“Ea’s palace was quite different from the sanctuaries of Babylon and Uruk. It was built on the boundary between the Apsu and the Ocean. They called it the House of the Sea. It was made of silver and lapis lazuli, not one next to the other, but fused together. It radiated light where there was none. It sat solid on the waters, a marvel. With the lagoon all around and thick stands of bamboo. It was the only place Ea found congenial. He had lived in the heavens in the past, beside the Anunnaki, but chose to move far away. If necessary, he could pay them a visit.”

“To know Ea one must go back, to a time before the names, and with the names the destinies. The first two names were Apsu and Tiamat, kindred waters. Others who had names were born after them and within them. A band of siblings began to stir and disturb. It could hardly be otherwise since they rested on the waters and their powers were still undefined. Apsu was troubled.

“A rule emerged: if a divine being generates other beings, he will soon be irritated by their commotion. Apsu wanted to exterminate those still shapeless generations. Tiamat didn’t agree: ‘We generated them, why destroy them so soon?’ So she spoke, irritated herself.

“But there is always a wicked counselor. He was called Mummu and he told Apsu that if he didn’t kill off those children he would never get any rest. Mummu knew that all Apsu wanted was to rest through the day and sleep through the night. Perhaps Apsu’s sleep was more adventurous than any other’s wakefulness. And there is always someone who snoops and tells tales. The turbulent gods got wind and were scared. All at once they crouched down and kept quiet. Only Ea stepped up. This was the moment that changed everything. From then on, people began to say that Ea understood everything.

“There was no question of attacking Apsu like any ordinary adversary, because Apsu was everywhere. Ea chose another way. Instead of winding him up, he gave him a potion that helped him sleep, which is what Apsu wanted. Mummu tried it too, and sank into a torpor. Deftly, silently, Ea set about stripping Apsu, one by one, of his talismans: his crown, the band around his forehead, the cloak of splendor he wrapped himself in. Then he killed his sleeping father.

“He hadn’t finished. He took hold of Mummu, tied him up, and put a ring through his nose. Then looked around. Ea knew that Apsu wasn’t just a god and a father of gods. Apsu was also a place. So Ea decided to make this place his home. Here he would build his watery palace. Here he would welcome his spouse, Damkina, into the bridal chamber. And here one day she would give birth to Marduk, who was celebrated as firstborn of the Apsu.”

“When Tiamat decided to avenge the death of Apsu, Ea didn’t say a word. He shut himself up in a room in silence. Would he have to kill his mother, too? Meanwhile, frightening sounds were heard from the distant world. Tiamat was organizing the attack. She had generated eleven monsters, filling them with poison instead of blood. They included the Hydra, the Scorpion Man, the Fish Man, the Powerful Bull, and they would serve as her bodyguards. She also gave them a captain, Kingu. She chose him as her lover and seated him on a throne. She had no plans to be a widow. And at once Tiamat fixed the Tablet of Destinies to Kingu’s chest.