Offprint from

Organization, Representation,
and Symbols of Power
in the Ancient Near East
Proceedings of the 54th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale
at Wrzburg
2025 July 2008

edited by

Gernot Wilhelm

Winona Lake, Indiana

Eisenbrauns
2012

 2012 by Eisenbrauns Inc.

All rights reserved
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Rencontre assyriologique internationale (54th : 2008 : Wrzburg, Germany)
Organization, representation, and symbols of power in the ancient Near East :
proceedings of the 54th Rencontre assyriologique internationale at Wuerzburg,
2025 July 2008 / edited by Gernot Wilhelm.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-57506-245-7 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Middle EastCivilizationTo 622Congresses. 2. Middle East
Politics and governmentCongresses. 3. Middle EastAntiquities
Congresses. 4.AssyriaCivilizationCongresses 5.AssyriaPolitics and
governmentCongresses. 6.AssyriaCivilizationCongresses.
I.Wilhelm, Gernot. II.Title.
DS41.5R352008
939.4dc23
2012019372
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.481984.

Contents
Vorwort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix
Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xi
Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii
Das Ansehen eines altorientalischen Herrschers bei seinen Untertanen . . . . 1
Walther Sallaberger
Lexercice du pouvoir par les rois de la Ire Dynastie de Babylone:
problmes de mthode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Dominique Charpin
Verwaltungstechnische Aspekte kniglicher Reprsentation:
Zwei Urkunden ber den Kult der verstorbenen Knige
im mittelassyrischen Assur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum
Bild, Macht und Raum im neuassyrischen Reich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Dominik Bonatz
Die Rolle der Schrift in einer Geschichte der
frhen hethitischen Staatsverwaltung . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Theo van den Hout
W o r k s h o p : Collective Governance and the Role of the Palace in the
Bronze Age Middle Euphrates and Beyond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Adelheid Otto
Archaeological Evidence for Collective Governance along the
Upper Syrian Euphrates during the Late and
Middle Bronze Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Adelheid Otto
Textual Evidence for a Palace at Late Bronze Emar . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Daniel E.Fleming
Die Rolle der Stadt im sptbronzezeitlichen Emar . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Betina Faist
Les Frres en Syrie lpoque du Bronze rcent:
Rflexions et hypothses* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sophie Dmare-Lafont
Organization of Harrdum, Suhum, 18th17th Centuries b.c.,
Iraqi Middle Euphrates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Christine Kepinski

87
101
111
129
143

Contents
Ein Konflikt zwischen Knig und ltestenversammlung in Ebla . . . . . . 155
Gernot Wilhelm
Workshop: The Public and the State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Eva von Dassow
The Public and the State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Eva von Dassow
From People to Public in the Iron Age Levant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Seth Sanders
Administrators and Administrated in Neo-Assyrian Times . . . . . . . . .
Simonetta Ponchia
The Babylonian Correspondence of the Seleucid and Arsacid Dynasties:
New Insights into the Relations between Court and City
during the Late Babylonian Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Roberto Sciandra

167
167

La liste L A et la hirarchie des fonctionnaires sumriens . . . . . . . . . . .

Alexandra Bourguignon
Knigslisten als Appellativ-Quellen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pavel ech
From King to God: The NAMEDA Title in Archaic Ur . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Petr Charvt
The Uses of the Cylinder Seal as Clues of Mental Structuring Processes
inside Ur III State Machinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Alessandro Di Ludovico
EN-Priestess: Pawn or Power Mogul? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Joan Goodnick Westenholz
Die Uruk I-Dynastieein Konstrukt der Isin-Zeit? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Catherine Mittermayer
Neue Erkenntnisse zu den kniglichen Gemahlinnen der Ur III-Zeit . . . . . .
Marcos Such-Gutirrez
etinanna und die Mutter des ulgi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Frauke Weiershuser
Vom babylonischen Knigssiegel und von gesiegelten Steinen . . . . . . . . . .
Susanne Paulus
Marduk and His Enemies: City Rivalries in Southern Mesopotamia . . . . . . .
J.A. Scurlock
Text im Bild Bild im Text: Bildmotive als Bedeutungstrger von
Machtansprchen im hellenistischen Mesopotamien? . . . . . . . . . .
Karin Stella Schmidt
The Tablet of Destinies and the Transmission of Power in Enma eli . . . . .
Karen Sonik
Aur and Enlil in Neo-Assyrian Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spencer L. Allen

