The Seven Tablets of Creation: The Enuma Elish

The Seven Tablets of Creation: The Enuma Elish centers on a poem etched on a series of clay tablets and tablet fragments that contain ancient Babylonian religious myths about the creation of the world. Though it is impossible to assign an accurate date to the writing of the myths, which are assumed to be around 4,000 years old, this particular compilation of the tablets and the accompanying commentary were first published in 1902. The British scholar Leonard William King compiled and translated this version. While King’s contribution within this volume is a non-fiction, linguistic examination of the Babylonian creation myths, the heart of the book is the Babylonian poem, one of the oldest religious sagas in existence. This study guide will summarize and analyze both the Enuma Elish poetry and the background material included by King.

Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation poem itself, and King’s book, the Seven Tablets of Creation, are both in the common domain, meaning that multiple versions are available. To best follow the study guide, readers will want to use the Kindle version. Other versions, both print and digital, occasionally omit page numbers and do not clearly delineate between the sections of the book.

Plot Summary

Leonard William King begins The Seven Tablets of Creation with an involved Preface that details previous work on translating the Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation myth poem, which he refers to as the Creation Series.