There are similar "issues" to explain: water, the sky, stars, weather, seasons, the movement of the sun, etc. -- all part of the functional consciousness of discovery -- whether that be stories in front of the evening fire to pass the time and culturally educate, or to set some sort of order for society and a way to organize thought and action (Bierlein, 1994) REFERENCES

Bierlein, J.F. (1994). Parallel Myths. Ballantine Books.

Campbell, J. (1991). The Masks of God, Vol. 2., Penguin.

Cushing, F. (2007). Outlines of Zuni Creation Myths. Kessinger Publishers.

Dalley, S....

Myths from Mesopotamia. Oxford University Press.
Hamilton, V. (1991). In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World.

Sandpiper.

Sproul, B. (1979). Primal Myths: Creation Myths Around the World. Harper One.

Zhang, S. (1994).

Also see other materials by Joseph Campbell, examining the manner in which comparative mythology may hold the key to understanding human culture.

An interesting comparison, character and line by line, of the Enuman Elish and the Hebrew story of Genesis may be found at: http://www.religioustolerance.org/com_geba.htm.