249

171
191
213

225

257
265
275
291
313
327
347
357
369
377
387
397

Contents
The Charms of Tyranny: Conceptions of Power in the
Garden Scene of Ashurbanipal Reconsidered . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mehmet-Ali Ata
Les archers de sige no-assyriens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fabrice Y.De Backer
Kings Direct Control: Neo-Assyrian Qpu Officials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Peter Dubovsky
Triumph as an Aspect of the Neo-Assyrian Decorative Program . . . . . . . . .
Natalie Naomi May
Local Power in the Middle Assyrian Period:
The Kings of the Land of Mri in the Middle Habur Region . . . . .
Daisuke Shibata
Women, Power, and Heterarchy in the Neo-Assyrian Palaces . . . . . . . . . .
Saana Svrd
Organising the Interaction Between People: a New Look at the
Elite Houses of Nuzi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
David Kertai
Les femmes comme signe de puissance royale:
la maison du roi dArrapha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Brigitte Lion
Power Transition and Law: The Case of Emar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Lena Fijakowska
The Representatives of Power in the Amarna Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
J.Mynov
Herrscherreprsentation und Kult im Bildprogramm
des Airom-Sarkophags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
H.Niehr
Religion and Politics at the Divine Table: The Cultic Travels of Zimr-Lm . . .
Cinzia Pappi
The City of batum and its Surroundings: The Organization of Power
in the Post-Hammurabi Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Shigeo Yamada
The Horns of a Dilemma, or On the Divine Nature of the Hittite King . . . . .
Gary Beckman
The Power in Heaven: Remarks on the So-Called Kumarbi Cycle . . . . . . . .
Carlo Corti and Franca Pecchioli Daddi
Die Worte des Knigs als Reprsentation von Macht:
Zur althethitischen Phraseologie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Paola Dardano
Treaties and Edicts in the Hittite World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Elena Devecchi
Luxusgter als Symbole der Macht: Zur Verwaltung der Luxusgter
im Hethiter-Reich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mauro Giorgieri and Clelia Mora

411
429
449
461
489
507
519
531
543
551
559
579
591
605
611
619
637
647

Contents
Autobiographisches, Historiographisches und Erzhlelemente in
hethitischen Gebeten Arnuwandas und Mursilis . . . . . . . . . . . .
Manfred Hutter
The (City-)Gate and the Projection of Royal Power in atti . . . . . . . . . . .
J.L. Miller
Hethitische Felsreliefs als Reprsentation der Macht:
Einige ikonographische Bemerkungen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Zsolt Simon
... Ich bin bei meinem Vater nicht beliebt...: Einige Bemerkungen
zur Historizitt des Zalpa-Textes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bla Stipich
Dating of Akkad, Ur III, and Babylon I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Peter J.Huber
Cuneiform Documents Search Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Wojciech Jaworski
Fluchformeln in den Urkunden der Chalder- und Achmenidenzeit . . . . . .
Jrgen Lorenz
Arbeitszimmer eines Schreibers aus der mittelelamischen Zeit . . . . . . . . .
Behzad Mofidi Nasrabadi
Siegel fr Jedermann: Neue Erkenntnisse zur sog. Srie lamite Populaire
und zur magischen Bedeutung von Siegelsteinen . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Georg Neumann
Did Rusa Commit Suicide? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Michael Roaf
ber die (Un-)Mglichkeit eines Glossary of Old Syrian [GlOS] . . . . . . . .
Joaqun Sanmartn
Adapas Licht . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Illya Vorontsov
Early Lexical Lists and Their Impact on Economic Records:
An Attempt of Correlation Between Two Seemingly
Different Kinds of Data-Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Klaus Wagensonner

665
675
687
699
715
735
739
747
757
771
781
795

805

Offprint from: Gernot Wilhelm, ed.,

Organization, Representation, and Symbols of Power
in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 54th
Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale
Copyright 2012 Eisenbrauns. All rights reserved.

