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Tiamat is a primordial Babylonian goddess of the ocean and personification of chaos. She gave birth to the first generation of gods, and later, she was killed by the storm god, Marduk. From her divided body came the heavens and the Earth.

Myths & Legends[]

Tiamat originates from the Babylonian mythology. She was first mentioned in writer Berossus' first volume of universal history.

Enuma Elish[]

Tiamat is one of the two central protagonists of the Enuma Elish - the earliest recorded writing. In the story, Tiamat and her mate/brother Apsu/Abzu, embodied primordial nothingness. As they laid together they gave birth to gods, and from the gods, came creation. The gods started building the universe/reality. As being of primordial nothing, the very concept of creation hurt Apsu and Tiamat, disturbing their slumber. Tiamat ignored the fighting at-first, trying to get back to her sleep of oblivion, but Apsu would not ignore the commotion caused by creation and attacked the gods and earth.

The Gods fought and killed Apsu. Tiamat, enraged woke from her sleep and went to destroy the gods and creation as punishment for killing her beloved Apsu. She spawned millions of monsters - Dragons being the most prominent. Marduk, the strongest of the gods fought her. Only after an intense battle with the power of all the other gods behind him could Marduk overcome Tiamat and her brood. Apsu was thrown into the heavens and is the void of the night-sky. Apsu's corpse was the land and used as a foundation for Earth.

Appearance[]

Tiamat has the appearance of a dragon or a serpent. Sometimes, she is multi-headed, due to modern influences from the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.

Modern Depictions[]

Board Games[]

  • In Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as D&D or DnD), Tiamat is a powerful draconic goddess with multiple heads.
  • In Pathfinder, Tiamat is a deity stated to have multiple heads that is mentioned in dragon mythology. Her backstory is reminiscent of her mythological origins as the consort of Apsu, with the twist that she ends up choosing the side of her child Dahak over her husband despite Dahak's innate villainous nature.

Video Games[]

  • In the Final Fantasy series, Tiamat is a recurring boss or summon. She is, like in D&D, a multi-headed draconic creature, but has a bipedal body.
  • In Darksiders, Tiamat appears as a gigantic batqueen and has a mini-boss role.
  • In Smite, Tiamat is a playable character added in 2021. She is regarded as the mother of creation, who now wants to reclaim what she has made from the hands of the lesser gods.
  • In Granblue Fantasy, Tiamat appears as a boss. She is associated with the wind and is a humanoid in appearance that has three serpent heads accompanying her.

Gallery[]

Family[]

Anunnaki Genealogy in Mesopotamian mythology
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Abzu
 
Tiamat
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mummu
 
Kingu
 
Lahmu
 
Lahamu
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Anshar
 
Kishar
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Anu
 
Antu
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Enki
 
Ninhursag
 
Enlil
 
Ninlil
 
 
Nusku
 
Dagon
 
Ninsun
 
 
 
 
Lugulbanda
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ashnan
 
Lahar
 
Ninsar
 
 
Ningal
 
Sin
 
Nidaba
 
Enkimdu
 
Gilgamesh
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sarpanitam
 
Marduk
 
Shamash
 
Inanna
 
Tammuz
 
ʻAṯtartu
 
Ereshkigal
 
Nergal
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Aruru
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ninazu
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