Babylonian Mythology

Most records of Babylonian myths date from 700 B.C., when they were transcribed in cuneiform on clay tablets and stored in the library of the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal at Nineveh. However the two major Babylonian epics probably originated around 2000 B.C.

Babylonian mythology lacks the transcendental quality of a myth; it is more earth-bound and more materialistic. Death puts an end to the sensual pleasures of life, and the underworld of the dead is the most dismal place imaginable. The Babylonian gods themselves indulge in eroticism, feasting, and fighting. The values are coarser and more masculine.

Major Dieties

Anu
Anlil
Ea
Marduk
Sin
Shamash
Ishtar
Tammuz

The Creation Myth

The Flood Myth

The Epic of Gilgamesh

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