The Tablet of Destinies and the

Transmission of Power in Enma eli
Karen Sonik
Philadelphia

The Tablet of Destinies, a well known if somewhat enigmatic motif, features

prominently in Mesopotamian mythology as both an emblem and a receptacle of
divine power and kingship.Equated with the rikis Enlilti, the bond(s) of Enlilship, in an inscription of Sennacherib from Kuyunjik (K 6177 + 8869), the Tablet is
described by Andrew George as the means by which rightful power is exercised: the
power invested in the rightful keeper of the Tablet of Destinies is that of the chief of
the destiny-decreeing gods ... which amounts in principle to kingship of the gods.1
Key to this definition is the point of legitimate ownership: simple acquisition
of the Tablet may confer power, even enormous power, over the gods and over the
world but it does not, in itself, confer infallibility or legitimacy. The Tablets rightful keeper is determined based on his or her innate qualities, power, and position
in the pantheon, and varies according to chronological and geographical context.2
Prior to its appearance in this inscription of Sennacherib, in which it is attributed to the Assyrian god Aur, the Tablet serves as a familiar and prominent device
in several Mesopotamian texts that explore the nature of legitimate and illegitimate
divine power and rulership, the Babylonian epic Enma eli among them.3
In Enma eli, the Tablet of Destinies is something of a peripheral device, unsurprising given that the text draws on numerous themes and motifs from other
mythological traditions to justify the elevation of the Babylonian god Marduk to the
Authors note: Thanks are owed to Stephen Tinney, Barry Eichler, Grant Frame, Erle Leichty, Jeffrey
Tigay, and Paul Delnero for their kind suggestions and comments. Any errors, of course, remain my own.
1.George 1986: 138. While a visual representation of the Tablet of Destinies has not yet been
recovered, its physical form is described in this inscription of Sennacherib. George (1986: 138) further
suggests that a monument depicting such may actually have been undertaken under Sennacherib, who
elsewhere commissioned a representation of Ashur defeating Timat in Enma eli, especially in view
of his interest in the theology of Assurs divine kingship. Varying conceptions of the Tablet of Destinies
in Mesopotamian texts exist: Old Babylonian literary texts commonly presented the idea of cosmic order
in terms of divine decrees...On rare occasions these decrees were visualized as a finite and predetermined set recorded on the Tablet of Destinies possessed by one of the major gods. More regularly, they
were presented as a set of ad hoc declarations in response to particular events or prompted by petitions
(Jones 2005: 334). Elsewhere, the Tablet of Destinies has been described as a magical, accessory-like
object conceptualized as the embodiment of power over the cosmos (Ata, 2007: 307).
2. See Lawson (1994: 41) for a list of gods associated with the Tablet of Destinies.
3. The date of composition of Enma eli remains disputed, though the late second millennium bce
seems the most likely. See Lambert 2008: 178; Horowitz 1998: 1078; and Dalley 1989: 22830.

387

388

Karen Sonik

kingship of the pantheon.4 Nevertheless, the manner in which it is integrated into

