A Flare for Style and Depth of Allusion: The Use of Fire and Water Imagery in Enuma Eliš Tablet I

Scott B. Noegel

A close examination of the language of the Akkadian creation myth Enuma Elis (Tablet I) suggests that many of the lexemes used in reference to the god Aps (fresh water ) and the goddess Tiamat (salt water ) were chosen for their allusions to water. Similarly, the text often refers to the brazen god Marduk with words suggestive of fire. These allusions, which the text often achieves through puns and paronomasia (sound play), demonstrate an often unrecognized literary sophistication and bespeak an attempt by the scribes to portray these gods as physical manifestations of the elements they embody.

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