What is the purpose of this passage from the myth? Abc
to explain how the first humans came to exist on
Earth
Ea called on Marduk, a great warrior god, saying that if
Marduk should be victorious, he would be the lord of all
the gods. A great battle ensued, with gods raging against
each other. Marduk reached Tiamat, the embodiment of
chaos, and smashed her head with his great club. He
sliced her in half, making the North Wind bear her pieces
away. From each half of her ribs he created the vault of
the heavens and the earth. Her weeping eyes became
sacred rivers, and Tiamat was no more.
-"Enuma Elish,"
Early Babylonian myth
to explain how the heavens, earth, and rivers were
created
to explain how humans should act toward one
anther