A similar variation exists with reference to the tradition of the creation of mankind. There are distinct traces that the belief was current in parts of Babylonia which made Ea the creation of mankind.[756] Ea, it will be recalled, is the 'god of humanity' par excellence, and yet in the seventh (and probably closing) tablet of the series, Marduk is spoken of as the one "who created mankind."[757]
Variant traditions of this kind point to the existence of various centers of culture and thought in rivalry with one another. The great paean to Marduk would have been sadly incomplete had it not contained an account of the creation of mankind—the crowning work of the universe—by the head of the Babylonian pantheon. It is possible, therefore, that a tablet containing the address of a deity to mankind belongs to our series[758] and embodies orders and warnings given by Marduk after the creation of man, just as he addresses the moon after establishing it in the heavens. Purity of heart is enjoined as pleasing to the deity. Prayer and supplication and prostration are also commanded. It is said that
Fear of god begets mercy,
Sacrifice prolongs life,
And prayer dissolves sin.
The tablet continues in this strain. It is perhaps not the kind of address that we would expect Marduk to make after the act of creation, but for the present we must content ourselves with this conjecture, as also with the supposition that the creation of mankind constituted the final act in the great drama in which Marduk is the hero.
When Marduk's work is finished, the Igigi gather around him in adoration. This scene is described in a tablet which for the present we may regard[759] as the close of the series. No less than fifty names are bestowed upon him by the gods, the number fifty corresponding according to some traditions to the number of the Igigi. Marduk accordingly absorbs the qualities of all the gods. Such is the purpose of this tablet. The diction is at times exceedingly impressive.
God of pure life, they called [him] in the third place, the bearer of purification.
God of favorable wind,[760] lord of response[761] and of mercy,
Creator of abundance and fullness, granter of blessings,