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Salty Leviathan

2 Comments | June 2, 2007 at 7:39 pm by mahud
Filed under Jewish Mythology, Biblical Mythology, Mesopotamian Mythology

I came across an interesting tradition at ~~Dance of the Mind~~ earlier, regarding the Leviathan, found in the Talmudic tractate Baba Batra:

Rab Judah said in the name of Rab: All that the Holy One, blessed be He, created in his world he created male and female. Likewise, Leviathan the slant serpent and Leviathan the tortuous serpent he created male and female; and had they mated with one another they would have destroyed the whole world. What [then] did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He castrated the male and killed the female preserving it in salt for the righteous in the world to come; for it is written: And he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.

Excerpt from Baba Bathra 74b

The Behemoth also received similar treatment, except the creature’s flesh wasn’t preserved in salt, because “Salted fish is palatable, salted flesh is not”, and at the end of days, the righteous are said to feast upon the flesh of both (check out Leviathan II: Demon of the Sea, Messianic Meal).

It seems pretty natural to assume that this tradition is somehow related to the Babylonian Enuma Elish, that tells us, in the beginning, all that existed was the waters of Apsu, who was the male personification of the sweet primordial waters, and Tiamat, the female personification of the salt primordial waters, who dwelt together as one (with their son Mummu), symbolizing the primordial union of the oppocites.

Ea (Sumerian: Enki), killed Apsu, and Tiamat, in the form of a monsterous dragon, sought revenge upon the gods, to be finally slain by the Eternal Champion Marduk, who formed the universe from her corpse.

2 Comments (Have your say)

arulba

Comment on June 4, 2007 at 10:21 pm

What an interesting blog you have!! Thanks for the additional information on Leviathan. This was all new to me.

I found this from the book of Enoch (Apocrypha):

“And that day will two monsters be parted, one monster, a female named Leviathan in order to dwell in the abyss of the ocean over the fountains of water; and (the other), a male called Behemoth, which holds his chest in an invisible desert whose name is Dundayin, east of the garden of Eden.” - 1 Enoch 60:7-8

And the ancient Jewish poem Akdamut (composed in 1096 by Rabbi Meir bar Yitzchak) that is read or sung during Shavuot based on the legent that “the sport with the Leviathan and the Behemoth when they will interlock with one another and engage in combat, with his horns the Behemoth will gore with strength, Leviathan will leap to meet him with his fins, with power. Their Creator will approach them with his mighty sword and slay them both. From the beautiful skin of the Leviathan, God will construct canopies to shelter the righteous, who will eat the meat of the Behemoth and the Leviathan amid great joy and merriment, at a huge banquet that will be given for them.”

And each righteous one under his canopy will sit,
In the Sukkah made from the skin of Leviathan,
And in the future
He will make a dance for the righteous ones,
And a banquet in Paradise,
From that Great Fish and the Wild Behemoth [Ox] ,
And from the Wine preserved from the Creation -
Happy are those who believe and hope and
Never abandon their faith forever!

mahud

Comment on June 5, 2007 at 6:16 am

Hi, arulba, thanks for dropping in :), and for the extra info. There’s alot of stuff there I’d like to find more about, such as the desert Dundayin, and the dance of the Leviathan.

Creating the tent from the Leviathan’s skin is also kind of reminiscent of Murduk creation the heavens from Taimat’s body.

Something I’ve always pondered over, since reading Masks of God: Occidental Mythology by Joseph Campbell, is that it’s kind of strange that the Jewish Priesthood, were of the tribe of Levi, pointing perhaps that that the Leviathan was originally their deity. Might just be coincidence, and pure speculation of course, but It’s puzzling why they share in part the same name.

BTW. I think your blog is great

Cernunnos’ Path: Mythology and Paganism Blog

Salty Leviathan

2 Comments (Have your say)

arulba

mahud