Tiamat

• 1. Primordial Sea Origins

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  The name Tiamat appears in ancient cuneiform tablets as ti'amat, a construct form meaning the sea itself. Thorkild Jacobsen and Walter Burkert both argue for a connection with the Akkadian word for sea, tâmtu. This linguistic link suggests that the goddess was originally just another word for the primordial waters of the Babylonian world. Later forms of the name appear in Hellenistic Babylonian writer Berossus' first volume of universal history. Some Akkadian copyists substituted the ordinary word tāmtu for Tiamat because the two names had become essentially the same due to association. Harriet Crawford finds this mixing of waters to be a natural feature of the middle Persian Gulf. Fresh waters from the Arabian aquifer mix and mingle with the salt waters of the sea there. The region of Bahrain means two seas in Arabic and is thought to be the site of Dilmun. Dilmun represents the original site of Sumerian creation beliefs where density differences drive perceptible separation.

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• 2. Enuma Elish Narrative

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  In the Enuma Elish, the Babylonian epic of creation, Tiamat bears the first generation of deities after mingling her waters with those of Apsu. Her consort Abzu becomes driven to violence by the noise they make and seeks to destroy them. Enki captures Abzu and holds him prisoner beneath his own temple called the E-Abzu. Kingu reports this event to Tiamat and she fashions eleven monsters to battle the deities. These creatures include Bašmu the Venomous Snake and Ušumgallu the Great Dragon. She also takes a new consort named Qingu and bestows on him the Tablet of Destinies. Marduk dismembers her body and constructs elements of the cosmos from it. Her weeping eyes become the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Her tail becomes the Milky Way. With approval from elder deities he took the Tablet of Destinies from Kingu and installed himself as head of the Babylonian pantheon.

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• 3. Physical Descriptions And Forms

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  Tiamat's physical description in the Enuma Elish includes a tail, a thigh, lower parts that shake together, a belly, an udder, ribs, a neck, a head, a skull, eyes, nostrils, a mouth, and lips. She has insides possibly entrails, a heart, arteries, and blood. Assyriologist Alexander Heidel previously recognized that a dragon form can not be imputed to Tiamat with certainty. She is still often referred to as a monster though this identification has been credibly challenged. In the epic Tiamat is clearly portrayed as a mother of monsters but before this she is just as clearly portrayed as a mother to all the gods. The deity Enki believed correctly that Abzu was planning to murder the younger deities as consequence of his aggravation with noisy tumult they created. This premonition led Enki to capture Abzu and hold him prisoner beneath Abzu's own temple. Kingu reported the event to Tiamat whereupon she fashioned eleven monsters to battle the deities in order to avenge Abzu's death.

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• 4. Matriarchal Society Theories

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  Robert Graves considered Tiamat's death by Marduk as evidence for his hypothesis of an ancient shift in power from matriarchy to patriarchy. The theory suggested that Tiamat and other ancient monster figures were depictions of former supreme deities of peaceful woman-centered religions. Their defeat at hands of male hero corresponded to overthrow of these matristic religions and societies by male-dominated ones. It was once thought that myth of Tiamat was one of earliest recorded versions of Chaoskampf motif generally involves battle between culture hero and chthonic or aquatic monster serpent or dragon. Chaoskampf motifs in other mythologies perhaps linked to Tiamat myth include Hittite Illuyanka myth and Greek lore of Apollo killing Python. Genesis in Hebrew Bible also contains similar themes. American Assyriologist E. A. Speiser remarked in 1942 that Marduk epic reflects substance older Sumerian material though exact prototype has not turned up so far.

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• 5. Modern Pop Culture Adaptations

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  Depiction of Tiamat as multi-headed dragon popularized in 1970s as fixture of Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game inspired by earlier sources. Earlier sources associate Tiamat with later mythological characters such as Lotan Leviathan. In Monsterverse unseen monster designated Titanus Tiamat in Godzilla King of Monsters. Tiamat fully appears as aquatic serpentine dragon in Godzilla Dominion prequel graphic novel before making live action debut in Godzilla x Kong New Empire. The Babylonian epic Enuma Elish translates as when on high where heavens did not yet exist nor earth below. Abzu subterranean ocean was there first begetter and Tiamat overground sea she who bore them all mixing their waters. This ancient story continues to influence modern fantasy literature and gaming communities worldwide today.

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