Gendered Old Age in the Enuma Elish
Dubsar, this thread is for you. The reference is the following: Harris, Rivkah (2000) Gender and Agin in Mesopotamia - The Gilgamesh Epic and Other Ancient Literature. University o Oklahoma Press, Norman.
It is a pleasure to start posting on this article, which I am doing now, but was going to in the Board because the material is excellent and unique.
Hope you like it as much as I do!
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Enuma Elish was a remarkable attempt to understand the universe and the human condition, as well as a myth that can be probed for information and insight on the issue of aging and the old in Ancient Mesopotamia: not only intergenerational conflict, but also the little-known Mesopotamian attitude toward the aging patterns of men and women - or more accurately, the views and attitudes held by the authors of the myth and perhaps the scribal trained elite. Certain assumptions should be noted here befre turning to an examination of the myth.
The old obviously constituded only a small portion of society and ageism (the devaluation of the elderly) was probbly common, as it has been and continues to be in many societies, despite the ideal of respecting the old. I presume that myths reflect and refract the world the author(s) lived in and perhaps their own life experiences. Myths thend to generalize, symbolize and make the particular exemplary. Stated somewhat differently, the Enuma Elish depicts emblematic representations and prevailing stereotypes of old men and old women that incorporate the views and biases of the ancient authors.
...
Especially useful in studying the issue of gendered old age has been the pioneering work of David Gutmann, a life-cycle developmental psychologist. He finds that male endowement of aggression is not fixed over the entire life span... but declined with age. He notes morevoer that in later life, women can become for men the embodiment of that eternal threat; they can present the aggressive visage that men come to deny in themselves. As for younger men, Gutmann observes not only do they enjoy agressiveness, but they also take pleasure from being a source of security and provision to others, from the contentment and love of their dependents. Older men, by contrast, derive their pleasure more and more directly on the productive efforts of others in their behalf, on the affections of others towards them, and on the satisfaction of their own appetites for tasty food, pleasant sights and soothing sounds... The older men draws his psychological sustenance from his own receptors - mouth, eyes, sking, ears - as well as from outer sources of strength: the reliable providers of satisfaction and security who cater to his senses and to his wish for security. One can perceive even from these few observations the insight they offer , especially into the myth´s description of the relationship between young Marduk and his elders.
Next, insomnia, a condition of the old age and Apsu. Yes, this is a brilliant piece and a pleasure to pass it on to you!
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Gendered Old Age in the Enuma Elish 1- Insomnia
One hould not overlook the ongoing complaint by the old gods about their interrupted sleep and their need for rest. For example, Apsu complains to Tiamat:"Their [the young gods´ behavior] is noisome to me! By day I have no rest, at night I do not sleep!". This should perhaps be viewed in the light of the prevalence of insomnia, which modern researchers have found increases with age. Recent studies of sleep disorders have shown that sleep fragmentation characterizes many elderly people. It appears to be a perennial problem of aging.
Enuma Elish is obviously biased in favor of the young Marduk. As noted by P. Michalowski, if Enuma Elish is about anything at all, it is about the exaltation of Marduk, the city god of Babylon, to the head of the pantheon. The bias in favor of the young over the old is common in Sumerian and Akkadian myths. It is therefore not surprising that ambivalence is expressed, if only subtly and indirectly, toward the old gods.
The wisdom of Marduk´s father, Ea/Nudimmud, and all his advice and assistance are important and helpful. These functions generally remain a significant contribution of the old to the young in traditional societies. But what is emphasized in different ways over and over again are the incapacities of the old male gods, their dependency and loss of status, especially when faced with the challenge of Tiamat.
Lishtar´s Note: Tiamat, on the contrary, appears as the irrepressible archenemy. A powerful granny Goddess! She never loses power, although She is defeated in the end by Marduk. However, Tiamat is never helpless, and does put on a mighty fight. ...
Which we are going to see next in detail...
best,
Lishtar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Re: Gendered Old Age in the Enuma Elish
The recently published Tablet II vividly underlines these fears and inadequacies. First Ea and then Anu attempt to confront Tiamat but both return too horrified to act. It is the young Marduk who helps dispel fear and provides the needed security.
"When Anshar saw him (Marduk), his heart was filled with joyful feelings; he kissed his lips, he vanished his gloom"
Earlier, Ea had calmed him.
"When Anshar heard Ea´s soothing words, calming speech, it pleased him, he calmed down." So important is the reassuring function of the youg for the old that the 19th of Marduk´s fifty names is "the one who dispels the benumbing fear from the elder gods."
The focus in the myth is on the psychological aspect of agin rather than on the physiological changes. The coping responses of the old gods are restricted and ineffective. Ead had been able to easily dispose of Apsu when he had been younger, before the birth of Marduk, his son. But he cannot face Tiamat when he ages, any more than can his father Anu. The old gods (Lishtar´s note: old consciousness and old order), having lost their competitive aggressiveness, allow Marduk to move into a position of ascendency. They still have power, but it is inadequate to the task of aggressive action.
Now, old godmen talk alot in the Enuma Elish talk a lot and do little. Orality appears to be a crucial dimension of the diurnal waking experience of older men. Depression, adds scholar Gutmann, is an emotional disorder that is a frequent side effect of the oral character.
