[673] Bezold, Catalogue, p. 1710.
[674] Boissier, Documents, etc., pp. 3, 4.
[675] Bezold, Catalogue, pp. 1437, 1438.
[676] Bezold, ib. p. 918.
[677] I.e., over him.
[678] Chapter ii. 4-6.
[679] Chapter ii. 31-35, and vii. 2-12.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE COSMOLOGY OF THE BABYLONIANS.
Various traditions were current in Babylonia regarding the manner in which the universe came into existence. The labors of the theologians to systematize these traditions did not succeed in bringing about their unification. Somewhat like in the Book of Genesis, where two versions of the creation story have been combined by some editor,[680] so portions of what were clearly two independent versions have been found among the remains of Babylonian literature. But whereas in the Old Testament the two versions are presented in combination so as to form a harmonic whole, the two Babylonian versions continued to exist side by side. There is no reason to suppose that the versions were limited to two. In fact, a variant to an important episode in the creation story has been discovered which points to a third version.[681]