em to have been regarded as being as much
creations of Merodach as the world and its inhabitants--indeed, it is
apparently for the glorification of those cities by attributing their
origin to Merodach, that the bilingual account of the creation was
composed.. "When within the sea there was a stream"--that is, when the
veins of Tiawath had been cut through--Eridu (probably = Paradise) and
the temple E-sagila within the Abyss were constructed, and after that
Babylon and the earthly temple of E-sagila within it. Then he made the
gods and the Annunnaki (the gods of the earth), proclaimed a glorious
city as the seat of the joy of their hearts, and afterwards made a
pleasant place in which the gods might dwell. The creation of mankind
followed, in which Merodach was aided by the goddess Aruru, who made
mankind's seed. Finally, plants, trees, and the animals, were
produced, after which Merodach constructed bricks, beams, houses, and
cities, including Niffer and Erech with their renowned temples.

We see here a change in the teaching with regard to Merodach--the gods
are no longer spoken of as "his fathers," but he is the creator of the
gods, as well as of mankind.

The order of the gods in the principal lists.

It is unfortunate that no lists of gods have been found in a
sufficiently complete state to allow of the scheme after which they
were drawn up to be determined without uncertainty. It may,
nevertheless, be regarded as probable that these lists, at least in
some cases, are arranged in conformity (to a certain extent) with the
appearance of the deities in the so-called creation-story. Some of
them begin with Anu, and give him various names, among them being
Ansar and Kisar, Lahmu and Lahame, etc. More specially interesting,
however, is a well-known trilingual list of gods, which contains the
names of the various deities in the following order:--

EXTRACTS FROM THE TRILINGUAL LIST
/Obverse/

Sumer. Dialect Sumer. Standard Common Explanation
(Semit. or Sumer.)

1. Dimmer Dingir Ilu God.
2. U-ki En-ki E-a Ea or Aa.
3. Gasan(?)-ki Nin-ki Dawkina Dauke, the consort of Ea.
4. Mu-ul-lil En-lil-la Bel The God Bel.
5. E-lum