Signs fo Depression in the Enuma Elish:
Anshar became despondent and looked down
Painfully, he (Ea) became faint, like the one who lapses into silence he sat down
He Anshar smote his loins and he bit his lips...
Next, banquets and merriment and wines and beer and the gods.
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Re: Gendered Old Age in the Enuma Elish
Hi Lish, Dubsar, Frank & everyone else!
Ok... I know with Dubsar here we've raised the bar considerably as to the importance for academic accuracy and rigor in our thoughts. However, please excuse the ramblings of one who sometimes speaks off the cuff from intuitions that may not, at the present time, have sound referential support. My way of thinking things out is to often speak my thoughts, musings and ideas out loud (or write them) as a way of then being able to look at them objectively afterwards. And if there's anything I have learned thus far in my training through FOI, it's to not allow my voice to be silenced!
So, having said that, I wanted to add a quick comment to your post the other day, Lish:
Lishtar´s Note: Tiamat, on the contrary, appears as the
irrepressible archenemy. A powerful granny Goddess!
She never loses power, although She is defeated in the
end by Marduk. However, Tiamat is never helpless, and
does put on a mighty fight. ...
And my note to that would be that I **love** how you addressed the whole issue of Tiamat and Marduk in "The Healing of the Enuma Elish" on Gateways. As an unabashed feminist, IMHO, it is right on!
I also agree with you about mythic time: that centuries or even millenia may be compressed to one or two lines of a myth.... The topic of oral culture, which you bring up, is a very important one to consider in relation to this, as we have no idea how long these epics were passed on by word of mouth before they were actually written down... As one who studied a fair amount of linguistics in graduate school I have observed and taken part in long-winded discussions on the effects of orality and literacy on various cultures.
From what I have learned and read thus far in my personal study of Sumeria (which is still limited, but growing), it seems that only a few select members of ancient Mesopotamian society were literate: scribes, scribes-in-training, priestesses and priests, and royalty (of course, all members of these groups were not necessarily literate). Therefore, it would seem that the majority of Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian mythic lore was orally transmitted.
Where am I going with this somewhat disjointed assortment of words??? ( I'm still thinking about that myself) I guess it would be that perhaps it's time to undertake an analysis of these works (especially the earliest Sumerian ones - which are my focus of study) from the standpoint of an oral culture just beginning to move into literate thinking.
In consideration of that, in your description of the "psychological aspects of aging" in the [Enuma Elish] myth, my impression is that in describing the "restricted and ineffective coping responses" and "the loss of competitive aggressiveness" of the 'old gods' the stage has been set for the ascendency of Marduk and the increasing dethroning of the old (meaning Sumerian) pantheon.
Hmmmm, and again, thinking as I type (a very dangerous thing to do sometimes ) it seems to me that by killing Tiamat and (re)-creating the known world from it, the implicit statement is that "the old order is history and is no longer the basis of our world (how we will live our lives). What I am creating is how the world will now be seen."
Ok... that's more my .02 worth. Time to sit back and watch the fireworks!
Re: Gendered Old Age in the Enuma Elish
What do we have a message board if not for the fireworks??? To research intutions and see them as proved fact??? Even if Dubsar and Frank and John (one of the brilliant quiet ones) raise their eyes heavenwards and take loooooooong deep breaths with some of the posts we do here... yeah, Melissa, it is for you and me. Manna and Bendis are probably wiser... and the silent girls as well...
Guys, keep on doing your job ... and we keep on doing OURS... and may we all keep doing ANE with style!!!!
Thougths on Gendered Old Age are from Professor Rivkah Harris. She is brilliant. This book is unique in so many aspects and it is great to share her ideas with you. Melissa, I will add my bits and pieces later on the myth
I side with Tiamat (*chuckles I see there is nooooo surprise in the circle????)And have references to tell you why. As well. New world order, first dragon slayer.
Writing The Healing of the Enuma Elish (in myth retellings, so not from the cuneiform was hard on me. I did it in 1996, one of my first forays into myth retelling. The hardest myth workings are the ones that teach one most as well. It is dedicated to Shemhazai of Babyloniaca because Shem is Babylonian, and Bel Murro as well.
Now, I go on to Professor Harris´ insights. Which get better and better as she moves towards Tiamat.
I bow to her wisdom and pass it on to you!!!
Let the fireworks begin!
Ain´t we fun too???? We should be!!! And we are!!!
cyberhugs,
Lishtar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Re: Gendered Old Age in the Enuma Elish
Thorkild Jacobsen has commented on the banquets of the gods, observing that "important discussions originated when teh gods were in their cups. Wine and beer were evidently necessary to lift the spirit out of humdrum existence of everyday cares to original thought and perspectives" (Lishtar´s Note: here we have Professor Jacobsen´s nihilism again... sighs Sometimes I guess he goes too far and negative . Professor Harris finds another dimension in the lines describing one of the gods´feasts:
"They kissed each other in the assembly. They conversed and then they sat down for the banquet. Let them eat grain, drink fine beer. They poured the sweet liquor down their throats. Drinking beer, feeling good, they became quite carefree, their mood was high" (III-133-137)
We have here described the satisfaction and pleasure of the appetite for tasty food, the ortal pleasures which replaced the joy of battle and violence. Fighting was no holiday for the old, as it was for young men, as the Poem of Erra put it.
