Basic Information

Alternative names: See The Many Names and Meanings
Type/Species: Sea Serpent
Slayer: Enki
Origin: Mesopotamian Mythology, Akkadian Mythology, Assyro-Babylonian Mythology, Sumerian Mythology

The Many Names and Meanings

Over time, Apsu gained many names. In one of his original incarnations, the dragon was feminine, which was why he had the name Zigarun, which was Akkadian for "The Mother who has Begotten Heaven and Earth." [7]

Apsu was another Akkadian name, and he was also known as Apason and Rishtu. [7] In Assyro-Babylonian mythology, he was known as Apzu, [7] in Sumerian mythology, Abzu. [2] To the Babylonians, he was Aphson. [7]

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About Apsu

According to the ancient wisdom of Mesopotamia, all life came from the water. [8] At first, Apsu was perceived as a feminine entity, but he later became a personal god, the husband-dragon of Tiamat and the father of the first deities. [7] Apsu was the personification of the sweet water ocean that ran under the earth, [2] for he was the ruler of all fresh water. [10]

In the great creation myth recounted in the Enuma Elish, in the beginning, there was no earth or sky, only the waste and confusion [10] of the primordial oceans existed. [7] Apsu was the sweet water that encircled the earth, and he fused with the female principle, Tiamat, [7] the personification of salt water. [8] This was the beginning of creation: [7]

When sweet and bitter mingled together,
No reed was plaited, no rushes muddied the water,
The gods were nameless, natureless, futureless,
...from Apsu and Tiamat,
in the waters gods were created,
in the waters silt precipitated.

-- Enuma Elish [8]

As their children, the gods, flourished, their numbers increased, [10] and they attempted to make order from the primordial chaos. [7]

In some accounts, Apsu and Tiamat could not bear the noise and uproar caused by the younger gods, and so Apsu planned to eliminate them. [3] But other versions claimed that the rebelliousness of the new deities angered Apsu and his wife [7] or that Apsu overheard his children plotting to kill him. [10]

Whatever the cause for his alarm, Apsu decided to stop his children, [10] and he and his wife called upon Mummu for assistance. Tiamat, despite her anger, declined to kill her descendants when Mummu and Apsu joined forces. [7]

Thus, the struggle between the old, primordial deities and the new order began. [1] In the Babylonian creation epic, Enki killed Apsu with either magic weapons [2] or a magic incantation, then locked Mummu away. [7] In other versions, Enki cast a spell on Apsu, setting him into a deep sleep, so that the deity could kill the monstrous dragon-god. [7]

In wake of his victory, Enki established his new home on the corpse of Apsu. [7] He lived in his new abode thereafter with his spouse, Damkina, and there they became parents of the deity Marduk. [7]

Pulled down the bar and posted guards.
He squared Apsu's quarter, the abode of Nudimmud,
As the lord measured the dimensions of Apsu.
The Great Abode, its likeness, he fixed as Esharra,
The Great Abode, Esharra, which he made as the firmament.
Anu, Enlil, and Ea he made occupy their places.

-- Enuma Elish [4]

Other versions attribute the restructuring of Apsu to Marduk, [5] who kept Apsu at his foot [6] after defeating Tiamat in battle. [5]

Apsu's death caused his wife Tiamat to revolt [3] with an army of monsters and renegade gods to avenge her spouse's death. [7]

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Apsu as a Sacred Place

The word 'apsu' sometimes referred to a sacred place in the watery depths, where Apsu the dragon dwelled and later the god Enki resided.

As a place name, apsu was used to refer to the extensive sweet waters that produced the southern Mesopotamian marshlands when it became the home to the wise god Enki [1] and the birthplace of Marduk. [2]

In one Sumerian myth, apsu was a river or sea from which Enki gathered clay and shaped the deities; [7] in another, it was where the goddesss Nammu formed the first human being from clay. [2]

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Physical Description

Apsu was the counterpart of Tiamat, but he was rarely described. Since he completed the destructive dragon, he was also seen as a dreadful serpent.

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Quick Facts

  • Apsu was the personification of the sweet water [2] and ruler of all fresh water. [10]
  • He was the husband-dragon of Tiamat and the father of the first deities. [7]
  • He became determined to stop his children from rebelling, [10] but his wife refused to kill them. [7]
  • Mummu aided Apsu in his quest to quiet the younger deities. [7]
  • His struggle with his offspring became the war between the old, primordial deities and the new pantheon. [1]
  • Enki cast a spell on Apsu, setting him into a deep sleep, and then slew the monstrous dragon-god. [7]
  • His death caused Tiamat to revolt [3] with an army of monsters and renegade gods to avenge her spouse's death. [7]
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Related Articles

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Term Reference

Damkina
n. Mesopotamian goddess who personified the primordial waters in Chaldean mythology and who was the earth mother in Sumerian mythology. In Babylonian cosmology, she was considered a sky deity. She was the wife of Enki.
Enki
n. The Sumerian deity of water, mischief, creation, and intelligence; he was also called Nudimmud. In Akkadian and Babylonian myth, he became known as Ea.
Marduk
n. Babylonian deity of the sun and fertility and the patron of the city of Babylon. He was the son of Enki, and he became the king of the gods and the supreme deity after defeating Tiamat.
Mummu
n. Mesopotamian deity known as the personification of the waves. In the Enuma Elish, he acted as an adviser to Apsu and Tiamat.
Nammu
n. In the Sumerian creation myth, Nammu was the mother goddess and the embodiment of the eternal, primeval sea.
Nudimmud
n. Best known by the name Enki, he was the Sumerian deity of water, mischief, creation, and intelligence, he was later known as Ea in Akkadian and Babylonian myth.
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Damkina n. Mesopotamian goddess who personified the primordial waters in Chaldean mythology and who was the earth mother in Sumerian mythology. In Babylonian cosmology, she was considered a sky deity. She was the wife of Enki.
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Enki n. The Sumerian deity of water, mischief, creation, and intelligence; he was also called Nudimmud. In Akkadian and Babylonian myth, he became known as Ea.
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Marduk n. Babylonian deity of the sun and fertility and the patron of the city of Babylon. He was the son of Enki, and he became the king of the gods and the supreme deity after defeating Tiamat.
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Mummu n. Mesopotamian deity known as the personification of the waves. In the Enuma Elish, he acted as an adviser to Apsu and Tiamat.
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Nammu n. In the Sumerian creation myth, Nammu was the mother goddess and the embodiment of the eternal, primeval sea.
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Nudimmud n. Best known by the name Enki, he was the Sumerian deity of water, mischief, creation, and intelligence, he was later known as Ea in Akkadian and Babylonian myth.
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Footnotes

  1. Leeming 24
  2. Lurker 32
  3. National Geographic [Essential] 27
  4. Pritchard 32
  5. Pritchard 36
  6. Pritchard 37
  7. Turner 63
  8. Woolf 62
  9. Enuma Elish
  10. Lurie 24

For more information on footnotes and references, please see the bibliography.

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