Mummu- Mesopotamian PrimordialPrimordial"Vizier of Apsu"

Before the Gods

At the opening of the Enuma Elish, before any gods existed, three presences shared the primordial state: Apsu the freshwater abyss, Tiamat the salt sea, and Mummu, vizier and counselor to Apsu. Their existence was silence and stillness, an undisturbed eternity of mingled waters. Then younger gods were born from that mingling, and with them came noise, movement, and change. The ancient calm shattered. The young gods danced and cavorted, churning the waters and disturbing Tiamat's belly. It was to Mummu that the tormented Apsu turned for advice.

Counsel of Destruction

Mummu's response was decisive: "Do destroy, my father, the rowdy ways! Then you shall have rest by day and sleep by night!" Where Tiamat recoiled at the thought of destroying what they had created, Mummu pressed the case without hesitation. Apsu rejoiced at the counsel, his face brightening as the plan took shape. Together, vizier and master resolved to unmake the gods that the primordial waters had brought forth.

Capture by Ea

But Ea, the wisest of the younger gods, perceived the conspiracy. He fashioned a powerful incantation and poured it over the primordial waters. The spell settled on Apsu like an inescapable sleep. The freshwater deep, who had raged against his offspring's noise, fell utterly still. Ea slew him without resistance and built his own dwelling upon the body of the abyss. Mummu was not killed but captured: Ea pierced his nose, threaded a rope through it, and led him away. The vizier who had counseled the destruction of the gods was paraded before them as a bound captive. With Apsu dead and Mummu silenced, Ea established his chamber over the subdued deep, and there, in the dwelling raised above the slain abyss, his son Marduk would be born.