The depiction of Tiamat is far more interesting, detailed and complex. Jacobsen notes the ambiguous attitude expressed toward her. He observes that at first her motherliness is emphasized and later she is treated as the archenemy. I would account for this ambiguity by suggesting that Tiamat is first encountered as a young woman in her childbearing years. At this time, tolerant and forgiving, she is totally opposed to decimation of the young gods, her offspring. The younger Tiamat resigns herself to her spouse´s death for the sake of the children. In the earlier period, the positive image of the goddess is underlined by ther epithet elletu or pure.
----
Outstanding, isn´t it????
Tomorrow... it gets even better...
I doubt there is a better mythological interpretation of the Enuma Elish written so far in Assyriology. Cross-cultural anthropological data and sociological patterns in old age as well the Mesopotamian treatment of the old though myths are masterfully put together.
Enuma Elish is not my fave myth, but I grew to understand it much better with the flawless interpretation of Prof. Harris.
best,
Lishtar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Re: Gendered Old Age in the Enuma Elish
But later the older Tiamat does an about-face. She is now ready to avenge Apsu´s killing. In the portrayal of the of the older Tiamat we find the ubiquitous stereotype of the old woman as crone and witch. This emblematic representation, I suspect , not only mirror the view of the ancient author(s) but as other sources suggest probably reflects the larger cultural misogynistic attitude of male Mesopotamians. Positive images of older women are found in Mesopotamian literature, where maternal (both literally and figuratively) older women act as mediators and intercessors on behalf of men, especially their sons. The goddess Damkina, the only other female mentioned in the Enuma Elish, is the ideal mother, focused on her son, passively remaining in the background. She is as a mother ought to be, dependent and restrained.
Tiamat is a prime example of the negative stereotype. The increased assertiveness and independence of older women (especially of widows) make for their association in many societies with witchcraft and other nefarious practices. Elderly women frequently have to contend with the double whammy fo ageism and sexism.
Gutmann found ample evidence in ethnographic studes that women do not replicate but instead reverse the order of male aging... Across cultures, and with age, they (older women) seem to become more authoritative, more effective, and less willing to trade submission for security. Gutmann describes "the essence of the healthy, capable older woman : adventurous, expansive, self-asserting. By contrast, old men stress their self-control, their friendly adaptability and even their passivity... Older men seek to control their spontaneous urges, older women appear to seek out opportunities for vigorous action... older men strive for quiescence and comfort. Their psychological defences do not facilitate overt action but replace it with inhibitions. He later addes that it may be that the older woman... realizes two fantasies in later life - the dream of union with the oedipal lover and the dream of being made whole, both feminine and masculine. Gutmann´s description of the older woman is remarkable for Tiamat.
The older male gods of the Enuma Elish are characterized by passivity and timidity, whereas the older Tiamat is a virago. When She springs into action, as Michalowski notes, She is Mother Hubur, mother noise. The metaphor of noise establishes a privileged position for the concept of creation, activity, independence. Tiamat becomes a monster mother who creates monster war machines to destroy her children and descendants. And many lines repeated several times are devoted to her terrifying creations. It is noteworthy that in the descriptions of the monsters She creates is mentioned the phrase "instead of blood, she filled their bodies with venom". Tiamat is the prototypal venomous woman, who is an image of fear of female power to deceive and destroy men. Not only her creation, but Tiamat herself is full of venom.
Tiamat, a far more formidable opponent than was Apsu, asserts her authority in a masculine fashion:
She installed him (Kingu) on a large kurru throne
She prepared for battle against the gods, her own offspring,
She called an assembly
Fighting battles is a sex-specific skill and activity in Mesopotamia, yet Tiamat engages in it. She instigates the revolt against the gods. When Kingu´s never fails him on seeing Marduk, Tiamat does not waver or turn back. The vituperation and vehemence directed toward Tiamat are remarkably strong. In her one-on-one confrontation with young Marduk, she is derided: She has become like an ecstatic ... she has lost her reason. Reference is made to her ferocity and fury or "she rages furiously" and Tiamat who was fuming with rage. In addition, her proclivity toward evil and deceit is noted:
She conceived an evil plan
You have fully established your evil plan aginst the gods my fathers.
Yet Tiamat´s power is recognized as the recently published Tablet II found in the Neo-Babylonian Shamash temple clearly indicates: Her might is enourmous, she is imbued with terror, she is altogether mighty, none can go against her.
Listhar´s Note: feminine power and rage is always a terribel view for patriarchy. It seems that the louder women shout, the more demonized they are.
Next, Professor Harris´ views on the final confrontation of the valient Granny and the first dragon slayer in western history.
best,
Lishtar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Re: Gendered Old Age in the Enuma Elish
Anu and Ea both turn back from confronting Tiamat. Both try to belittle her strength, for a woman is not as strong as a man. But only the young, energetic Marduk will be able to defeat the aggressive, old goddess.
