When above the heaven had not
yet been named,
And below the earth had not
yet been called by a name;
When Apsu primeval [Sky],
their begetter
....and Tiamat [Earth], she
who gave birth to them all,
Still mingled their waters
together,
And no pasture land had been
formed and not even a reed marsh was to be seen;
When none of the other gods
had been brought into being,
When they had not yet been
called by their names and their destinies had not yet been fixed,
At that time were the gods
created within them.
...........................
They disturbed Tiamat and
assaulted their keeper,
Yea, they disturbed the inner
parts of Tiamat,
Moving about and running
about in the divine abode.
Apsu could not diminish their
clamor,
And Tiamat was silent in
regard to their behavior,
Yet their doing was painful.
[Apsu
decides to destroy the new gods, but....]
When Tiamat heard of this,
She was wroth and cried out to her husband;
She cried out and raged
furiously, she alone.
She pondered the evil in her
heart and said:
"Why should we destroy
that which we ourselves have brought forth?
Their way is indeed painful,
but let us take it good naturedly."
[Apsu
continues to plot destruction. The
gods learn of this and are frightened, but Ea [= Cronus] casts a spell over
Apsu]
He loosend his band and tore
off his tiara;
He carried off his splendor
and put it on himself.
When he had thus subdued
Apsu, he slew him.