nstant introduction of
the epithet 'Bel' into the Tiamat story points to an older version in
which Bel was the hero. In popular traditions, Bel continued to be
pictured as armed with mighty weapons,[769] and, though ready to inflict
severe punishment for disobedience to his commands, he engages in
contests for the benefit of mankind. The earth being his special sphere
of action, what more natural than that he should have had a prominent
share in adapting it as a habitation for mankind. He would be directly
interested in fighting the powers of darkness.

In the weapons that Marduk employs, particularly the lightning and the
winds which belong to an atmospheric god rather than a solar deity, we
may discern traces of the older narrative which has been combined with
the Marduk-Tiamat nature myth.[770] It may be that Kingu represents
Bel's particular rival. In the narrative, it will be recalled, the
contest with Tiamat is sharply separated from that with Kingu and his
associates. The division that thus suggests itself between Marduk and
Tiamat, on the one hand, Bel and the monsters with Kingu at their head,
on the other, may certainly be termed a natural one. The solar deity
Marduk disposed of the storms and rains of the winter, whereas, a god of
"that which is below,"[771] _i.e._, the earth and the atmosphere
immediately above the earth, would appropriately be represented as
ridding the earth of the monsters in order to prepare it as a habitation
for mankind. Ea was not such a serious rival to Marduk as the older Bel.
Political rivalry between Nippur and Babylonia probably contributed
towards the disposition to have Marduk completely absorb the role of
Bel, whereas, this rivalry being absent in the case of Eridu (the
original seat of Ea worship) and Babylon, the mythological relations
between Ea and Marduk led, as already pointed out, in a perfectly
natural way to making Marduk the son of Ea. Still, while cheerfully
acknowledged by Ea as his equal, it is evident that in older traditions
Ea was far superior to Marduk, and the latter replaces Ea as he does
Bel. The real creator of mankind, according to certain traditions, is
Ea, just as in all probabilities a third tradition existed which arose
in Nippur giving to Bel that distinction. It is necessary, therefore,
for Ea to declare that Marduk's name (_i.e._, his power) is the same as
Ea. The alteration of the traditions is thus justified by a harmonistic
theology. Marduk has