Tiamet

In the creation story of Enuma Elish that we had discussed in class on Monday, the depictions of Tiamat as a large dragon-like creature and Marduk as that of a strong bulky man made me wonder if there were alternate depictions of the two in any ancient art work.  To my dismay, I have not found any.  The common image of Tiamat is depicted as having a dragon-like frame with large wings.  This image not only comes from ancient art, but also in modern pop-culture.  I was surprised to find that many recent images of Tiamat also viewed here as a monstrous creature. 

This particular image portrays Tiamat as the stereotypical dragon in which most images do.  The title of this art work is referred to as Mushussu and was once a symbol that resided above a gateway in Babylon.  The figure in this image is a somewhat mystical and devilish looking creature.  As is explained in the Enuma Elish,  Tiamat was slain by Marduk and the body was cut up in order to create the heavens and earth.  According to the creation story, Tiamat was a fierce women and portrayed as having a very intimidating nature.  Is this a stereotype of ancient women? If so, was it meant to depict the nature of women themselves or depict Marduk as a masculine hero in order to discuss the nature of men?  These questions could be argued by various analyses of the Enuma Elish.  However, one point does stand true; the nature of at least one women godess is being portrayed through the image of Tiamat.

The picture here is a modern work that depicts Tiamet in much the same fashion as its ancient counterparts.  This suggests that pop-culture can be influenced by ancient portrayals of women and that the creation story of Enuma Elish still holds value to some in todays society.


Sources: 

http://potterbelmar.org/work/tvm/tiamatvmarduk.html

http://mitos-lendas.blogspot.com/2011/06/tiamat.html

Dr. Wolbrink Coursepacket pg. 20