Mesopotamian mythology
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Written by
Stephen Eldridge
Fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: •Article History
Tiamat, in ancient Mesopotamian mythology, the primordial goddess who was the personification of the salt sea and the mother of the gods. She also was associated with the chaos of creation. Tiamat and Apsu (also spelled Abzu), the personification of the fresh water beneath the earth, are the source of a family of gods with whom she eventually went to war. She was slain by Marduk, the chief god of the city of Babylon, and from her body he created the universe. In later myths, Tiamat was sometimes portrayed as a serpent or dragon, and these images have inspired creatures in modern popular culture, notably in the role-playing game .
Mythology
Creation
Tiamat’s name stems from the Akkadian word for the sea. She is known primarily from the Babylonian creation story Enuma elish. According to this myth, in the beginning there was only Tiamat and Apsu until the mingling of their two waters produced the first deities, the twins Lahmu and Lahamu. More gods followed, and conflict quickly arose. Tiamat and Apsu favoured rest and inertia, while the younger gods’ activity and energy resulted in noise and other disturbances. Notably, the dancing of the gods upset Tiamat by churning her waters. Apsu eventually decided to destroy them, despite strong opposition from Tiamat. However, before he could attack, the god Ea slayed Apsu and built a temple over him. This temple was eventually the birthplace of Marduk, the legendary hero and eventual chief of the gods.
War
Marduk’s grandfather is Anu, the god of heaven, and Marduk likely began as a god of thunderstorms. Anu created the four winds and gave them to Marduk to play with. The blowing winds churned Tiamat’s waters, increasingly annoying the goddess. In addition, a group of elder gods also grew upset about the disturbances as well as the perceived disrespect. They pressured Tiamat to kill the disruptive gods, and she finally relented, forming an army of monsters that was led by her consort, Kingu.
Tiamat’s army was opposed by the forces of Anshar and Kishar, who represented the twin horizons of the sky and earth. They were the children of either Tiamat and Apsu or Lahmu and Lahamu. After both Ea and Anu failed to turn Tiamat aside, Anshar asked Marduk to fight the goddess. Marduk agreed but demanded absolute authority in return, and this condition was ultimately accepted. Marduk was made king and set against Tiamat.
Death
Although her army fled, Tiamat stood her ground and battled Marduk. He sent the winds to incapacitate her and then slayed her with an arrow through the heart. After dividing her body in two, he used one half to form the heavens, arranging the Sun, Moon, and constellations. From the other half, he formed earth, creating the mountains and continents. Marduk reigned over both.
Appearance and portrayal in popular culture
Tiamat’s physical appearance is uncertain, though there are some vague descriptions of her in the Enuma elish. She is depicted both in the form of a woman and as a body of water and at one point is said to have a tail. These descriptions and her affiliation with monsters have inspired depictions associating her with serpents and dragons. This association is strong in contemporary popular culture, with Tiamat appearing as a five-headed draconic deity within the fictional pantheon of the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. As in the Babylonian myth, this dragon goddess is a creature of chaos and violence and the creator of monsters. A dragon named Tiamat regularly appears in the Final Fantasy series of video games, both as an enemy and as an ally summoned into battle by the players.
Stephen Eldridge