Her battle with Marduk can of course have only one outcome. Her powerful masculinity threatens male control, which is intolerable. It is not surprising that thre is special emphasis on her repulsiveness and a strong need to dehumanize her, for thereby She is reduced in status. E. Cassin has remarked that Marduk combats Tiamat with a net, and she is thus seen as a wild animal to be hunted rather than as an equal. Far more lines are devoted to her killing than to that of her husband, Apsu. And there is a particular vehemence in the words describing her slaying:"Go out and cut the throat of Tiamat" and " Let him (Marduk) subdue Tiamat, constrict and choke her". After killing Tiamat, Marduk inspects her body to cut "the monstruous form". Marduk splits her corpse into 2 parts like a fish split for drying. The primal mother becomes the raw material for the formation of the universe. The male god decides the form; the goddess contributes the matter, thereby losing her form (and her individuality).
Once Tiamat has been disposed of, the initiative earlier attributed to her is transferred to Kingu:"He caused Tiamat to rebel and set up the battle array", and so he is punished.
Enuma Elish is a male myth, exalting male order, male rule, male relationships, male power and creativity. There was no place for a powerful assertive goddess.
The very one-sided misogynistic depiction of the old goddess Tiamat relates to her "masculine" behaviour which threatened patriarchal norms. But a far more balanced perspective of the roles and status of older women emerges from the evidence of a variety of other sources.
Chapter 5 ends here.
Next, Tiamat and the end of a world era (from The Myth of the Goddess)
regards,
Lishtar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Re: Regard for Old Age
I hope to contribute to this thread after I finish grading papers and exams. We know of some real (not mythological)elderly people at Nippur. In the meantime, let me just mention Rivkah Harris' positive review of The Care of the Elderly in the Ancient Near East, edited by M. Stol and S.P. Vleeming. This appeared in JNES 60 (2001), 157f. It appears to be quite a useful book to judge from Prof. Harris' review. I have much respect for Marten Stol, a major contributor. Ray Westbrook also makes important contributions in the book. I put this notice here since I thought that it was relevant although perhaps it belongs under the thread on Books.
Re: Regard for Old Age
Thanks a million, Dubsar, for the new reference, and we all are waiting for you posts from the old in real Nippur! Eager to know of them!!!! I will check your reference in Eisenbrauns
Meanwhile, I will continue posting asides on creation myths involving The First Victim by eminent Jungian analyst Marie-Louise von Franz and the extracts on the Enuma Elish by Cashford and Baring.
best regards,
Lishtar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
From Creation Myths - revised edition, published by Shambhala, Boston and London, 1995, written by Dr. Marie-Louise von Franz.
Enjoy! (extracted frin oage 154)
The motif of the First Victim is also found in the Enuma Elish, where chaos, the monster Mother Goddess Tiamat is slain by Marduk; out of her corpse the world is created. She is the first victim. Here the victim is not the God, but the Goddess. ... Thus, the act of creation is treated as a sacrificial act, in which the first Goddess is the victim. The idea is that the material from which the world is created is a divine victim. ...
Page 158
If we make a survey of these first victims, we see that they belong to a second local myth of creation, and that they correspond to the passive side. The idea is already contained in the word victim, the one who does not continue to exist, or is reduced or cut up. The first victim belongs to a former appearance which has now disappeared. We must now ask ourselves what this motif of the destruction of a gigantic form or humanlike being means psychologically. The meaning is relatively transparent: the most passive is destroyed for the sake of the further development of consciousness.
...
Every bit of progress in consciousness, every creative process, every widening and changing of the conscious attitude first destroys a primitive original totality and a certain balance within the whole system. Because we look at the conscious-unconscious psyche as being a relatively closed, self-regulating system, it is understandable that such processes always split it up. Whenever this primeval giant who represents the totality is destroyed, there are, with one exception, figures of destroyers who are gods. In the case of Tiamat, it is great-great-nephew Marduk who, with the help of the wind, tears her to pieces and builds the world anew with the slain parts of Tiamat´s body.
Lishtar´s Note: remember that the body of the slain god/dess - Tiamat in the Enuma Elish -lives on and creates the new world. Life therefore for the Babylonians is still a Feminine phenomenon, even with Tiamat technically defeated and slain. But male Marduk only organizes life out of Tiamat´s body, very differently. Marduk does not give birth to life, as Nammu did to the Skyfather and the Earth Mother in the earlier Eridu Model of Creation.
I would risk the educated guess that Marduk represents the empire-building order of the Iron Bronze Age, where the creator god makes creation as something separated from himself. The first hero and dragon slayer represents the organizer of heaven and heart, whereas the Skygod was the Sky, the Mother Goddess the Living Earth. Marduk recreates the world not out of his own body, but sets the standards for the new organization. Organizing is very different from being. We have here the separation that we know as spirit and nature.
As sad as this is, we moved on to a further stage in human consciousness.
Next, Baring and Cashford´s views on the Enuma Elish. Not so gloomy, so read on!
regards,
Lishtar
"You yourself are even another little world, and have within you the sun and the moon and also the stars." (Origen)
best always,
Lishtar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
The Myth of the Goddess by Baring and Cashford
In the next coming days I will post here the views of Jungian analysts Anne Baring and J. Cashford on the Enuma Elish. The Myth of the Goddess is one of the most complete and well-researched works on the Divine Feminine in general, and the book was published by Arkana, a branch of Penguin in 1990.
