The appearance of dry land is described somewhat vaguely as follows:
There was a channel[786] within the sea.
At that time Eridu was erected, E-Sagila[787] was built,
E-Sagila in the midst of the 'deep,' where the god of the glorious abode[788] dwells.
The mention of the channel appears to imply that the waters were permitted to flow off in a certain direction.
The conception would then be similar to the view expressed in Genesis, where the dry land appears in consequence of the waters being 'gathered' into one place.[789] The temple at Eridu is regarded as synonymous with the city, as the temples E-Kur and E-Anna are synonymous with Nippur and Erech respectively. Eridu at the head of the Persian Gulf, which for the Babylonians was the beginning of the great 'Okeanos' surrounding the world,[790] is the first dry land to appear and hence the oldest place in the world. At this point in the narrative a line is interpolated which clearly betrays the lateness of the version. The mention of E-Sagila suggests to a Babylonian, naturally, the great temple of Marduk in the city of Babylon—'the lofty house.' Local pride and the desire to connect Babylon with the beginning of things leads to the insertion:
Babylon was reared, E-Sagila built.
With this mention of Babylon, the connecting link is established which leads easily to the glorification of Babylon and Marduk. The thought once introduced is not abandoned. The rest of the narrative, so far as preserved, is concerned with Marduk. Eridu alone is beyond his jurisdiction. Everything else, vegetation, mankind, rivers, animals, and all cities, including even Nippur and Erech, are Marduk's work.
The Anunnaki[791] he[792] created together
And bestowed glorious epithets upon the glorious city, the seat dear to their heart.