When Marduk heard the word of the gods,
His heart prompted him and he devised [a cunning plan].
He opened his mouth and to Ea [he spoke],
[That which] he had conceived in his heart he imparted [to him]:
“My blood I will take and bone I will [fashion],
I will bring into being Lullu, whose name shall be ‘man’.
I will create man who shall inhabit [the earth],
That the service of the gods may be established, and that [their] shrines [may be built].
But I will alter the ways of the gods, and I will change [their paths];
Though they are honoured as one, they shall be divided into two.”
And Ea answered him and spoke the word:
Expressing his comments on the resting of the gods,
“Let one brother of theirs be given up.
Let him perish that people may be fashioned.
Let the great gods assemble
And let the guilty one be given up that they may be confirmed.”
Marduk assembled the great gods,
Using gracious direction as he gave his order,
As he spoke the gods heeded him:
The king addressed a word to the Anunnaki,
“Your former oath was true indeed,
Now also tell me the solemn truth:
Who is the one who instigated warfare,
Who made Tiamat rebel, and set battle in motion?
Let him who instigated warfare be given up
That I may lay his punishment on him; but you sit and rest.”
The Igigi, the great gods, answered him,
That is, Lugaldimmerankia, the counsellor of the gods, the lord,
“Qingu is the one who instigated warfare,
Who made Tiamat rebel and set battle in motion.”
They bound him, holding him before Ea,
They inflicted the penalty on him and severed his blood-vessels.
From his blood Ea created mankind,
On whom he imposed the service of the gods, and set the gods free.
After the wise Ea had created mankind
And had imposed the service of the gods upon them—
That task is beyond comprehension
For Nudimmud performed the creation with the skill of Marduk—
King Marduk divided the gods,
All the Anunnaki into upper and lower groups.
He assigned 300 in the heavens to guard the decrees of Anu
And appointed them as a guard.
Next he arranged the organization of the netherworld.
In heaven and netherworld he stationed 600 gods.
After he had arranged all the decrees,
And had distributed incomes among the Anunnaki of heaven and netherworld,
The Anunnaki opened their mouths
And addressed their lord Marduk,
“Now, lord, seeing you have established our freedom
What favour can we do for you?
Let us make a shrine of great renown:
Your chamber will be our resting place in which we may repose.⁠a
Let us erect a shrine to house a pedestal
In which we may repose when we finish (the work).”
When Marduk heard this,
He beamed as brightly as the light of day,
“Build Babylon, the task you have sought.
Let bricks for it be moulded, and raise the shrine!”
The Anunnaki wielded the pick.
For one year they made the needed bricks.
When the second year arrived,
They raised the peak of Esagila, a replica of the Apsu.
They built the lofty temple tower of the Apsu
And for Anu, Enlil, and Ea they established its […] as a dwelling.
He sat in splendour before them,
Surveying its horns, which were level with the base of Esharra.
After they had completed the work on Esagila
All the Anunnaki constructed their own shrines.
300 Igigi of heaven and 600 of the Apsu, all of them, had assembled.
Bel seated the gods, his fathers, at the banquet
In the lofty shrine which they had built for his dwelling,
Saying, “This is Babylon, your fixed dwelling,
Take your pleasure here! Sit down in joy!”
The great gods sat down,
Beer-mugs were set out and they sat at the banquet.
After they had enjoyed themselves inside
They held a service in awesome Esagila.
The regulations and all the rules were confirmed:
All the gods divided the stations of heaven and netherworld.
The college of the Fifty great gods took their seats,
The Seven gods of destinies were appointed to give decisions.
Bel received his weapon, the bow, and laid it before them:
His divine fathers saw the net which he had made.
His fathers saw how skilfully made was the structure of the bow
As they praised what he had made.
Anu lifted it up in the divine assembly,
He kissed the bow, saying, “It is my daughter!”
Thus he called the names of the bow:
“Long Stick” was the first; the second was, “May it hit the mark.”
With the third name, “Bow Star”, he made it to shine in the sky,⁠b
He fixed its heavenly position along with its divine brothers.
After Anu had decreed the destiny of the bow,
He set down a royal throne, a lofty one even for a god,
Anu set it there in the assembly of the gods.
The great gods assembled,
They exalted the destiny of Marduk and did obeisance.
They invoked a curse on themselves
And took an oath with water and oil, and put their hands to their throats.
They granted him authority as King of Kings,⁠c
They confirmed him as lord of the gods of heaven and netherworld.
Anshar gave him his exalted name, Asalluhi
“At the mention of his name, let us show submission!
When he speaks, let the gods heed him,
Let his command be superior in upper and lower regions.
May the son, our avenger, be exalted,
Let his lordship be superior and himself without rival.
Let him shepherd the black-heads, his creatures,
Let them tell of his character to future days without forgetting.
Let him establish lavish food offerings for his fathers,
Let him provide for their maintenance and be caretaker of their sanctuaries,
Let him burn incense to rejoice their sanctums.
Let him do on earth the same as he has done in heaven:
Let him appoint the black-heads to worship him.
The subject humans should take note and call on their gods,
Since he commands they should heed their goddesses,
Let food offerings be brought for their gods and goddesses,
May they not be forgotten, may they remember their gods,
May they […] their […], may they […] their shrines.
Though the black-heads worship some one, some another god,
He is the god of each and every one of us!
Come, let us call the fifty names
Of him whose character is resplendent, whose achievement is the same.
Marduk, as he was named by his father Anu from his birth,
Who supplies pasturage and watering, making the stables flourish.
Who bound the boastful with his weapon, the storm flood,
And saved the gods, his fathers, from distress.
He is the son, the sun-god of the gods, he is dazzling,
Let them ever walk in his bright light.
On the peoples that he created, the living beings,
He imposed the service of the gods and they took rest.
Creation and annihilation, forgiveness and exacting the penalty
Occur at his command, so let them fix their eyes on him.
Marukka: he is the god who created them
Who put the Anunnaki at ease, the Igigi at rest.
Marutukku: he is the support of land, city, and its peoples,
From now on let the peoples ever heed him.
Mershakushu: fierce yet deliberating, angry yet relenting,
His mind is wide, his heart is all-embracing.
Lugaldimmerankia is the name by which we all called him,
Whose command we have exalted above that of the gods his fathers.
He is the lord of all the gods of heaven and netherworld,
The king at whose injunctions the gods in upper and lower regions shudder.
Narilugaldimmerankia is the name we gave him, the mentor of every god,
Who established our dwellings in heaven and netherworld in time of trouble,
Who distributed the heavenly stations between Igigi and Anunnaki,
Let the gods tremble at his name and quake on their seats.
Asalluhi is the name by which his father Anu called him,
He is the light of the gods, a mighty hero,
Who, as his name says, is a protecting angel for god and land,
Who by a terrible combat saved our dwelling in time of trouble.
Asalluhi-Namtilla they called him secondly, the life-giving god,
Who, in accordance with the form of his name, restored all the ruined gods,
The lord, who brought to life the dead gods by his pure incantation,
Let us praise him as the destroyer of the crooked enemies.
Asalluhi-Namru, as his name is called thirdly,
The pure god, who cleanses our character.”
Anshar, Lahmu, and Lahamu each called him by three of his names,
Then they addressed the gods, their sons,
“We have each called him by three of his names,
Now you call his names, like us.”
The gods rejoiced as they heard their speech,
In Ubshu-ukkinna they set [their dwelling].
Of the heroic son, their avenger, [they cried]:
“Of the provisioner, let us extol the name.”
They sat down in their assembly, summoning the destinies,
And with all due rites they called his name: