The Old Testament is a compilation, and like every compilation it has a wide variety of contributors who, in turn, have
                    their individual influence upon the final work. It is no surprise, then, that there exist certain parallels between the Enuma
                    Elish, the cosmogony of the Babylonians, and the Book of Genesis, the first part of the Pentateuch section of the Bible. In
                    fact, arguments may be made that other Near Eastern texts, particularly Sumerian, have had their influences in Biblical
                    texts. The extent of this 'borrowing', as it were, is not limited to the Bible; the Enuma Elish has its own roots in Sumerian
                    mythology, predating the Enuma Elish by nearly a thousand years. A superficial examination of this evidence would
                    erroneously lead one to believe that the Bible is somewhat a collection of older mythology re-written specifically for the
                    Semites. In fact, what develops is that the writers have addressed each myth as a separate issue, and what the writers say
                    is that their God surpasses every other. Each myth or text that has a counterpart in the Bible only serves to further an
                    important idea among the Hebrews: there is but one God, and He is omnipotent, omniscient, and other-worldly; He is not
                    of this world, but outside it, apart from it. The idea of a monotheistic religion is first evinced in recorded history with
                    Judaism, and it is vital to see that instead of being an example of plagiarism, the Book of Genesis is a meticulously
                    composed document that will set apart the Hebrew God from the others before, and after. To get a clear picture of the
                    way the Book of Genesis may have been formed (because we can only guess with some degree of certainty), we must
                    place in somewhere in time, and then define the cultures in that time. The influences, possible and probable, must be
                    illustrated, and then we may draw our conclusions. If we trace back to the first appearance of the Bible in written form, in
                    its earliest translation, we arrive at 444 B.C.. Two texts, components of the Pentateuch referred to as 'J' and 'E' texts, can
                    be traced to around 650 B.C. Note that 'J' refers to Yahweh (YHVH) texts, characterized by the use of the word
                    'Yahweh' or 'Lord' in accounts; 'E' refers to Elohist texts, which use, naturally, 'Elohim' in its references to God.1 But 650
                    B.C. isn't our oldest reference to the 'J' and 'E' texts; they can be traced, along with the other three strands of the
                    Pentateuch, to at least 1000 B.C. Our first compilation of these strands existed in 650 B.C.. We must therefore begin our
                    search further back in time. We can begin with the father of the Hebrew people, Abraham. We can deduce when he
                    lived, and find that he lived around 1900 B.C. in ancient Mesopotamia2. If we examine his world and its culture, we may
                    find the reasons behind certain references in Genesis, and the mythologies they resemble. The First Babylonian Dynasty
                    had begun around 1950 B.C. and would last well into the late 16th century B.C.. The Babylonians had just conquered a
                    land previously under the control of the Assyrians, and before that, the Summering. Abraham had lived during a time of
                    great prosperity and a remarkably advanced culture. He was initially believed to have come from the city of Ur, as given
                    in the Bible as "...the Ur of Chaldees". Earlier translations read, however, simply "...Land of the Chaldees"; later, it was
                    deduced that Abraham had come from a city called Haran3. In any case, he lived in a thriving and prosperous world.
                    Homes were comfortable, even luxurious. Copies of hymns were found next to mathematical tablets detailing formulae for
                    extracting square and cube roots.4 The level of sophistication 4000 years ago is remarkable. We can also deduce that it
                    was a relatively stable and peaceful society; its art is characterized by the absence of any warlike activity, paintings or
                    sculptures.5 We also have evidence of an Israelite tribe, the Benjamites, in Babylonian texts. The Benjamites were
                    nomads on the frontier of its boundaries, and certainly came in contact with Babylonian ideas- culture, religion, ethics. The
                    early tribes of Israel were nomadic, "taking with them the early traditions, and in varying latitudes have modified it"6
                    according to external influences. The message remained constant, but the context would subtly change. In addition to the
                    Benjamites in Mesopotamia, there were tribes of Israel in Egypt during the Egyptian Middle Kingdom period7, which
                    certainly exposed these people to Egyptian culture as well as Babylonian culture as a result of trade between the two
                    kingdoms. Having placed Abraham and certain early Semites in this time, we can now examine the culture they would
                    have known. The Babylonian Dynasty had as one of its first leaders a man known as Hammurabi. In addition to being the
                    world's first known lawgiver, he installed a national god for his people named Marduk 8. Marduk's story is related in the
                    Enuma Elish: It begins with two primordial creatures, Apsu and Tiamat. They have children, who are gods. These children
                    became too noisy and disruptive to Apsu, who wished to kill them. One of these gods, Ea, kills Apsu first. Tiamat
                    becomes enraged, and increasingly threatening towards Ea and the remaining gods for killing her mate. One by one, the
                    gods seek to quiet Tiamat, but each fails. However, one god, Marduk, agrees to stop Tiamat, but only if he is granted
                    sole dominion over all other gods. They agree, and Marduk battles Tiamat, killing her and creating the world from her
                    corpse. In addition, Marduk slays one of the gods who allied himself with Tiamat, and from this dead god's blood,
                    Marduk creates man. 9 On the surface, it looks and sounds nothing like Genesis. However, we can begin to draw our
                    parallels as we go into more detail. For example, Babylonian poetry has no rhyme, but it has meter and rhythm, like
                    Hebrew 10. Notice the similarity in the next two passages: "Half of her he set in place and formed the sky... as a roof. He
                    fixed the crossbar... posted guards; He commanded them not to let her waters escape" 11 and "Then God said, 'Let there
                    be a dome... to separate one body of water from the other.'" Genesis 1:6 "All the fountains of the great abyss burst forth,
                    and the floodgates of the sky were opened..." Genesis 7:11 Also compare the creation of days and the special
                    significance conferred upon the seventh: "Thou shalt shine with horns to make six known days, on the seventh with... a
                    tiara." 12 From Genesis (1:31-2-1): "Evening came and morning followed- the sixth day... "So God blessed the seventh
                    day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work he had done in creation." We can summarize the
                    similarities like so: each created the firmament, dry land, the celestial bodies, and light. Each makes man the crowning
                    achievement. On the seventh day, God rests and sanctifies the day. In the seventh tablet of the Enuma Elish, the gods rest
                    and celebrate. These similarities strongly suggest a common knowledge of the Enuma Elish among writers of the Book of
                    Genesis (each section of Genesis is composed of four different sets of writers). In addition to Babylonian influence, look
                    at the following taken from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, which can be traced back to 3000 B.C.: "I am Re.. I am the
                    great god who came into being by himself..."13 Compare that to the familiar "I am who am." These similarities are of
                    secondary importance, however; we now begin to see the departures. For one, if Marduk is all-powerful, why does he
                    do battle with Tiamat, when a word would suffice? For example: "Then God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light.
                    "Then God said, 'Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters, to separate one body of water from the other.' And so
                    it happened..." Genesis 1:3, 1:6 God's word alone is sufficient to render unto the world any change He wishes. This is a
                    radical innovation in a world where pantheistic religion more closely resembles a super-powered family that doesn't get
                    along very well. The Egyptian god Re may have been self-created, but he is by no means all-powerful, and not at all the
                    only of his kind. Marduk is a warrior who can defeat primordial serpents, but the Hebrew god has but to speak: "...and it
                    was; He commanded, and it stood fast." Psalms, 33:9 The word of God is all-powerful.. And here we begin to see our
                    greatest departures. We have a monotheistic religion, the first of its kind, created amidst a culture that, in the case of the
                    Babylonians, has up to fifty gods!14 Not only is there but one god, but he is all-powerful, so much so that he does not
                    find it necessary to wrestle with nature or defeat mighty primordial gods. He simply speaks and it is done. It is our first
                    occurrence of divine will impose upon the world. Furthermore, it is a god without a precursor, without creation. He is
                    something apart from this world. Tiamat and Apsu lived in a world already created (and by whom?); the Egyptian gods
                    have a multitude of births of gods in their texts15. In fact, there was once a debate on the translation of a single verb in the
                    Bible, "bara", meaning "to create". Later translations modify this to "bero", meaning "to create from nothing". When
                    written in Hebrew, only careful scrutiny would distinguish the two. The distinction is important, however, because it
                    changes the implications involved in creating. Does God create the world from something or nothing? In the following
                    passage, "When God began to create heaven and earth- the earth being a desolate waste, with darkness upon the abyss
                    and the spirit of God hovering over the waters- God said, 'Let there be light!' And there was light." it is inferred that God
                    is creating with something. The next translation, "When God began to create the heaven and earth, the earth was a
                    desolate waste and darkness was upon the abyss and the spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, 'Let
                    there be light!' And there was light..." implies that God began by creating a desolate waste, then creating light, then
                    shaping the waste, and so forth. All this as a function of one verb16. As another departure, examination of creation stories
                    by Summering and Babylonians show that they begin with subordinate clauses such as "when" or "On the day of."17
                    Genesis clearly diverges from this: "In the beginning" clearly sets apart the text from any other, making it the actual start of
                    all time and space as we know it. It also puts the Hebrew god outside of time and space. There would be no point in
                    arguing that the Old Testament was influenced by the contemporary cultures of its writers; the facts clearly point to
                    innumerable external sources of inspiration. But while we can acknowledge these similarities, we must also acknowledge
                    that the writers of the Book of Genesis are making a radical departure from the norm: they have created a monotheistic
                    religion, and their god is all-powerful, beyond the scope of human comprehension. Typically, gods are represented as
                    something akin to humans on a grander scale; the Hebrew god is simply not measured or scaled; He is an unknown
                    quantity, set apart from the bounds of human knowledge. These similarities serve a function as a contrast to the
                    differences between these religions. It would seem that the writers acknowledged these other religions, and addressed
                    each one by creating a god that surpasses all others. The god that creates himself is one of many; the Hebrew god stands
                    alone in his might. The god that created the world defeated another god, and formed the earth from the corpse; in
                    Genesis, God speaks and his words transform into actions. God exists before the matter He shapes to His will. The
                    writers have then, in fact, minimized the actions of all other gods in comparison to one all-powerful deity such as this. By
                    drawing comparisons to other texts, the message can be lost in attempting to find the roots of certain ideas. But the origins
                    of the stories are not nearly as important as the overall message being stated, and while the ideas they resemble may be
                    old, the message is clear and unique: there is but one, and He is beyond all that is. His will alone suffices, and He predates
                    even time itself. And that message has changed the world. 