Tiamat the Dragon

All across the globe images of dragons appear in ancient culture’s folk tales, myths, ceremonies and decorations. In childhood we are told stories of fearless knights rescuing damsels from evil dragons. Dragons are always treacherous, however they also are providers. “Chinese dragons are rain-producing…in India too the serpent kings guard both the waters of immortality and the treasures of earth” (Campbell 120 CM). The Maya viewed serpents as a “channel between the natural and supernatural realm” (Laughton 115). Once the dragon has been slain, subdued or controlled, they provide a doorway to treasure. Dragons appear as a common theme in almost every culture and in the “legends of Perseus and Andromeda, Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra, Siegfried and Fafnir, Beowulf and Grendel” (17 S.E. Hooke).

Explanations for the appearance of dragons could be that ancient people simply found dinosaur remains and incorporated said remains into their lives. Maybe dragons were real. This pattern may have also been derived from Tiamat; a dragon from the ancient culture of Babylon:

Tiamat “is a huge, bloated female dragon that personifies the saltwater ocean, the water of Chaos.” At the dawn of Babylonian creation “nothing existed except Apsu, the sweet-water ocean, and Tiamat, the salt water ocean” (S.E. Hooke 42). These two beings exist alongside the void. They form a union and from that union the other gods are created. Not only are the gods created but also conflict. Now that there are others, Apsu and Tiamat are disturbed by the noisiness of all the young gods. So like any good parent, Apsu decides to destroy them. Apsu’s plan is “disclosed to the gods who are alarmed” (S.E.Hooke 43). The young gods devise a counter attack. The god Ea “casts a spell of sleep upon Apsu (and) slays him” (S.E. Hooke 43). Ea creates a fortress to rest in after the battle. He resides “in profound peace. In this chamber the birth of Marduk takes place” (S.E. Hooke 43). Marduk is beautiful and strong. Marduk would have to rely on his tremendous strength because Tiamat is angered with Apsu’s death and begins to build an army. Tiamat “begets a horde of monstrous beings, such as the scorpion-man and the centaur” (S.E. Hooke 43). The gods are faced with how to deal with these newly born monsters and an angry Tiamat. Marduk, born from the gods who slew Apsu, is given the challenge to fight against Tiamat. In return, he will be recognized as a king among the gods. Marduk arms himself to the teeth with “bow and arrows, mace, lightning and a net held at the corners by the seven raging hurricanes” (44 S.E. Hooke). Riding a storm chariot into battle, he confronts the horde of monsters and “challenges Tiamat to single combat; he casts his net to enclose her, and when she opens her mouth to swallow him he drives in the evil wind to distend her and transfixes her with his arrow, splitting her heart” (S.E. Hooke 45). By killing Tiamat, the hero has slain the dragon bringing great reward. Marduk “takes…the tablets of destiny and fastens them upon his own breast, thus assuming supreme authority among the gods” (S.E. Hooke). A great boon is not only bestowed upon Marduk in his supreme power, but mankind as well. Marduk creates the Earth from the slain dragon’s body and then follows this act by actually creating human beings to inhabit the Earth and serve the gods.

Campbell, Joseph. Creative Mythology. New York: Penguin, 1976.

Hooke, Samuel H. Middle Eastern Mythology. Baltimore: Penguin, 1968.

Laughton, Timothy. The Maya. New York: Barnes And Noble, 2004.