Research source

Allusion is made in this hymn, it will be noticed, to a fabulous serpent with seven heads, which beats the sea…

Date of account: Ancient material presented in a revised 1880 edition
Source: The Chaldean account of Genesis: Containing the description of the creation, the fall of man, the deluge, the tower of Babel, the times of the patriarchs
Reference: The Chaldean account of Genesis: Containing the description of the creation, the fall of man, the deluge, the tower of Babel, the times of the patriarchs · selected passage 8
Rights: public_domain
Language: English translation and reconstruction from cuneiform sources
Translation: George Smith with later editorial material
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

Allusion is made in this hymn, it will be noticed, to a fabulous serpent with seven heads, which beats the sea into waves

Published source text

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Source passage

Source text · mention only

Allusion is made in this hymn, it will be noticed, to a fabulous serpent with seven heads, which beats the sea into waves. This serpent was originally identical with the dragon of the deep, combated by Merodach, as we shall learn from a fragment to be translated hereafter, that is to say with the principle of chaos and darkness, called Mummu Tiamtu, “the chaos of the deep,” in the account of the creation. It is also described as “the serpent of night,” “the serpent of darkness,” “the wicked serpent,” and “the mightily strong serpent,” epithets which show that it was on the one hand the embodiment of moral evil, and on the other was primitively nothing more than the darkness destroyed by the sun, the bright power of day. It is difficult not to compare the serpent of Genesis with this serpent of Babylonian mythology. No Chaldean legend of the Fall has as yet been found, but when we remember how few Chaldean legends have been discovered, and that even for these we are dependent on the selection and copies of Assyrian scribes, we need not be surprised that such should be the case.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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