the events of the composition, first bestowed upon Qingu by Timat, then seized and
worn by Marduk while he orders the cosmos, and ultimately presented by Marduk
to his grandfather Anu, offers some insight into one of the central problems of the
text: where does power legitimately reside and how and why is it properly transferred from one divine entity to another?5 This paper examines the relationship
between the Tablet of Destinies, the possession and transmission of power, and the
conferral of legitimacy in the context of Enma eli.
The opening lines of the epic describe the mingling of two primordial and elemental entities, Aps and Timat, who generate the first gods and who seem to
evolve thereby into active proto-deities, complete with at least semi-anthropomorphic forms and divine powers and attributes.6 As the parents of all the gods, Aps
and Timat may also be read as the first rulers of the text, legitimately endowed
with divine authority over the gods. Aps, as befits a king,7 stands at the head of a
line of legitimate heirs, among them Lahmu and Lahamu, Anar and Kiar, Anu,
Ea, and ultimately Marduk, who comprise the great gods. He is also the apparent
progenitor of a mass of unnamed and undifferentiated descendents, who comprise
the lesser gods. Legitimate power, so far, is relatively concentrated: it is located in
the hands of Aps and Timat and their rightful heirs. This situation, however, does
not last.
When the great gods, enormously dynamic, creative, and noisy, keep their parents and their lesser siblings from rest by day and sleep by night, Aps makes the
terrible decision to destroy them despite Timats objection, thereby fracturing the
legitimate holders of divine power into three camps: Aps on one side; the great
gods, his heirs, on the other; and Timat, who remains a neutral party in the conflict.
With the swift and prudent execution of Aps by Ea, the situation seems resolved and consolidation of power in the hands of the great gods, who are both
Apss heirs and his conquerors, appears inevitable. Timat, who refused to aid
in the destruction of her children, might now reasonably be expected to actively
support them. As an independently powerful and authoritative figure, she could assume the role of queen mother, as exemplified by Namma in Enki and Ninmah,8 a
4. While the text may be composite in nature, its authorship is unlikely to be so. As noted by Lambert (Mesopotamian Creation Stories, 17), the epics literary character and ideological single-mindedness mark it as the product of a single author at one point of time, using of course whatever he wanted
from existing mythological materials.
5. A similar question about Enma eli was posed in Lawson 1994: 22: So where does the real
power reside? Of what real advantage is the Tablet of Destinies? While Lawsons subsequent discussion
and interpretation of the Tablet of Destinies in Mesopotamian myth offers an interesting exploration
of a difficult topic, and while some of his conclusions and analyses occasionally parallel those presented
here, his understanding of the text and its major players frequently deviates significantly from my own.
6. Aps and Timat are not gods proper as has sometimes been suggested, ibid.: 20. Their names,
unlike those of the rest of the gods in Enma eli, are never written with the divine determinative (Anar
alone is excepted, as his name begins with the dingir sign). Following the generation of the first gods from
the mingling of their waters, however, Aps and Timat do seem to evolve into proto-deities, possibly
as a result of the civilizing qualities of sexual intercourse, see Mills 2002: 29; Walls 2001: 1734; Sonik
2009. For a discussion of the Sea and the aps as associated with monsters prior to their appearance in
Enma eli, see Wiggermann 1992: 155.
7. Whether he is to be understood as the first king or ruler, Aps is certainly the first major male
authority figure to appear in Enma eli by virtue of his position as the father of all the gods.
8. Namma, mother of Enki, is commonly without any specified spouse, and since Enki/Ea was god
of the subterranean waters, it may be suspected that his mother was similarly associated (Lambert
2008: 31).
Offprint from: Gernot Wilhelm, ed.,
Organization, Representation, and Symbols of Power
in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 54th
Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale
Copyright 2012 Eisenbrauns. All rights reserved.

