Myths of Babylonia and Assyria | Page 7

and it seems
undoubted that the Manu fish and flood myth is a direct Babylonian
inheritance, like the Yuga (Ages of the Universe) doctrine and the
system of calculation associated with it. It is of interest to note, too, that
a portion of the Gilgamesh epic survives in the Ramayana story of the
monkey god Hanuman's search for the lost princess Sita; other relics of
similar character suggest that both the Gilgamesh and Hanuman
narratives are derived in part from a very ancient myth. Gilgamesh also
figures in Indian mythology as Yama, the first man, who explored the
way to the Paradise called "The Land of Ancestors", and over which he
subsequently presided as a god. Other Babylonian myths link with
those found in Egypt, Greece, Scandinavia, Iceland, and the British
Isles and Ireland. The Sargon myth, for instance, resembles closely the
myth of Scyld (Sceaf), the patriarch, in the Beowulf epic, and both
appear to be variations of the Tammuz-Adonis story. Tammuz also
resembles in one of his phases the Celtic hero Diarmid, who was slain
by the "green boar" of the Earth Mother, as was Adonis by the boar
form of Ares, the Greek war god.
In approaching the study of these linking myths it would be as rash to
conclude that all resemblances are due to homogeneity of race as to
assume that folklore and mythology are devoid of ethnological
elements. Due consideration must be given to the widespread influence
exercised by cultural contact. We must recognize also that the human
mind has ever shown a tendency to arrive quite independently at
similar conclusions, when confronted by similar problems, in various

parts of the world.
But while many remarkable resemblances may be detected between the
beliefs and myths and customs of widely separated peoples, it cannot
be overlooked that pronounced and striking differences remain to be
accounted for. Human experiences varied in localities because all
sections of humanity were not confronted in ancient times by the same
problems in their everyday lives. Some peoples, for instance,
experienced no great difficulties regarding the food supply, which
might be provided for them by nature in lavish abundance; others were
compelled to wage a fierce and constant conflict against hostile forces
in inhospitable environments with purpose to secure adequate
sustenance and their meed of enjoyment. Various habits of life had to
be adopted in various parts of the world, and these produced various
habits of thought. Consequently, we find that behind all systems of
primitive religion lies the formative background of natural phenomena.
A mythology reflects the geography, the fauna and flora, and the
climatic conditions of the area in which it took definite and permanent
shape.
In Babylonia, as elsewhere, we expect, therefore, to find a mythology
which has strictly local characteristics--one which mirrors river and
valley scenery, the habits of life of the people, and also the various
stages of progress in the civilization from its earliest beginnings. Traces
of primitive thought--survivals from remotest antiquity--should also
remain in evidence. As a matter of fact Babylonian mythology fulfils
our expectations in this regard to the highest degree.
Herodotus said that Egypt was the gift of the Nile: similarly Babylonia
may be regarded as the gift of the Tigris and Euphrates--those great
shifting and flooding rivers which for long ages had been carrying
down from the Armenian Highlands vast quantities of mud to thrust
back the waters of the Persian Gulf and form a country capable of being
utilized for human habitation. The most typical Babylonian deity was
Ea, the god of the fertilizing and creative waters.
He was depicted clad in the skin of a fish, as gods in other geographical
areas were depicted wearing the skins of animals which were regarded

as ancestors, or hostile demons that had to be propitiated. Originally Ea
appears to have been a fish--the incarnation of the spirit of, or life
principle in, the Euphrates River. His centre of worship was at Eridu,
an ancient seaport, where apparently the prehistoric Babylonians (the
Sumerians) first began to utilize the dried-up beds of shifting streams to
irrigate the soil. One of the several creation myths is reminiscent of
those early experiences which produced early local beliefs:
O thou River, who didst create all things, When the great gods dug thee
out, They set prosperity upon thy banks, Within thee Ea, the king of the
Deep, created his dwelling.[10]
The Sumerians observed that the land was brought into existence by
means of the obstructing reeds, which caused mud to accumulate.
When their minds began to be exercised regarding the origin of life,
they conceived that the first human beings were created by a similar
process:
Marduk (son of Ea) laid a reed upon the face of the waters, He formed
dust and poured it out beside the reed