Creation Ideas from the Enuma Elish and Genesis
“Creation ideas from Genesis and The Enuma Elish”
Genesis and the Enuma Elish, both stories come from the very similar regions of the ancient world, but both very different in the ways and tasks of the newly created mankind. The Genesis coming from the early Jews and the Enuma Elish originating from the ancient Babylonians differ in both creation of humans and roles of humans. Genesis and the Enuma Elish differ in very important details such as who and what created the world and mankind. Even within the two accounts of Genesis the stories of creation have many differences. The statuses of humans in both stories contradict and argue against each other. These creation myths have their own characteristics making them all unique, despite the close proximity of the two ancient cultures and the very close difference in time. Within the Genesis account you can break down the group into two stories. The first written was a combination of the “Jehovist” and the “Elohist” writers that wrote between 950-850 B.C.E. This account is based upon an immanent god that created the world and humans by the word of mouth. In these writings God created man in the image of him and created mankind last. You can infer from this that God created man in order to succeed; he didn’t create them to serve him. God created mankind to his liking and created them in good favor. He loved mankind and treated them like his sons and daughters. This God gave mankind food, in the form of “plant yielding seed” and gave them “dominion over the fish of the sea”. He didn’t let mankind go hungry or make mankind angry. He fostered their growth because humans were his creation. In the second account from Genesis, the “Priestly” writer comes from a little bit later, around 550 B.C.E. This story from Genesis is almost an opposite of the first account. The Priestly author writes about God as being more of a transcendent god. This god creates the world and mankind and then leaves it alone. He has no continuation
Genesis and the Enuma Elish, both stories come from the very similar regions of the ancient world, but both very different in the ways and tasks of the newly created mankind. The Genesis coming from the early Jews and the Enuma Elish originating from the ancient Babylonians differ in both creation of humans and roles of humans. Genesis and the Enuma Elish differ in very important details such as who and what created the world and mankind. Even within the two accounts of Genesis the stories of creation have many differences. The statuses of humans in both stories contradict and argue against each other. These creation myths have their own characteristics making them all unique, despite the close proximity of the two ancient cultures and the very close difference in time. Within the Genesis account you can break down the group into two stories. The first written was a combination of the “Jehovist” and the “Elohist” writers that wrote between 950-850 B.C.E. This account is based upon an immanent god that created the world and humans by the word of mouth. In these writings God created man in the image of him and created mankind last. You can infer from this that God created man in order to succeed; he didn’t create them to serve him. God created mankind to his liking and created them in good favor. He loved mankind and treated them like his sons and daughters. This God gave mankind food, in the form of “plant yielding seed” and gave them “dominion over the fish of the sea”. He didn’t let mankind go hungry or make mankind angry. He fostered their growth because humans were his creation. In the second account from Genesis, the “Priestly” writer comes from a little bit later, around 550 B.C.E. This story from Genesis is almost an opposite of the first account. The Priestly author writes about God as being more of a transcendent god. This god creates the world and mankind and then leaves it alone. He has no continuation