The Tablet of Destinies and the Transmission of Power

389

divine peacemaker and peaceweaver serving as the protector of her heirs, the great
gods, and as an intercessor and advocate for any of her lesser descendents who are
wronged or overburdened. Acting thus, Timat would continue to loom large in the
divine realm while still removing herself from the line of succession. Divine power,
already effectively claimed by Ea, could then properly descend down the line of her
heirs. Timat would also be able to smooth over the growing anger of the lesser gods
against their more powerful brethren, who, with the birth of Marduk, have actually
intensified their noisome activities. Much to the chagrin of the great gods, however,
Timat not merely joins but actually takes over the leadership of these lesser gods.
Power is again split between warring divine factions, the great gods on one side, and
Timat leading the lesser gods on the other. It is against this dramatic and violent
backdrop that the Tablet of Destinies first appears in Enma eli.
Preparing for battle, Timat independently generates terrible monsters to swell
the ranks of her army, nightmare warriors who are endowed with melammu, whose
veins are filled with venom instead of blood, and who are incited to continually attack and never to yield (I 133140).9 From among her divine offspring, the lesser
gods who comprise her assembly, she chooses the otherwise unknown Qingu to be
her new consort and the general of her battle array, elevating him to the kingship of
the gods and bestowing upon him the Tablet of Destinies.10
This remarkable sequence of events raises several important questions: how
did the Tablet of Destinies come to be in the possession of Timat in the first place;
what is the mechanism whereby the Tablet is properly bestowed or transferred; and
what is the nature of the Tablet in the specific context of Enma eli?
On the question of the Tablets origin in Enma eli, the text itself is unfortunately or tellingly silent. Based on its background in other compositions, however, we may speculate that Timat inherited it from her late mate Aps, who, by
virtue of his position as the father of all the gods, effectively served as the first king
in Enma eli.11 The Tablet of Destinies, after all, is associated both with divine
authority, as in the epic of Anzu, and with the aps, as in Ninurta and the Turtle.12
As Timat is represented as an enormously and independently powerful entity in
9. For a discussion of melammu and Timats monsters, see Ata 2007: 3068. For further discussion of the significance of melammu, see Aster 2006
10. Qingu does appear, briefly but notably, in several more obscure texts, among them Assurbanipals Acrostic Hymn to Marduk and Zarpanitu (K 7592 + K 8717 + DT 363 + BM 99173), the Marduk
Ordeal (K 6333+ etc.), A Cultic Commentary (K 3476), Mystical Miscellanea (VAT 8917), and the Commentary to the Assyrian Cultic Calendar (VAT 9947), as published in Livingstone 1989: 7, 90, 92, 1023.
11. On the subject of the Tablets origins, Lawson (1994: 20) suggests that fate emanates from
Timat, is embodied as the Tablet of Destinies, and is hers to do with as she wills. That the Tablet may
rightly fall under the guardianship of Timat is clearly possible but Lawson omits any discussion here
of Timats previous relationship with Aps, the ostensible first king of the gods. If Timat bestows the
Tablet on Qingu, is it not possible that she similarly bestowed it on Aps, reclaiming it after his death?
Alternate possibilities, that the Tablet originated with Aps and was inherited by Timat, or that the
two primordial beings shared possession of it, are explored above. For another reading, suggesting that
by killing Aps and Mummu, Ea obtained the Tablet of Destinies, but it returned to Tiamat as it returned to the aps in The Twenty-One Poultices, see Annus 2002: 149. According to this interpretation,
Ea is identical to either Aps or Timat and the Abzu, as the source of wisdom, is a natural place for
the Tablet of Destinies to reside at the beginning of time. Tiamat got it from her dead husband Aps as
a rightful inheritance, ibid.: 14950.
12. In the mythological text The Twenty-One Poultices (BM 33999) ll. 67, the Tablet of Destinies is
similarly associated with the aps through the god Ea, in which Ea describes the Tablet as the document
of my Anuship and demands that it be brought and read before him that he may decree the destiny for
Nabu, the revered, see W.G. Lambert 1980: 79. Annus (2002: 150: 150) speculates that the source of
Offprint from: Gernot Wilhelm, ed.,
Organization, Representation, and Symbols of Power
in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 54th
Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale
Copyright 2012 Eisenbrauns. All rights reserved.

