He pierced her entrails, he tore through her heart,
He seized hold of her and put an end to her life,
He threw down her carcass and stepped upon her.
The method employed by Marduk is so graphically described that no comment is necessary. After having vanquished Tiâmat, the valiant Marduk attacks her associates. They try to flee, but he captures them all—including Kingu—without much difficulty and puts them into his great net. Most important of all, he tears the tablets of fate from Kingu and places them on his breast. This act marks the final victory. Henceforth, the gods with Marduk—and no longer Tiâmat and her brood—decree the fate of the universe. There is great rejoicing among the gods, who heap presents and offerings upon Marduk. As the vanquisher of chaos, Marduk is naturally singled out to be the establisher of the fixed form and order of the universe. The close of the fourth tablet describes this work of the god, and the subject is continued in the following ones. Unfortunately, these tablets are badly preserved, so that we are far from having a complete view of the various acts of Marduk. He begins by taking the carcass of Tiâmat and cutting it in half.
He cuts her like one does a flattened fish into two halves.
Previous to this he had trampled upon her and smashed her skull, as we are expressly told, so that the comparison of the monster, thus pressed out, to a flattened fish is appropriate.
He splits her lengthwise.
The one half he fashioned as a covering for the heavens,
Attaching a bolt and placing there a guardian,
With orders not to permit the waters to come out.