Chapter 7 deals with the Enuma Elish and the chapter on InanaIshtar is to be commended. The only restriction that I would raise about this book is that both analysts analyze the DumuziTammuz myth within the framework of the Goddess-son Lover duo, and this assumption has been totally imploded now with the concept of the Non-Maternal Dynamic Feminine.
I was almost ~given~ this book. Caroline Wise of Atlantis bookshop, the oldest occult bookshop in the world, wanted me to have it and sold it to me half price , cutting down the price even more because she said the book was second-hand. It wasn`t. But she knew me at that time already, always getting the books that I could afford... and always coming back for more!
Enjoy the wisdom of two great goddess scholars next!
best,
Lishtar
Re: The Myth of the Goddess by Baring and Cashford
Chapter 7 of the Myth of the Goddess is called Tiamat, the Defeat of the Goddess.
The historical thesis defended by the authors is that the Iron Age, which began ca. 1250 BCE, saw the completion of the process begun in the Bronze Age, in which numinosity was transferred from the Mother Goddess to the Father God. The Enuma Elish is therefore the first story of the replacing of a mother goddess who generates creation as part of HerSelf by a god who makes creation as something separate of himself. All the myths of the Iron Age in which a sky or sun god or hero conquers a great serpent or dragon can be traced to this Babylonian epic, in which humanity was created from the blood of a sacrificed god and no longer from the womb of the primordial goddess. Its influence can be followed through Hittite, Assyrian, Persian, Canaanite, Hebrew, Greek and Roman mythology.
In the earlier goddess-oriented cultures, the conception of the relation between creator and creation was expressed in the image of the Mother as the eternal source, giving birth to the son/living earth as the All-Mother.
Now the father god establishes a position of supremacy in relation to a mother goddess and he is gradually transformed into the consortless god of the three patriarchal religiouns known to us today: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The god is then the sole primal creator, where before the goddess had been the source of life. The god is the maker of heaven and earth, whereas the goddess and gods were both imanent and transcendent.
Thus, dualism and separation from the Divine are established for the first time. Nature, as the all father rises, is no more spiritual, and spirit is no longer natural, but outside or beyond it. Another twist occurs: spirit then becomes the source of nature, or the opposite of the all-fruitful Mother Nature.
We can see these myths are stories told by humanity at different stages of its evolution, both of which explore different ways of being in the universe.
The point is that the Judeo-Xtian tradition of our days has absorbed the duality, and affirms it as the all-truth.
This is page one of a very exciting chapter. The book itself is about 780 pages long. A tour-de-force for sure. Easy to read because of the passion and scholarship. In the tradition of Jungians best.
Delighted to share this wisdom with you...
regards,
Lishtar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Re: The Myth of the Goddess by Baring and Cashford
The Babylonian Epic of Creation
The mythological roots of all three patriarchal religions descend from the Enuma Elish, which was known all over the ancient world. The oldest story in which a hero-god conqueres a dragon is Sumerian, but the Babylonian Epic, with its greater ferocity, is the one that caught the imagination of the Iron Age.
The Enuma Elish was not to remain a local nature myth, for its immense popularity carried it far beyond its original boundaries. The violent image of conquest in the Enuma Elish is the paradigm of the iron age as one of conflict between the older mythology of the mother goddess and the new myths fo the Aryan and Semitic father gods. The father gods struggled for supremacy in Mesopotamia, Persia, India, Anatolia, Canaan and Greece, and less obviously, in Egypt. But Marduk was the first god to vanquish the mother goddess and take her palce as creator of life.
The epic offers the earliest evidence of a complete inversion of the mythology of the earlier era. Instead of the goddess sacrificing her son-lover, the goddess is herself sacrificed by a being of her own creation: the young god, her great-great-great-grandson. We know of the epic from tablets unearthed in 1848 from the library of Assurbanipal, the last king of Assyria, who immolated himself in the flames of his palace in 626 BCE, but it dates to the era of 1,000 years earlier, when Semitic Amorite Hammurabian dynasty came to power in Babylonia about 1750 BCE. The first mention of the epic comes in a tablet of about 1580 BC. It is a myth created by a young people, newly come to the experience of political power. The language and imagery are abrasive, not yet enriched or mellowed by insight and wisdom, and contrast stridently with the tone of the older Sumerian myths.
Follows next a long and detailed description of the Enuma Elish. I will skip then the details we all know and stop in the excellent psychological insights into the narrative.
The piece of the Enuma Elish being a myth created by a young people newly come to political power is priceless
best and bye for now,
Lishtar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Re: From the Myth of the Goddess
The epic of the conquest of the primordial Mother Goddess by the sky, wind and sun god Marduk coincides with the final stage of the Sumero-Babylonian civilization, which was marked by the decline of its culture and an ever-increasing emphasis on war and conquest, leading to the growth of an empire. Perhpas it tells and vindicates the actual story of the Babylonian conquest of South and Central Mesopotamia, with power now shifting to Babylon. ...
It certainly registers the final end of the earlier cultural phase in which the religion of the Mother Goddess, known as Nammu or Ninmah, whose image in Sumer was both the sea and a great serpent, may now have become the demoness-mother-dragon Tiamat. The defeat of Timat may have served to discredit the Sumerian mother land, which is now portrayed as threatening and evil in the image of the dragon worthy of destruction. Marduk takes the Tablets of the Law from Tiamat, and this may signify the transfer of political control from Sumer to Babylon, and of religious power from the Mother Goddess to the young god.
