Mighty Marduk, the all powerful war god and sky god of the Babylonians, built Babylon as his home and created humankind to dwell there and toil there for the gods after he slew the evil Tiamat - so myth tells us.

Son of Ea and Dumkina, Marduk began his existence in the deep abyss, in the heart of the holy Apsu. He was born whole, strong, and beautiful with foaur eyes and four ears, and it is said that he spat fire when he spoke. He had the gift of magic and command over the winds. Indeed, Marduk was a hero, a leader right from his birth. He belongs to the younger gods and was chosen King of the Igigi to destroy Tiamat.

Tiamat, the terrible earth goddess, is primeval chaos. She belongs to the rank of the older gods, whom she has been threatening and abusing. And it is Marduk who is called upon to kill her in the Babylonian Creation Myth.

The Babylonian Creation Myth tells of the battle between Marduk and Tiamat, between good and evil. This myth was most likely first written down between the 8th and 12th century BCE but it comes from an earlier time, from ancient Sumerian mythology, from the Enuma Elish.

Marduk, greater than all the gods, was chosen avenger of the gods and made king. His heroic task was to kill Tiamat for her terror and abuse of the gods. So Marduk fashioned a net to ensnare her, then he called upon the winds and mounted his chariot led by his fierce team and set out after the great monster. He followed the sound of Tiamat's rage and found her. Tiamat tried to undo Marduk with spells and words, but Marduk was too clever for her. He challenged her to one-on-one battle and she accepted. They fought hard and finally Marduk caught her in his net using the winds against her. Tiamat in return tried to swallow Marduk but he sent Imhullu into her. This wind raged through her body, holding her mouth open and blew her up. Then mighty Marduk shot an arrow which pierced her belly and her heart and he straddled her dead body in victory. Next, he destroyed her evil band of followers by trampling them into the ground and he recovered the Tablet of Destinies from them. Returning to Tiamat's carcass he wondered what to do with her remains, so he smashed her skull and severed her arteries, the blood streaming forth on the north wind to the far reaches of the world. He ripped her huge dead body in two and raised the top half to create the arc of the sky. Her eyes became the source for the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers and from her udders Marduk made the mountains. The gods rejoiced in Marduk's victory over the evil Tiamat and lavished him with gifts including his fifty names. Marduk surveyed the great expanse of the sky that he created and then chose Babylon as his home on earth and created humans to work the land.