390

Karen Sonik

the epic, at least the equal of Aps, and as the first gods are born of the mingling
of Aps and Timats waters, it is also possible that the two primordial entities
shared responsibility for the Tablet, the one responsible for holding it and the other
for bestowing it, and that it passed into her sole possession following the death of
her mate. This would explain why Ea did not take it over following his execution
of Aps and assumption of Apss melammu and realm. While various other possibilities exist, the fact is that regardless of how she first came to possess it, Timat
appears at least to be the rightful guardian of the Tablet of Destinies at the time of
its introduction into Enma eli. This underscores both the legitimacy of her power
and the enormity of her influence in the text, and offers some insight into why the
great gods are so devastated by her defection to their enemies and why even their
greatest heroes, Anu and Ea, are powerless to stand against her.
That Timat is not the rightful holder of the Tablet,13 however, but more the
medium whereby it is transmitted, is suggested by the manner of its introduction
into the narrative: it first appears as Timat names Qingu as her new consort,
appointing him to the kingship of the gods and the generalship of her army, and
bestowing upon him the Tablet of Destinies, which here seems intended both to
symbolize his new position and to bolster his power. This sequence of events also
suggests at least one mechanism whereby the Tablet of Destinies, and, by extension, divine kingship, may be properly and legitimately attained: through marriage
to or mating with Timat.
One caveat to this point must be noted, however: while a god may gain power
through marrying Timat and receiving the Tablet of Destinies, he apparently cannot gain legitimacy unless he is the right god, independently worthy of both honors.14
In Tablet IV of Enma eli, Marduk reels off the series of charges for which
Timat has been condemned and for which she is to be executed by his hand. Revealingly, he accuses: You named Qingu to your consortship, / Though it was not
his portion, you installed him in the office of lordship (IV 8182). While Timats
marriage to Qingu is not explicitly identified as the basis for Qingus elevation, the
two acts are implicitly linked and are similarly treated as insupportable transgressions. The reason for Marduks objection to Qingus elevation is clear, however, he
has no obvious cause to reproach Timat for her choice of consort, worthy or not,
unless this affects the balance of divine power. But if we accept that marriage to
Timat is linked to the attainment of kingship and, by extension, to the legitimate
holding of the Tablet of Destinies, then Marduks accusations unexpectedly take on
the conjugal undertones suggested by Philip Jones: Marduk acknowledged the
legitimating qualities of marrying Timat. He merely disagreed with her choice of
the obscure figure of Qingu as her spouse and hinted that this was an honor that
should have been his.15
Nabus ire in this text is the return of the Tablet of Destinies to the Aps and to Ea. For a discussion of
the Tablet of Destinies in Anzu and in Ninurta and the Turtle (UET 6/1 2), see Penglase 1994: 515, 612.
13. A distinction between guardianship and ownership is suggested here, with the implication being that the rightful holder of the Tablet of Destinies may have to be male but that the medium through
which it is transmitted may be female.
14. This is supported by the fact that Qingu, the unworthy usurper, is easily defeated in combat by
Marduk, the true and rightful king, despite holding the Tablet of Destinies. Lawsons (1994: 23) suggestion that like the sword of Excalibur in Arthurian legend, the Tablet is effective according to the person
or god that wields it seems a sensible one.
15. Jones 2005: 360. Whether being the mate of Timat is any more legitimating than possessing
the Tablet of Destinies is questionable: while both positions confer power, the whole point of the text
Offprint from: Gernot Wilhelm, ed.,
Organization, Representation, and Symbols of Power
in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 54th
Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale
Copyright 2012 Eisenbrauns. All rights reserved.