Lishtar´s Note: this is a very summarized and simplistic view which should be carefully filled up with material from the cuneiform and the view of modern scholars, especially the feminist Assyriologist. Mesopotamia was gendered-defined, but it was never a matriarchy. However, sex did not limit power and the existence of countless goddesses indicates a much more balanced view of godwomen and human women as a consequence.
Back to Baring and Cashford:
Creation, as the myths of other cultures suggest, does not have to be imagined in only one way. Fragments of other creation myths exist in which the creation of the world and humanity is not associated with the death of a dragon, and takes place by the act of a goddess, ora goddess and god, or by all the goddesses and gods working in concert. ...
Nevertheless, the Enuma Elish was the creation myth that prevailed over all others, and its popularity endured through Babylonian, Assyrian, Hittite civilizations. It strongly influenced the Hebrew myth of creation. From about 1700 BC, for over 1000 years, it ws recited in Babylon at the time of the Spring Equinox in the Festival of New Year, the Akitu.
Lishtar´s Note: refer to the texts in Gateways describing the Sumerian Akitu and the Babylonian one. In the Sumerian Akitu, the gods came down to earth to live in their cities. In the Babylonian Akitu, we have the Enuma Elish being recited as part of celebrations.
Enuma Elish is the earliest example of what might be called priestly politics, whereby the mythology of an earlier age and culture is completely inverted sot aht the divinities of the previous era are named demons and the divinities of the new order are exaltaed to a position of supremacy. The Enuma Elish replaces the old lunar order by the solar one, and the victory of the solar god creates a new way of living, a new way of relating to the divine by identifying with the god´s power of conquest, the victory over darkness that the sun wins each dawn.
As Joseph Campbell says, "not only a new social order but also a new psychology... a new structure of human thought and feeling, overinterpreted as of cosmic search. We have now entered a theatre of myth that the rational, non-mystic mind can comprehend without aid, where the art of politics, the art of gaining power over men, recived for all time its celestial model".
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Re: Gendered Old Age in the Enuma Elish
Lishtar´s Note: Pay attention to the brilliant analysis of the Enuma Elish, which encompasses history and religion and the deep understanding of the archetypical imagery of previous era and the new one which is being given birth.
This is the use of trained imagination in context, a technique used by all Mystery Schools. It is based on facts and the deeper understanding of metaphors. It does not contradict science, because it is both science and art, although the language used by Mystery Schools is heavier in metaphor and subtleties.
The use of metaphor by the great mystics survives scientific scrutiny. From the views of the mystics contemplating the skies at night, the powers of nature were interpreted as gods and goddesses, who came to dwell in the cities of the old, because Their Flame had been born in the hearts, minds and souls of Their peoples. Jacobsen would agree with this.
The beauty of such reasonings is what we call Mystery. Which is not secret, but the experience of the Inneffable that is the birth-right of the human mind, body, heart and soul.
"As above So below", or if you want to go Mesopotamian before Hermes Trismegistus, you can say "From the Great Above to the Great Below". A cosmic image that reflects the beauties and Mysteries (not secrets) of the Many who is also One and the One who encompasses the Many.
And this is why any Mystery teaching and Jungian psychology in special requires much self-analysis and maturity before someone starts on the Path.
The monumental works of Joseph Cambpell and Mircea Eliade are of paramoutn importance to appreciate the ancient mind in context. Jung, naturally, always.
I never cease to return to them in my shelves. And add with joy, some tears as well as the smile beyond them plus the Cabala and Mesopotamian sources... all the time. This is the work of a modern Hermeticist, who adores Mesopotamia and listens to call in the Soul.
best,
Lishtar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
The new paradigm of consciousness (1)
by Baring and Cashford, page 281
The effects of this split in consciousness between the old and the new orders, expressed here as a conflict between a goddess and a god, can be traced through the Iron Age down to our own culture. The mythic model of the older goddess culture was one of relationship between every aspect of creation, and this expressed the way the people of that time experienced the universe. From now on, the mythic model of the new culture ruled by a male deity is of mastery and control, expressing the desire to shape and order what has been created. The increasing power to influence the environment was matched by the power to extend tribal territory through war and conquest, assisted by the horse and the war chariot. The new paradigm of the Iron Age reflects what had become primarily a warrior´s experience of life: it was heroic, combative and aggressive, since the emphasis was on victory in battle and acquisition through conquest. At the same time, the new image also reflects a growing sense of individuality as men *but not women) discovered a great ability to determine their fate and to win the acclaim and devotion of other men. The king or leader had begun to manifest himself in the Bronze Age, but reaches a clear definition in the Iron Age. The experience and voice of women of that time are not so audible nor so distinctive as they had been in the Bronze Age.
These changes were reflected in the new interpretation given to old images. One of the most archaic images of the awesome creative and destructive force of the goddess was the lion, whereas the bull was the image of created life that had annually to be sacrificed for its own renewal. The image of the lion killing the bull was an image of this perennial necessity. The lion´s relation with the goddess had persisted through the ages down to the lion throne of Mary, though by this time the fearful dimension had fallen away and the image points only to the strength of the unvanquishable life that continually renews itself.
