Tiamat, at center, is pressed between two assailants. To her left, behind her is an approaching warrior with sword raised. He has been identified as Marduk due to his incandescent appearance: “With burning flame he filled his body.” (L. W. King Translation Enuma Elish.) He may well be riding the “chariot of Marduk.” Yet, the balance of his extravagant weaponry is absent from the image.

On Tiamat’s right side, she faces a small figure. This small figure has multiple forms. The small figure’s appearance changes. This change can be seen by observing the animations available on the animation page. Because of the mutability of the form of this figure, it can be considered acting as a gallu-demon, the guise of which Belet-ili advises Ninurta to adopt in The Myth of Zu (Anzu): “Your form must keep changing, like a gallu-demon.” The warrior with raised sword on the right does not change his form. Tiamat appears here to be in a defenseless position, contrary to the reports in the Enuma Elish of her “raging… like one possessed.” Nor does there appear to be a terrifying array of abominable defenders, and the various deadly embellishments attributed to her are not visible in the image.

The JPG and TIF images (Wedge) are both framed in white.  The TIF (Kedge) is framed in Black.

Available Sizes: JPG:  240 Kb.  TIF:  8 Mb, 18 Mb.

Image best viewed in low-light environment. TIF Images may reveal highlight illumination in dark shadows. TIF Images are best viewed on 30-bit panels with color-accurate support displaying color space Adobe RGB 1998.