rom other sources,[735] flows on all sides of
the earth, and since it also fills the hollow under the earth, the
latter in reality rests upon the Apsu. Ea is frequently called "the lord
of Apsu," but the creation epic, in assigning to Marduk the privilege of
preparing the dwelling of Ea, reverses the true order of things, which
may still be seen in the common belief that made Marduk the son of Ea.
Marduk, the sun rising up out of the ocean, becomes the offspring of Ea,
and even the political supremacy of Marduk could not set aside the
prerogatives of Ea in the popular mind. In the cosmological system,
however, as developed in the schools, such an attempt was made. While
recognizing the 'deep' as the domain of Ea, the theologians saved
Marduk's honor by having him take a part in fixing Ea's dwelling and in
determining its limitations.

With the carcass of Tiamat stretched across the upper firmament and
safely guarded, and with the Apsu under control, the way is clear for
the formation of the earth. This act in the drama of creation is
referred to in the following lines, though in a manner, that is not free
from obscurity. The earth is pictured as a great structure placed over
the Apsu and corresponding in dimension with it--at least in one
direction.

The lord measured out the structure of Apsu.
Corresponding to it, he fashioned a great structure[736] Esharra.

Esharra is a poetical designation of the earth and signifies, as Jensen
has satisfactorily shown, "house of fullness"[737] or "house of
fertility." The earth is regarded as a great structure, and placed as it
is over the Apsu, its size is dependent upon the latter. Its measurement
from one end to the other cannot exceed the width of the Apsu, nor can
it be any narrower. The ends of the earth span the great Apsu. The
following line specifies the shape given to Esharra:

The great structure Esharra, which he made as a heavenly vault.

The earth is not a sphere according to Babylonian ideas, but a hollow
hemisphere having an appearance exactly like the vault of heaven, but
placed in position beneath the heavenly canopy. As a hemisphere it
suggests the picture of a mountain, rising at one end, mounting to a
culminating point, and descending at the other end. Hence by the side of
Esharra, another name by which the earth was known was Ekur, that is,
'the mountain house.'

Diodorus Seculus, in speaking of the Babylonian cosmology, employs a
happy illustratio