Often the goddess is shown standing on a lion, or She sits in a chariot drawn by lions. However, with the rise of the god culture, the lion´s power was co-opted by the god, who is also imaged in the sun. The king, who in his turn incarnated the power of the god, then assumes the images of lion and sun in his own person and role. At this point, the image of the lion killing the bull takes on a different meaning. It signifies the solar religion of the sky gods overcoming the lunar religion of the goddess, a symbolic re-enactment of Marduk´s conquest of Tiamat. Implicitly therefore in the language of imagery, the new solar lion appropriates the mstery of creation. More generally in mythology of the Iron Age, sky becomes exalted over earth, and the paradign of opposition an conflict grips the consciousness of humanity. In the Code of Hammurabi, he says that Anu and Bel (Marduk) had called unto him, the pious prince, ... "to go forth like the sun over the human race to illuminate the land and to further the welfare of mankind..."
In the Enuma Elish there is already the germ of three principal ideas that were to inform the age to come: supremacy of the father god over the mother goddess; the pradigm of opposition implicit in the deathly struggle between god and goddess, and the associations of light, order and good with the god, and of darkness, chaos and evil with the goddess. This was also expressed in the polarization of spirit and nature, mind and body, the one divine and good, the other fallen and evil. This opposition was extended to the categorization of gender in all aspects of life, instead of following the earlier model of differentiation and complementarity. When this opposition was crudely oversimplified, as it often was, the male aspect of life became identified with spirit, light, order and mind, which were good, and the female aspect of life became identified with nature, darkness, chaos and the body, which were evil. This divinely sanctioned opposition led, to the related idea of the holy war, the war of the forces of good against the forces of evil.
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This chapter gets even better in the next 2 1/2 pages. For Mesopotamia, I guess we could fill out that the role of the bull was not as destructive, because we have the Mother Goddess as the Sacred Cow mating with him for the fruition of the eart. Because the beginning was Goddess represented in Nammu the Sea according to the Eridu Model of Creation, and both sexes were represented in the pantheon. The pattern of complementarity which was more clear in Sumer though, starts to be totally inverted with the Enuma Elish. Frymer-Kensky and Baring and Cashford constitute therefore fundamental reading to understand better how patriarchy came into being.
Hope you enjoy these texts. For me, it has been a delight to go through this great work of mythology and ancient world paradigms focused on the feminine.
best,
Lishtar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Re: The new paradigm of consciousness (2)
As the position of the father god in the Iron Age became increasingly secure and supreme, the mythologies based on the imagery of the sky and solar god were interpreted by the various priesthoods as divine revelation, and so they have remained to this day. As there was one sun, so there would be one saviour, who is the supreme god, the god of the gods - not the One that is an image of unity, but the One who stands above and alone. Marduk´s desire for his word alone to prevail would find its historical legacy in Yahweh´s words:"I am the first and I am the last; and beside me there is no God" (Isa. 44:6). Few people are aware of the disparate influences that combined to create the Judaic and Xtian revelation, and the historical pressures that led to the evolution of a monotheist religion with a supreme father god. It is not generally known, for instance, that Babylonia provided the seminal ideas that shaped the mythic imagery of Persian, Zoroastrian, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Consequently, the fact that there was an earlier understanding that assumred the essential identity of nature and spirit was eventually forgotten.
The importance of this change in imagery cannot be overemphasized for it has influenced the Judeo-Christian view of nature, matter and whatever else has been defined as feminine, and it has structured our paradigm images in mythology, religion, literature, science and psychology. Here, in its earliest formulation, the idea is precisely articulated and embodied in myth: that what is feminine is chaotic, destructive, demonic and to be feared and mastered. This complex of ideas was reinforced in early Christianity, particularly by Paul and the early Christian Fathers, and can be found today in the doctrinal reluctance to ordain women as priestesses. More widely, it may go some way to explain the characteristic disregard that we nowadays have for Mother Earth.
When the values of an ancient culture are overlaid by those of another, the despised values do not, as we used to think, vanish into the past and , as it were, cease to be. They fall rather into the consciousness of the race, where they continue to influence the conscious psyche, but not as finely or effectively as when there is a constructive dialogue held in full consciousness. Because the rejected values are now unconscious, the tendency is rather to obstruct: to be either too weak to have any effect or to exaggerate, so at either point there is distortion.
best,
Lishtar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Re: The new paradigm of consciousness (3)
The terms feminine and masculine, female and male have been given so many different nuances of meaning down the ages have been the repository of so much unconscious projection that they are now utterly ambiguous until a context is provided. Although in a sense this whole discussion is about opening up the possibilities of meaning of these ideas and to mention them only briefly here risks trivializing them, it none the less seems necessary at this point to emphasize that we intend the terms feminine and masculine to refer to a way of being or a mode of consciousness available to both men and women. Yin and yang, receptive and active, would be, perhaps, their most generic formulation. As ideas, they are in themselves descriptive terms, not evaluative. Jung´s idea of archetypes is invaluable here, for it allows us to talk about the archetypal feminine in men and the archetypal masculine in women, often as a way of getting around the conceptual language at either the abstract or the personal level.
