Enuma Elish Vol 1: The Seven Tablets of Creation; The Babylonian and Assyrian Legends Concerning the Creation of the World and of Mankind [Paperback]

L. W. King (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Enuma Elish | Publication Date: July 1, 1999

The Babylonian and Assyrian Legends Concerning the Creation of the World and of Mankind. The Enuma Elish is one of the oldest stories known to mankind. It is a story first written down by the ancient Sumerians thousands of years ago. As a one time assistant in the Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities at the British Museum. L.W. King provides us with a qualified translation of the tables which were originally written in cuneiform script. The Enuma Elish is receiving renewed interest from modern researchers delving into the origins of mankind, the earth, and the solar system. Over the centuries a copy ended up in the library at Nineveh in the 7th century B.C., and was uncovered by archaeologists in the late 1800s. Written to cuneiform text and preserved on seven clay tables, the entire story was called "The Seven Tablets of Creation." After being translated the story revealed how the planets became aligned, how a cosmic catastrophe affected the earth, how mankind came upon the scene, and how the "gods" played a role in all of it. The Seven Tablets of Creation have had many profound implications since they were first discovered and subsequently published. They predate many parts of the Book of Genesis as well as other worldwide creation myths. Volume One includes this epic poem's English translation. It also includes information on parallels in Hebrew literature, the date and origin of the Babylonian creation legends, and more. Volume Two includes other accounts of creation, an Assyrian "Tower of Babel" story, and supplementary texts showing the actual cuneiform tablets.

Product Details

• Paperback: 236 pages
• Publisher: Book Tree (July 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585090417
• ISBN-13: 978-1585090419
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,595,860 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars outdated but might be helpful to some., July 4, 2000

By 

Christopher B. Siren (Medford, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Enuma Elish Vol 1: The Seven Tablets of Creation; The Babylonian and Assyrian Legends Concerning the Creation of the World and of Mankind (Paperback)

One might think, looking at the 1999 publishing date and the publisher's description that King's translation is among the most recent. If so, one will be sorely disapointed upon reading this book. This is a reprint of King's 1902 translation of the Enuma Elish, the Assyro-Babylonian creation myth. In the intervening years, additional copies of the text have been discovered, filling in most of the gaps found in King's translation and correcting his tenative translations of lines that in his day were only partially known. If you are looking for a more complete more updated translation, you'd be much better served with Stephanie Dalley's 1989 work, Myths from Mesopotamia, where you'd also get translations of several other Akkadian language myths. Further off-putting is the one page preface by Paul Tice, which spends more space endorsing the rather questionable theories of Zecharia Sitchin than it does addressing the contents of King's book.

There are some useful features in this book though. More than half of the Enuma Elish that King worked with was complete and his translation is presented in parallel with a transliteration of the original Akkadian. There are included additional scholarly essays by King on varying subjects related to the creation story including parallels with Genesis. Some of these essays, are hampered by the lack of available knowledge at the time and for significant portions of them King must make speculations which are no longer justified.

Ninety-eight years ago, this must have been one of the more thorough, cutting-edge works on the subject, but so much more has been learned in the mean-time, that I would only recommend this work to those who already have more recent translations of the Enuma Elish.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quite interesting, February 5, 2002

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Enuma Elish Vol 1: The Seven Tablets of Creation; The Babylonian and Assyrian Legends Concerning the Creation of the World and of Mankind (Paperback)

The highpoint of the ancient Mesopotamian year was the New Year celebrations. It was a time of parties, games and the reading of epic stories. In Nineveh, an important epic was their creation story, which told the story of the creation of the universe, and the rise to preeminence of the god Marduk (Nineveh's patron deity).

Though lost for millennia, the seven cuneiform tablets containing the Assyrian creation myth were found in the ruins of Nineveh at the end of the nineteenth century, and were translated by L.W. King in 1902. Although translated so long ago, Mr. King's text is still easy to follow, and is a highly enjoyable read. Unfortunately, since there was only one set of tablets extant in 1902, and that set was damaged, there are holes in the narrative that do somewhat decrease the enjoyment of the story.

As a student of Sumerian literature, I must say that I found this Assyrian text quite interesting, showing how the stories changed and evolved as they were passed on to later generations and cultures. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in ancient Mesopotamia.