is killed by his descendants, Tiamat raises a monstrous army to destroy them. Only the young storm god Marduk is brave enough to face her—on the condition that he be made king of the gods.

Marduk defeats Tiamat in a cosmic battle and fashions the world from her body. From her eyes flow rivers; from her corpse, the heavens and earth. He also creates humans from the blood of Kingu, Tiamat’s failed general, to serve the gods.

The episode explores themes of chaos versus order, legitimacy through power, and creation through conflict, reflecting the values of Babylonian civilization. The Enuma Elish was more than myth—it was a political and religious foundation that gave meaning and structure to the ancient world.

How did everything begin? From the chaos-born cosmos of Greek mythology to the divine breath and golden egg of Hindu creation, from the voice of God in Genesis to the maize-born humans of the Mayan Popol Vuh, these myths offer rich, symbolic interpretations of our origins. We also examine the Sky Father and Earth Mother of the Māori, and the Navajo emergence through multiple worlds. Despite their differences, these stories share common themes: chaos transforming into order, sacred materials shaping life, and the divine establishing moral structure. Creation myths reveal not only how ancient people viewed the universe—but how they saw themselves within it.