The Tablet of Destinies and the Transmission of Power

391

On first reading, this suggestion seems unsavory, even obscene. Timat, after
all, is mother of the gods and so, presumably, progenitress of Marduk as well. Incest, however, regardless of taboo, is at least obliquely indicated in Enma eli and
a close consideration of the narrative suggests that Marduk is indeed intended as
the rightful mate of Timat.16
Reading Timat as the queen of the gods, as her mate Aps was the first king,
her refusal to step aside into the non-sexual role of queen mother requires her to
take a new mate who is not only her equal in power and ability but who is also fit
to assume the role of king of the gods. Where is such a mate to be found? There is,
ultimately, only one place to look: in the line of the great gods, the legitimate heirs
of her union with Aps. Among this line, only Marduk, and possibly Anu, are uncoupled with corresponding female deities and Anu, as demonstrated by his abortive
mission against Timat, is clearly not up to the challenge (II 105118). Marduk, on
the other hand, is a superlative hero god from birth, easily surpassing his fathers in
his faculties and his potential. As the direct and most powerful descendent of Aps
and Timats original union, and also as the son of Ea, who slew Aps and assumed
his realm and stature, Marduk is uniquely situated to actually replace the father
of the gods by marrying the now unattached Timat. The problem of incest lingers
but only until we realize that the narrative of Enma eli has been carefully manipulated to circumvent it.
While Marduk is nominally descended from Timat through his father Ea, and
presumably also through his mother Damkina, for whom a genealogy is not given,
he is very deliberately described as having been born in the aps, the realm created
from the body of the first king of the gods, thus excluding Timat from the equation.
The line of succession is drastically abbreviated, leading directly and solely from
Aps to his immediate heir and the child of his corpse, Marduk.17 Indeed, if the
incest taboo plays any role in shaping the events of Enma eli, it is in reinforcing
the impropriety of Timats union with Qingu, who is explicitly identified as one of
her offspring (however many generations removed) in the text.18
seems to be that they cannot confer legitimacy when bestowed upon an unworthy god, as, in this case,
upon Qingu.
16. Incestuous relationships are almost certainly part of the text, despite attempts in modern scholarship to explain them away. Thus Anu is described as the child, apilunu (I 14), of Anar and Kiar, and
Anar and Kiar are likely born of the pair Lahmu and Lahamu, though the text is not explicit on this
point. Given that these represent the earliest generations of gods, however, a certain amount of leeway
is to be expected. As for the later generations, it is notable that Anu has no named mate and that Ea is
paired with Damkina, for whom no genealogy is given. Lambert (2008: 26) poses the question, Is this
silence a reaction to the problem in any such theogony that after the first generation it implies brother
and sister marriages that were taboo in Sumero-Babylonian society? but no definitive answer is possible. It is worth noting that the fragmentary and unusual Theogony of Dunnu (BM 74329), one of the
few Mesopotamian texts to explicitly include incestuous relationships in its narrative, begins with the
mother-son union and the sons killing of the father as the means of attaining kingship.Brother-sister
pairings feature more prominently as the text continues but it is notable that the queen, the mother,
must either be married to or killed by the son, or killed by his sister, in order for the son to gain kingship.While this text may be well out of the mainstream, it nonetheless indicates the problem posed by
the continued existence of Timat following the execution of Aps: Ea cannot marry her, being paired
with Damkina, and Marduk, the heir apparent to the kingship of the gods, must either marry her or kill
her to be confirmed in his position.
17. While hardly a palatable image, such a relationship between Aps and Marduk would be yet
another symbolic boost to Marduks claim to power and seems accurately to sum up the connection the
author of Enma eli was trying to evoke in his description of Marduks birth in Aps.
18. Qingu is not, as often described, a monster or a demon but is rather one of the lesser gods who
comprise Timats assembly: From the gods, her offspring, those who formed the assembly /She [Timat]
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Karen Sonik

