was Babylon’s chief god and was also called Enlil, Marduk, and Ashur. He was a member of the supreme triad with the gods Anu and Ea. Bel-Marduk was entirely an Urban Spirit associated with the essence of Babylon. He created “order,” or, in other words, the blueprint for his city. The story is based on the long mythical poem Enuma Elish, in English, When Above, in which he defeated and killed the dragon goddess Tiamat and her husband, Kingu. They were representative of Chaos. Once Bel-Marduk killed them, he cut Tiamat’s body in two, using one half to create the heaven and the other half to create the earth. Then, following Bel-Marduk’s design, the god Ea took Kingu’s blood and made men and women so they could serve the gods. Each god received a task and a domain from Bel-Ma...

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