Great, isn´t it?
As for myself, I have always been a martial/masculine woman... with long currls and very happy with being a girl!
best,
Lishtar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Re: The new paradigm of consciousness (4)
The archetypal feminine is redered in mythology as the figure of the goddess, who was originally androginous, that is, she was both female and male in the metaphorical sense that she was both the womb and the generative force that seeded new forms of life within it, which she brought forth as the universe. In the Neolithic metaphor, the goddess was heaven, earth and the waters beneath the earth (Lishtar´s Note: Nammu was the Primordial Great Mother, the Ever-Existent Waters of the Sea - Eridu Model of Creation). In a later Mesopotamian metaphor, when the archetypal masculine image of generation had separated from the archetypal feminine vessel, the goddess was Earth and the god was Sky. In Egypt, the goddess was heaven and the god was earth. In modern Germany and Japan, the moon is masculine and the sun is feminine. These countries are normally referred to as fatherland instead of motherland . However, there has never been a Father Nature ! (This is Cashford´s and Baring, not Lish ) While these differences are significant for an understanding of different cultural orientations, they are mentioned here to point out that the terms feminine and masculine, female and male are highly evocative, and it is very important to be clear as to when, how and why they are being used.
In the Iron Age, as suggested above, these terms became fixed and absolute and were assigned definite values. What was feminine was the dragon-mother, the earth, darkness, chaos, confusion, nature as the emptied spirit. What was masculine was the sky-father, the heaven, and sun, light, order, clarity, spirit as freed from nature. That these simplistic assignations of value, originating four millennia ago, are only recently being challenged on a wide scale indicates how deeply they have entered into our culture without our noticing. When we come to the hero myth, for instance, the original stories undoubtedly meant the hero to be masculine in the rewardingly simple sense of being a man. The symbolic significance of the hero myths for us, on the other hand, is that the hero is the embodiment of the archetypal masculine in all human beings - the questioning consciousness in search of a goal.
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I find these paragraphs of paramount importance. Mesopotamia also gave the home and the civilized arts to women, but the existence of goddesses as Spirit as much as Body in earlier times made the gender and sex roles more balanced in the pantheon and in society.
Now, Inanna/Ishtar is both body and Spirit, for She is the realization of Love, which is the feeling that makes us realize our full humanity in connection.
The women´s bodies, by the way, are still re-shaped by the midia and fashion industry endlessly, because women have yet to realize that it is the Spirit that moves it and gives it sustenance. Doctor Butler has said in his thesis that the acknowledgement of Inanna in one´s life is the key to solve depression and eating disorders for women, two of the major body plagues which turn a woman´s life a nightmare in our own days.
I go much further than this. The body has imprisoned women since Tiamat and Eve more recently, because women and men have still to acknowledge the intrinsic union of mind, body, heart and spirit. And Joy and Love and Guts and Wholeness, the values embodied in Inanna, whose stories are a hymn of celebration to the victory of the Spirit under the most trying circumstances.
Being very delicate, I was almost raped once. The thought that crossed my mind was: " he may have my body, but will never have my soul". I escaped by sheer wit. This was years before I had found the Mysteries.
Now you can also understand why I could write about Shukaletuda... and Bottéro couldn´t. Why feminine authority is a threat to patriarchs. Why the body should be the temple of the Spirit and lived as such. Why Love and the sacred marriage are so fundamental and the denial of all sexual related crimes, which involve mostly women, children and the old, why pornography and paedophilia should be judged with authority. There is no forgiveness for a sex offender. Say it with cool, cold-blooded authority. Cold rage is calm. Goes beyond hot anger and volcano emotions. In the Cabala, this is the power of Severity. Or Inanna in Her martial guise.
And learn why Joy is such a Gift because it stems from a deep inner source, it wins all causes and it is the birthright of humankind. We have now the power to raise banners without a kill. With authority and integrity.
Keep on the Workings of Existence for the Gods and Forget the Fall of the patriarchs. But learn the reasons why and heal the past... not being a fundamentalist towards their code of beliefs.
Next, War as the Ethos of the Iron Age...
love light and laughter,
Lishtar
From the Depths and To the Heights to share in all spheres
Yes, this is a brilliant piece and a pleasure to pass it on to you!
My way of thinking things out is to often speak my thoughts, musings and ideas out loud (or write them) as a way of then being able to look at them objectively afterwards. And if there's anything I have learned thus far in my training through FOI, it's to not allow my voice to be silenced! 
I'm still thinking about that myself) I guess it would be that perhaps it's time to undertake an analysis of these works (especially the earliest Sumerian ones - which are my focus of study) from the standpoint of an oral culture just beginning to move into literate thinking.
) it seems to me that by killing Tiamat and (re)-creating the known world from it, the implicit statement is that "the old order is history and is no longer the basis of our world (how we will live our lives). What I am creating is how the world will now be seen."
was hard on me. I did it in 1996, one of my first forays into myth retelling. The hardest myth workings are the ones that teach one most as well. It is dedicated to Shemhazai of Babyloniaca because Shem is Babylonian, and Bel Murro as well. 
. Professor Harris finds another dimension in the lines describing one of the gods´feasts:
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