That Marduk should assume the consortship of Timat, that he should be elevated to the kingship of the gods, and that he is, and should be, the rightful holder
of the Tablet of Destinies suddenly becomes self-evident. Timats failure to see this
does not prevent him from attaining legitimate kingship, which he achieves instead
through election in the divine assembly of the great gods,19 but it becomes ample
justification for her treatment at his hands.
This reading of the text is supported by subsequent events. Following his killing of Timat and his retrieval of the Tablet of Destinies from the unworthy Qingu,
Marduk seals it with a seal and affixes it to his own chest.20 In this context, it serves
more as a symbol and confirmation of his successful and legitimate attainment of
the kingship of the gods than as a source of his power, given what he has already
achieved without it. Further proof of his worthiness to hold it follows, as Marduk
proceeds to organize the cosmos while wearing it proudly on his breast. The proper
balance of power is restored, finally and completely concentrated in the hands of the
great gods and, more specifically, in the hands of Marduk, their king.
If this interpretation of Enma eli is correct, however, what are we to make
of the fact that Marduk, when the battle against Timat is won and the creation
of the world and its features complete, turns over the Tablet of Destinies to his
grandfather Anu (V 6869)? If the Tablet is a symbol of divine kingship, are we to
understand that Marduk is giving up his hard-won prize to his grandfather?
I would argue for several reasons that the answer is an unequivocal no. First,
Marduks sealing of the Tablet of Destinies, followed by his organizing of the world
while wearing the Tablet on his breast, has already emphasized the finality of his
establishment of order and the enormity of his power, so he hardly requires the
continued possession of the Tablet as a symbol of his primacy or rule.21 Second,
the bestowal of the Tablet on Anu suggests both Marduks devotion and loyalty to
his fathers and the continuity of the traditional pantheon,22 with Anu nominally
at its head, even while proposing a radical change in its active leadership.23 Third,
the turning over of the Tablet to a more senior figure in the pantheon evokes comelevated Qingu from among them, she exalted him, I 147148. His misidentification may be at least
partly due to the fact that he is promoted to the generalship of Timats battle array, which includes her
recently generated monsters, see Wiggermann 1992: 163. Timats mating with Qingu thus represents
the clearest case of incest (though the exact relationship between them is unspecified) in the text.
19. The suggestion that Enma eli portrays an evolution of political authority from an assembly
of equals working out policy to an absolute monarch proclaiming policy, is briefly discussed in Foster
2005: 436, and in Jacobsen 1943: 167, 16970. Such a scenario does not accurately reflect the events of
the text, however, if we accept that Aps effectively functions as the first king or ruler of the text and
that even Qingu is elevated to kingship prior to Marduks election. See also Wiggermann 1992: 163. For
a more recent, if problematic, political analysis of Enma eli, see Boer 2006: 13660.
20. George (1986: 139) discusses the symbolism of wearing the Tablet of Destinies, writing that
the victor put it on and wore it as an emblem of power...One can probably imagine it to have been hung
from a cord strung round the neck, after the fashion of an amulet. He also includes a brief but thorough
discussion of the act of sealing the Tablet of Destinies, which appears also in K 6177 + 8869, and treats
the subject of the Seal of Destinies, which is known from the Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon and which
functions to seal both human and divine destinies as decreed by Aur, king of the gods, ibid.: 141.
21. Further, Marduk has already put his own seal on the Tablet of Destinies, IV 122.
22. Marduks devotion to his ancestors has already been emphasized in IV 123126. It is reiterated
when Marduk gives Ea the lead ropes, V 68, and, later in the same passage, when he gives out and
receives other gifts.
23. Enlil is often the (more) active ruler of the pantheon with Anu often appearing as little more
than a figurehead. Enlil is mostly absent from the text of Enma eli, suggesting that it is his position
of divine rulership that Marduk is usurping. Enlil does, however, appear in the final line of Tablet IV, in

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The Tablet of Destinies and the Transmission of Power

393

parisons to, and aligns Marduk with, other Mesopotamian hero gods such as Ninurta, who so dutifully returns the Tablet of Destinies to Enlil in Anzu. In this case,
however, the context suggests not that the Tablet is being returned to its rightful
owner, as Anu has never possessed the Tablet, but rather that it is being bestowed
by Marduk upon his grandfather as a gift or trophy.24 Anus position in the pantheon
is thus subtly attributed to Marduks largesse.
In securing the suzerainty of the gods and establishing the structure and order
of the cosmos, Marduk has at last firmly consolidated divine power. His claim to
kingship bolstered by his place as the greatest and most powerful of Apss heirs, by
his birth in the aps, and by his election to the leadership of the great gods, Marduk
is clearly indicated as the rightful holder of the Tablet of Destinies and as the sole
contender for the role of Timats consort, if that position is to be filled.
When Timat, the only female in Enma eli who plays any significant role in
the succession of power or the conferral of legitimacy, subverts the divine order
through her marriage to Qingu and bestowal upon him of the Tablet of Destinies,
Marduk resorts to martial force both to recover and to prove his birthright. In killing Timat and seizingand sealingfor himself the Tablet of Destinies, Marduk
excises the female element, already excluded from any real part in ordered creation
in the text, from the transmission of divine power and lays his own indelible stamp
upon what is, in the right hands, the ultimate symbol of divine authority. Kingship
and divine power are henceforth properly and permanently concentrated in his
person.
which Marduk establishes the domains of Anu, Enlil, and Ea, IV 146, and as an active entity in TabletV,
in which he appears alongside Anu and Ea presenting Marduk with a gift, V 80.
24. The term used is tmartu, in this context a gift, tribute, or present.

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in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 54th
Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale
Copyright 2012 Eisenbrauns. All rights reserved.