the earth bore no name, the primaeval ocean was the producer of all
things, and Mummu Tiawath (the sea) she who brought forth everything
existing. Their waters (that is, of the primaeval ocean and of the sea)
were all united in one, and neither plains nor marshes were to be
seen; the gods likewise did not exist, even in name, and the fates
were undetermined--nothing had been decided as to the future of
things. Then arose the great gods. Lahmu and Lahame came first,
followed, after a long period, by Ansar and Kisar, generally
identified with the "host of heaven" and the "host of earth," these
being the meanings of the component parts of their names. After a
further long period of days, there came forth their son Anu, the god
of the heavens.


The gods.

Here the narrative is defective, and is continued by Damascius in his
/Doubts and Solutions of the First Principles/, in which he states
that, after Anos (Anu), come Illinos (Ellila or Bel, "the lord" /par
excellence/) and Aos (Aa, Ae, or Ea), the god of Eridu. Of Aos and
Dauke (the Babylonian Aa and Damkina) is born, he says, a son called
Belos (Bel-Merodach), who, they (apparently the Babylonians) say, is
the fabricator of the world--the creator.


The designs against them.

At this point Damascius ends his extract, and the Babylonian tablet
also becomes extremely defective. The next deity to come into
existence, however, would seem to have been Nudimmud, who was