Abraham's Knowledge Of The Earthly Kingdom (Paradise), The Flood, The Tower Of Babel, Etc.

Nowadays it is admitted that in the sixth or fifth century B.C. compilers putting the different chapters of the Scriptures in order placed a sort of summary of the prehistory of the people of Yisrael at the beginning of the work, as a preface, immediately before the history of Abraham. It seemed logical and obvious to place some sort of narrative of the creation of the world and of man before the account of the patriarch's life.

These ideas (creation, earthly paradise, flood, tower of Babel etc.) now form part of our spiritual, artistic and literary heritage; in what form could Abraham have known them? Was his so clear a view as that which we possess today? The reader might be tempted to think so since the events in question come immediately before the story of Abraham. But the Scriptures is a book which must be interpreted with every possible precaution.

The difficulties in connection with the literary history of the first eleven chapters of Bereshith are well known. Without going into details of this somewhat complex study, which would require lengthy explanations, we can investigate what the patriarch can have known of the origins of the world and the creation of man.

The text of the Scriptures dealing with the creation is a Yahwistic account, dating from the tenth century B.C. The writer of the first pages of Bereshith has used within the general plan of his narrative certain Sumero-Akkadian traditions, some elements of which were known to Abraham as well as to the many generations who came after him. Indeed it is not so much in the account given by the Scriptures as in several cuneiform texts that we are able to discern the belief of Abraham about the creation of the universe and the first man.

There is nothing surprising about this. It is worth pointing out here, indeed, that the account of the origins as it is given in Bereshith cannot be isolated historically speaking from the mythologies current at this period in the Middle East. Now it was the Babylonian cosmogony especially which at the time of Abraham was common all over the valley of the Two Rivers and the land of Canaan. From this fact we can be sure that the patriarch in his tent had often heard the recitation of an ancient SumeroAkkadian poem called by Assyriologists Enuma Elish (from its first words which mean 'When on high').

This text, discovered in 1875, has come down to us on seven clay tablets. The version that we have dates from a period a little later than that of Abraham; it belongs to the time of Hammurabi (eighteenth century B.C.). But we know from other sources that this ancient legend was already current from the Persian Gulf to the banks of the Yordan for many centuries previously. In the form in which we have it, it is an account of the adventures of Marduk, god of Babylon, but it also provides us with curious details about the origins of the world, at least as the Sumero-Akkadians saw it. We know that this traditional poem Enuma Elish was extremely popular throughout ancient Mesopotamia. Modern scholarship believes that it had considerable influence on the intellectual activity of the Babylonians and Assyrians. For generations the scribes transcribed it on tablets of humid clay. It was read, it was recited at assemblies of the faithful, it was commented on and explained. In the schools of Akkad certain passages of it were set for amplification as an exercise in composition. In addition it was widely used in literature (which by definition remained always of a religious character). On certain festivals, especially at the New Year, it was solemnly recited; in its account of the creation a whole philosophy was inherent.

This religious epic is of considerable importance for our subject; Abraham must have heard it repeated in his travels. Thus a rapid examination of its literary content illustrated finally by certain Chaldaean and Egyptian contributions will be of assistance in our enquiry.

PAGAN Stories Abraham must have heard repeated in his travels

CHAOS: In The Beginning There Existed Matter.

It appeared in chaotic form in which the upper waters (the fresh water, Apsu) and the lower waters (the sea, the goddess Tiamat) were mingled. This chaos, Apsu-Tiamat, seemed to be eternal.

Birth Of The Young Gods:

The combination Apsu- Tiamat gave birth to gods. Among these Marduk stands out as a dynamic and realist deity opposed to the prevailing chaos and its negative character. Thus the new generations began to upset Tiamat's rest; soon a sort of league was established which delegated to Marduk the task of imposing a new order of things.

The Struggle:

Parricide becomes necessary. Marduk decides to kill the aged Tiamat and this will enable him to establish the new order. But Tiamat has resolved to defend herself and gives birth to eleven fearful monsters. Marduk, very courageously, does not hesitate to join battle. He makes an enormous net and proceeds to the creation of terrible winds intended to cause disturbance in Tiamat (the primitive liquid mass).

