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Marduk and the Making of the Cosmos
Ea subdued Apsû and Mummu, while Marduk later defeated Tiamat and Kingu before dividing Tiamat’s body to form heaven and earth. He ordered the skies, weather, time, stars, earth, gods, and humanity, then made Babylon the gods’ first city and centre. Marduk’s Rise, Victory, and Creation of the Cosmos Ea poured sleep over Apsû, bound him, and killed him. He confined Mummu and kept him under control. Ea established his dwelling on Apsû, named it Apsû, and appointed its shrines. Ea and Damkina lived there in splendour, in the chamber of the destinies and the room of the archetypes. The Enūma Eliš then recounts Marduk’s rise to kingship. Marduk defeated Tiamat and Kingu, overcoming the forces opposed to him. After the battle, he surveyed Tiamat’s corpse and divided it by a planned design. He split her in two, like a dried fish. He raised one half and stretched it out as the heavens. He fixed the skin in place and appointed a watch so that her waters could not escape. Marduk crossed the heavens and arranged their celestial parts. He adjusted them to match the Apsû, the dwelling of Nudimmud, and measured the shape of the Apsû. He built Ešarra as a replica of Ešgalla. From Tiamat’s spittle he formed clouds, then appointed the winds, violent rainstorms, and billowing mist. He organised the day, the year, the watches of night and day, and the movements of the heavenly bodies. He organised the earth and the pantheon. He created humanity and gave the gods an ordered cosmos in which to dwell. He established Babylon as the first city and the centre of the gods. Source note: Primary text: the ancient sources. Corpus check: Babylonian mythology. Marduk’s Ordeal Marduk grew exasperated with the existing divine government and resolved to overthrow it. At that point, his plan and its immediate result were lost. In one telling, the gods later gathered under Enlil’s leadership, at Anu’s command, and came before the lord of the land. They raised a lament for Babylon, and the Babylonians’ grief disturbed Marduk’s sleep. The gods wept for Babylon. After much weeping, they reached a decision, but the story gave no account of what they decided. Its direct consequence was therefore uncertain. Babylon may have been freed from hard labour and given a privileged place in the universe, but no scene showed how this happened. No event showed Marduk seized, confined, killed, restored, or sought by other gods. Another tale placed Marduk before Enmešarra and his sons after Nergal brought the prisoners from the jail. Marduk denounced Enmešarra for his offence, then beheaded the seven sons and portrayed them on a wall. He next turned to Enmešarra. Enmešarra’s rays were taken from him and given to Šamaš, and Marduk placed Enmešarra’s depiction on his own dwelling. The account gave no clear statement of Enmešarra’s execution, and it did not describe a seizure, confinement, death, recovery, or return of Marduk. The wider creation cycle also included conflicts, the organisation of the universe, the splitting of heaven and earth, the ordering of the heavens and earth, and Babylon as the first city, but none of those events completed Marduk’s ordeal. Marduk’s Ordeal. Original MythSource illustration created for this story; not a historical artwork. Source note: Primary text: the ancient sources. Corpus check: Babylonian Creation Myths.
