no part in the
earlier forms of the Sumerian Creation myth, its combination with the
Dragon _motif_ may have characterized the local Sumerian Version
of Nippur. How mechanical was the Babylonian redactors' method of
glorifying Marduk is seen in their use of the description of Tiamat
and her monster brood, whom Marduk is made to conquer. To impress the
hearers of the poem with his prowess, this is repeated at length no less
than four times, one god carrying the news of her revolt to another.

Direct proof of the manner in which the later redactors have been
obliged to modify the original Sumerian Creation myth, in consequence of
their incorporation of other elements, may be seen in the Sixth Tablet
of the poem, where Marduk states the reason for man's creation. In the
second lecture we noted how the very words of the principal Sumerian
Creator were put into Marduk's mouth; but the rest of the Semitic god's
speech finds no equivalent in the Sumerian Version and was evidently
inserted in order to reconcile the narrative with its later ingredients.
This will best be seen by printing the two passages in parallel
columns:(1)

(1) The extract from the Sumerian Version, which occurs in
the lower part of the First Column, is here compared with
the Semitic-Babylonian Creation Series, Tablet VI, ll. 6-10
(see _Seven Tablets_, Vol. I, pp. 86 ff.). The comparison is
justified whether we regard the Sumerian speech as a direct
preliminary to man's creation, or as a reassertion of his
duty after his rescue from destruction by the Flood.

SUMERIAN VERSION SEMITIC VERSION

"The people will I cause to . . . "I will make man, that man may
in their settlements, (. . .).
Cities . . . shall (man) build, I will create man who shall
in their protection will I cause inhabit (. . .),
him to rest,
That he may lay the brick of our That the service of the gods may
house in a clean spot, be established, and that
(their) shrines (may be
built).
That in a clean spot he may But I will alter the ways of the
establish our . . . !" gods, and I will change (their
paths);
Together shall they be
oppressed, and unto evil shall
(they . . .)!"

The welding of incongruous elements is very apparent in the Semitic
Version. For the statement that man will be created in