And so the battle begins.
Marduk stretches forth his net,
He wraps it round Tiamat.
He flings the bad winds at her face,
Tiamat opens her mouth as wide as she can,
Marduk makes the bad winds go in so that she cannot close her lips.
Her heart turned upside down,
she opened her mouth wide.
With an arrow Marduk transfixes her,
he cuts off her limbs, tears out her heart,
reduces her to impotence and destroys her life.

 Creation Of Heaven And Earth:

Marduk, the conquering hero, cuts up the corpse of Tiamat to make, as the cuneiform text informs us, 'a work of art'. He cuts the body into two portions 'like an oyster'. From one half of Tiamat he makes heaven, from the other he forms the earth which he distinguishes carefully from the 'lower waters'.

Creation Of The Stars:

After this Marduk concerns himself with arranging a dwelling for the gods, new gods:
He established the stars which are their images.
He determined the year, he defined the seasons.
For the twelve months he established three stars.
He caused Sin [the moon] to shine and entrusted the night to her.

Creation Of The Plants And Animals:

The poem then goes on to portray the creation, effected by Marduk, of Shamash (the divine Sun), then of the plants and animals; lastly, of man. The following is the summary of the operation according to the Chaldaean cosmogony:
The gods made the earth solid,
They produced the creatures of life,
the beasts of the fields, the domestic animals,
and they created the crowds of the cities.

Creation Of Man:

Thus man appears, at the end of creation. All the cosmogonies of the Near East, whether they are Mesopotamian or Egyptian, place the emphasis in this event on a very special intervention of the deity. In the Enuma Elish the human being is moulded from potter's clay mixed with Tiamat's blood. In Egypt man is born from the tears of Osiris or comes to life at the fingers of Chnum, the potter-god with a ram's head, who shapes him from the mud of the Nile. Elsewhere he is the son of a goddess or a divine couple. Always the direct intervention of a supernatural being, or supernatural beings is required.

Man's Role In Creation:

By giving life to men the gods of the eastern pantheons followed a plan. Human beings were responsible for the worship of the deity; in addition, through sacrifices, burnt offerings and various gifts they provide for the food of the gods. For this good reason the gods generally take care to create several couples.

The mythological climate which the patriarchs were accustomed to hearing during Abraham's time

From this short sketch we can obtain an approximate idea of the legendary context and mythological climate on the subject of origins to which the patriarchs were accustomed; not only Abraham, but also the following generations of Hebrew shepherd chiefs -Yitschaq, Yacob and Joseph; not only the succession of nomad shepherd chiefs but also the Hebrew people right down to the exile in Babylon (586-538 B.C.).

And so the question arises: how and at what period did there appear in the Scriptures the account of the origins as it is given in the first chapter of Bereshith. Even at the end of the period of the kings (900 B.C.), or when the pick of the Jews of Yerusalem were deported to Babylon on the orders of Nebuchadnezzar (586 B.C.), these Babylonian legends, summarized above, seem to have proved very attractive to the Yisraelites. When the Judaean colony, which was not uncultured, was brusquely transported to Babylon it came into contact with the Mesopotamian theory regarding the origin of the world. Babylon, it should be remembered was Marduk's city; he was its god and its protector. In other words, the Enuma Elish was recited, read and carried about.

At that time, it seems, a Hebrew kohen of the sixth or fifth century went back to the old Yahwistic account, dating from the nomadic period, and  recreated the actual account inspired by YAHWEH.

It should be borne in mind, however, that the qadash writers who thus made use of oriental legends with which they were very well acquainted, took great care not to be contaminated by pagan doctrine. With remarkable single-mindedness they remained faithful to their noble and grandiose theology, a theology which was entirely based on the revelation of the One Sovereign.

This rapid sketch will have given some idea of what Abraham might have heard about the creation of the world and of man.

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