The Nightmare: How Fuseli Painted a Bad Dream
In 1781, Swiss painter Henry Fuseli created The Nightmare, a canvas depicting a sleeping woman draped over a bed as a demonic creature squats upon her torso. The work combines Northern folklore, Renaissance medical theories, and personal grief to give visual form to human terror. Visualising the Unconscious Mind Henry Fuseli painted a bad dream by uniting three distinct levels of reality within a single picture plane. A young woman slumps across a bed, her head and arms dangling toward the floor in total surrender to sleep. On her torso sits an incubus, a squatting demon depicted with dark, heavy features. Behind a red curtain in the background, a pale spectral horse with glowing, wide eyes forces its head into the bedroom. This composition allows the viewer to examine the sleeping figure, the external demon causing her torment, and the bizarre dream vision simultaneously. Fuseli used stark lighting to draw attention to the white nightgown and pale skin of the woman. This bright central element contrasts directly with the shadowy environment and the dark figures invading her space. The woman's open posture suggests vulnerability, while her facial expression indicates subconscious distress. By arranging these elements together, Fuseli captured the psychological experience of severe sleep paralysis. The heavy posture of the incubus visualises the suffocating chest weight that sleeping victims often report during bad dreams. Rather than presenting a clear moral narrative, Fuseli focused entirely on the internal mood of dread, making the painting an early visual study of the human subconscious. Mythological and Etymological Origins The title The Nightmare refers directly to European folklore rather than acting as a simple wordplay on the horse in the background. The English word nightmare derives from the Old English maere and the Teutonic word mara. In Northern European myth, a mara was a malevolent nocturnal spirit that visited sleeping individuals, crouching upon their chests to induce terror and physical suffocation. In classical antiquity, similar nocturnal spirits were known as an ephialtes in Greek or an incubus in Latin. These entities were thought to torment sleeping women, often with erotic overtones. During the Renaissance, the Swiss physician Paracelsus incorporated these creatures into a formal classification system of imaginary beings, positioning incubi as male spirits targeting female dreamers and succubi as female spirits targeting men. Fuseli drew directly upon these historical traditions to construct the iconographic details of his canvas. By bringing the incubus out of medieval folklore and placing it in an eighteenth-century domestic bedroom, he bridged ancient folklore and modern psychological representation. The presence of the demon gave tangible form to fears that had previously existed only in stories and medical treatises. Johann Heinrich Füssli - The Nightmare - WGA08332. Public domain; source: Wikimedia Commons. Rejection and the Hidden Portrait Beyond its reliance on folklore, The Nightmare carries strong connections to Fuseli's personal life. In 1779, while travelling through Zurich on his way to London, Fuseli fell in love with Anna Landoldt. She was the niece of his close friend, the Swiss physiognomist Johann Caspar Lavater. Fuseli proposed marriage to her, but her parents rejected his suit, and she married another man shortly after. The physical canvas of the painting reveals a direct link to this rejected proposal. On the reverse side of The Nightmare, Fuseli painted an unfinished portrait of a young woman, identified by scholars as Anna Landoldt. The proximity of her portrait to the demonic composition on the front suggests that Fuseli's personal grief and sexual frustration informed the creation of the work. Some art historians argue that the leering horse thrusting through the curtain or the demon squatting on the sleeper represents the artist's own troubled emotional state. Fuseli painted four distinct versions of The Nightmare throughout his career, indicating a persistent interest in the theme. The repetition of the subject demonstrates how deeply the imagery resonated with both the painter and his contemporary audience. Classical Rejection and Italian Mannerism Fuseli was largely self-taught as a painter, having initially trained for the ministry in Switzerland. After moving to London in 1764, he travelled to Rome in 1770 to study art firsthand, remaining in Italy for eight years. While in Rome, Fuseli became the central figure in a circle of British and Swedish artists who sought new forms of artistic expression. During his time in Italy, Fuseli rejected the Neoclassical doctrines promoted by Johann Joachim Winckelmann. Winckelmann praised the calm grandeur and idealised harmony of ancient Greek sculpture. Fuseli found this approach rigid and emotionally cold. Instead, he turned his attention to the muscular, contorted figures painted by Michelangelo on the ceiling and back wall of the Sistine Chapel. Fuseli also studied the exaggerated anatomies and unnatural proportions of Italian Mannerist masters such as Parmigianino and Rosso Fiorentino. These Mannerist influences shaped Fuseli's approach to human anatomy. He adopted elongated limbs, dramatic foreshortening, and intense lighting to heighten the emotional charge of his paintings, discarding Neoclassical balance in favour of dark theatricality. Literary Dark Fantasy and Romanticism Upon returning to London in 1779, Fuseli established himself by painting scenes from literature that emphasized horror, passion, and madness. Rather than choosing moral stories from Roman history, he selected dramatic episodes from Homer, William Shakespeare, John Milton, and Spenser. He also painted scenes from the Gaelic epics of Ossian, which enjoyed widespread popularity across Europe at the time. Fuseli's preference for dark themes influenced British art in the late eighteenth century. His paintings often depicted physical agony, demonic encounters, and psychological conflict. In works such as Thor Battering the Midgard Serpent or his depictions of Milton's Satan, Fuseli presented figures caught in violent struggles against overwhelming supernatural forces, using explosive brushwork and stark light contrasts. Fuseli eventually became a full member of the Royal Academy and served as Professor of Painting. His exploration of dark fantasy, medieval myth, and nocturnal terror marked a shift away from Enlightenment rationalism. By giving visual form to bad dreams in The Nightmare, Fuseli helped open the domain of human emotion and subconscious fantasy for the Romantic movement.
