Kingu

4 minutes • 679 words

Tiamat’s chief satellite was named KINGU, “the first-born among the gods who formed her assembly.”

She exalted Kingu, In their midst she made him great… The high command of the battle She entrusted into his hand.

Subjected to conflicting gravitational pulls, this large satellite of Tiamat began to shift toward Marduk.

It was this granting to Kingu of a Tablet of Destinies—a planetary path of his own—that especially upset the outer planets.

Ea asked: Who had granted Tiamat the right to bring forth new planets?

He took the problem to Anshar, the giant Saturn.

All that Tiamat had plotted, to him he repeated: “…she has set up an Assembly and is furious with rage. she has added matchless weapons, has borne monster-gods. withal eleven of this kind she has brought forth; from among the gods who formed her Assembly, she has elevated Kingu, her first-born, made him chief… she has given him a Tablet of Destinies, fastened it on his breast.”

Turning to Ea, Anshar asked him whether he could go to slay Kingu.

Ea’s reply did not satisfy Anshar. So Anshar turned to Anu (Uranus) to ask whether he would “go and stand up to Tiamat.”

But Anu “was unable to face her and turned back.”

Marduk, having passed Neptune and Uranus, is now nearing Anshar (Saturn) and his extended rings.

This gives Anshar an idea: “He who is potent shall be our Avenger; he who is keen in battle: Marduk, the Hero!”

Coming within reach of Saturn’s rings (“he kissed the lips of Anshar”), Marduk answers:

“If I as your Avenger am to vanquish Tiamat, save your lives— Convene an Assembly to proclaim my Destiny supreme!”

The condition was audacious but simple: Marduk and his “destiny”—his orbit around the Sun—were to be supreme among all the celestial gods.

It was then that Gaga, Anshar/Saturn’s satellite—and the future Pluto—was loosened from his course:

Anshar opened his mouth, to Gaga, his Counsellor, a word he addressed…

“Be on thy way, Gaga, take the stand before the gods, and that which I shall tell thee repeat thou unto them.”

Passing by the other god/planets, Gaga urged them to “fix your decrees for Marduk.” The decision was as anticipated:

The gods were only too eager to have someone else go to settle the score for them. “Marduk is king!” they shouted, and urged him to lose no more time: “Go and cut off the life of Tiamat!”

The gods have decreed Marduk’s “destiny”.

Their combined gravitational pull has now determined Marduk’s orbital path so that he can go but one way—toward a “battle,” a collision with Tiamat.

As befits a warrior, Marduk armed himself with a variety of weapons.

He filled his body with a “blazing flame”. “He constructed a bow … attached thereto an arrow … in front of him he set the lightning”; and “he then made a net to enfold Tiamat therein.”

These are names for celestial phenomena:

the discharge of electrical bolts as the two planets converged
the gravitational pull (a “net”) of one upon the other.

But Marduk’s chief weapons were his satellites, the four “winds” with which Uranus had provided him when Marduk passed by that planet: South Wind, North Wind, East Wind, West Wind.

Passing now by the giants, Saturn and Jupiter, and subjected to their tremendous gravitational pull, Marduk “brought forth” 3 more satellites:

Evil Wind
Whirlwind
Matchless Wind.

Using his satellites as a “storm chariot,” he “sent forth the winds that he had brought forth, the seven of them.” The adversaries were ready for battle.

The Lord went forth, followed his course; Towards the raging Tiamat he set his face… The Lord approached to scan the innerside of Tiamat– The scheme of Kingu, her consort, to perceive.

But as the planets drew nearer each other, Marduk’s course became erratic:

As he looks on, his course becomes upset, His direction is distracted, his doings are confused. Even Marduk’s satellites began to veer off course: When the gods, his helpers, Who were marching at his side, Saw the valiant Kingu, blurred became their vision.