Babylonian religion
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Babylonian mythology is a set of stories depicting the activities of Babylonian deities, heroes, and mythological creatures. While these stories are in modern times usually considered a component of Babylonian religion, their purpose was not necessarily religious in nature. Often these stories explained a mystery of nature, depicted the rewards for proper behavior, illustrated punishments for taboo behavior, or performed a combination of these or other purposes. Some mythological texts did, however, serve some ceremonial purpose in religious activity.
The Babylonian canon is largely derived from Sumerian mythology. This was written in Akkadian, a Semitic language, using cuneiform script on clay tablets. Most texts known today are copies made in scribal schools by student scribes, likely at a time when Akkadian was no longer the spoken language in Babylonia and serious belief in the myths had faded amongst educated people.
Some Babylonian texts were even translations into Akkadian from the Sumerian language of earlier texts, though the names of some deities were changed in Babylonian texts. Some Babylonian deities and myths are unique to that culture, however, such as the god Marduk and the Enûma Elish, a creation myth epic.