Ra and the Nightly Return of the Sun
Ra’s Eye searches the darkness of Nun and finds Shu and Tefnut, who had become lost in the primeval waters. Returning with them, the goddess is placed on Ra’s brow as the fiery uraeus, protector of divine authority and enemy of disorder. The Return of Ra’s Eye Ra sent his divine Eye into the watery darkness of Nun to search for Shu and Tefnut. The creator had produced the two deities, but they had become lost in the primeval waters. The Eye gave light as it searched. The Eye was a goddess, regarded as Ra’s daughter and protector. She could separate from him and act with a mind of her own. Her power was linked with fire and water. Her fiery glance could destroy the enemies of divine order. Her tears could create life. The Eye found Shu and Tefnut and returned with them. Ra placed the goddess on his brow, where she became the uraeus. She protected him and signified his authority. The Eye could also be identified with the sun disk and other celestial bodies. Goddesses including Hathor, Bastet, Mut, Sekhmet, Tefnut, and Wadjyt could take this role. The Eye was linked with the sun’s power and the defence of divine order. Its gaze could destroy, while its tears were connected with the creation of living beings. The uraeus later became a sign worn by pharaohs. It represented their majesty and descent from the sun god. Source note: Primary text: the ancient sources. Corpus check: Magic in Ancient Egypt *ISBN 0292765592*; Handbook of Egyptian Mythology. Ra Separates Earth and Sky Ra ordered Shu to separate Geb and Nut. The earth and sky deities were joined in a close embrace. No space remained between their bodies. Nut had conceived children, but she could not give birth while she and Geb remained joined. Shu placed himself between them. He set Geb beneath his feet and raised Nut above him. His arms supported her arched body, while Geb lay stretched beneath her. Shu became the air between earth and sky. Nut’s body formed the heavens. The separation established the divisions between earth, air, and sky. Nut could give birth once she had been lifted away from Geb. Her children included Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nephthys. One version also names a fifth child, Horus the Elder. Deities called the supporters of Shu assisted him. They included the eight Heh gods, who were said to have been created from his bodily fluids. Shu was later shown as a bearded man with a feather on his head. He stood over Geb with raised arms and supported Nut. In other representations, Nut appears as a giant cow with starry markings. The separation kept earth and sky apart and allowed the world to be populated by deities, spirits, and demons. Ra Separates Earth and Sky. Original MythSource illustration created for this story; not a historical artwork. Source note: Primary text: the ancient sources. Corpus check: Handbook of Egyptian Mythology. Isis and Ra’s Secret Name Isis shaped a serpent from earth mixed with Ra’s saliva. She used magic to bring it to life, then hid it beside the path Ra followed on his daily journey. Ra had grown old. His limbs trembled, and he sometimes dribbled as he travelled through the land. Isis wanted authority over gods, spirits, and human beings. She believed she could gain this power by learning Ra’s secret name. The name was bound to his existence and gave power over him to anyone who knew it. The hidden serpent bit Ra as he passed. The creature had not been made by Ra, so he could not cure the wound himself. Venom spread through his body. Ra cried out, and the gods travelling with him gathered around. He suffered heat and cold, trembling limbs, sweating, failing sight, and increasing pain. His children could do nothing for him and lamented his condition. Isis approached Ra as if she did not know what had happened. She asked whether a snake had poisoned him and offered to overcome it with spells. Ra described the bite and his suffering. Isis said he would live if he spoke his own name. Ra replied by recounting his deeds and creative acts. He named himself Khepera in the morning, Ra at noon, and Temu in the evening. Isis knew these were great names, but they were not the hidden name she sought. She told Ra this and asked him again to reveal it. The venom continued to torment Ra. He finally disclosed his secret name. Isis used her knowledge of it in her magic and healed him. By learning the name, she gained power over Ra and the authority she had sought among the gods. Source note: Primary text: the ancient sources. Corpus check: LEGENDS OF THE GODS.