Enuma Elish vs. Bible
The parallels and similarities between the Enuma Elish and the first few chapters of Genesis are strikingly similar in the form and function of the account being told. However, there are also differences between the two. These differences and similarities illustrate the very parallel nature and form that Babylonian and Israeli belief structures have taken over the centuries. While differences like this may breed divisiveness and animosity with some groups, the focus should remain on the scholarly dimensions of the debate and the differences as this is a question that all people tumble and toil with at one point or another.
As noted in the introduction, there are stark similarities as well as differences between the account of creating enumerated and described in the first two chapters of Genesis and the account of pretty much the same event in the Enuma Elish. However, it goes a bit deeper than that as the first eleven chapters of Genesis...
One major similarity between the Mesopotamian and Genesis timelines is that they both involve a serpent. In Genesis, the serpent tempts and tricks both Adam and Eve. In Babylonian stories, there was a serpent named Ningishzida that offered to help Adapt with a search for immortality. Both Enuma Elish and Genesis were written at roughly the same time. However, the exact timing is not the same for everyone with some believing that the Israeli creating story happened in the eighth or ninth century BCE while others believe it was 13th century BCE. This matters because the Enuma Elish is staunchly believed to have been written in the 12th century BCE. In both Enuma Elish and Genesis, the first development of creation was the bringing of light. In the second, there was a state of darkness and mostly nothingness.…
