In
Mesopotamian religion,
Tiamat (
Akkadian: 𒀭𒋾𒊩𒆳
DTI.AMAT or 𒀭𒌓𒌈
DTAM.TUM,
Ancient Greek: Θαλάττη,
romanized:
Thaláttē)
[1] is the
primordial sea, mating with
Abzû (Apsu), the
groundwater, to produce the gods in the Babylonian epic
Enuma elish, which translates as "When on High." She is referred to as a woman, and has, at various points in the epic, both anthropomorphic and theriomorphic features including breasts and a tail.
It has been suggested, without much supporting evidence, that there are two parts to the Tiamat
mythos. In the first, she is a creator goddess, through a
sacred marriage between different waters, peacefully creating the cosmos through successive generations. In the second
Chaoskampf Tiamat is considered the monstrous embodiment of
primordial chaos.
[2] Some sources have identified her (without real proof) with images of a
sea serpent or
dragon.
[3]
In the
Enûma Elish, the Babylonian
epic of creation, Tiamat bears the first generation of deities after mingling her waters with those of Apsu, her consort. The gods continue to reproduce, forming a noisy new mass of divine children. Apsu, driven to violence by the noise they make, seeks to destroy them and is killed. Enraged, she also wars upon her husband's murderers, bringing forth multitudes of monsters as offspring. She is then slain by
Enki's son, the storm-god
Marduk, but not before she brings forth the monsters of the Mesopotamian pantheon, including the first dragons, whose bodies she fills with "poison instead of blood". Marduk then integrates elements of her body into the heavens and the earth.