When there was nothing (no skies, no lands), there were two distinct rivers. Apsu representing the fresh water, and Tiamat as seawater. It is fun to remark, that Apsu was a male and Tiamat a female. So besides a male and a female river, there was also something called Mummu. Some say it represented clouds, others claim that Mummu was the fog clearly! Now, that’s just my opinion, but it would make sense that Mummu was water in a gas state. There were two entities that represented water in its liquid state, why not some entity with a gas state. It is said to be clouds or a fog, so why not? In any case Mummu doesn’t play such a big role in the story, so let’s leave it to do whatever fogs and clouds could do without nothing existing. Only thing it is known for was its mere existence.
Now Apsu and Tiamat were very fond of each other, in fact they gave birth to many entities, that were later known as gods. There were so many gods being born, that even the ancient ones didn’t bother to count them. Now there were Lahmu, Lahamu, Anshar, Kishar. Then somehow Anshar gave birth to Anu, and she in turn gave birth to Ea. Now the first names you can forget if you so desire, but to try to keep Ea in mind, for he plays a huge role in what’s next to come.
Now as any other child, these god-children were also very joyful, playful, and to their parents’ great despair, noisy. All these motions made Tiamat’s stomach hurt. (Hold on! Wasn’t Tiamat a river? Yes, and no. It is said that both Apsu and Tiamat were rivers, but later in the story, it is revealed that Tiamat was actually some kind of a sea monster. Very contradicting stuff to be sure, but let’s see what else happens!) Now Apsu, their father, tried to calm the little rascals down but to no avail. Tiamat couldn’t handle it anymore, so Apsu disturbed Mummu’s senseless wandering, and they came up with an elaborate plan: destroy each and every one of them. But Tiamat, though a river, was still a mother, so she could not bear the thought of getting rid of their children. Mummu, probably mad of loneliness (Apsu had Tiamat, but who did Mummu have? Absolutely nobody!) advised Apsu to destroy them, and he took it to do so, and embraced Mummu. The new gods heard of this and were worried. Ea was also afraid, but he crafted a spell that would put Apsu to sleep (Another contradictory. As you may or may not remember, the gods were supposed to be in Tiamat’s stomach still, so how could the gods get access to Apsu? A logical question, but the ancient ones didn’t trouble their heads with this, so let us also not, and push through the story!)
Mummu finally having a friend after all this time (who knows how long did Mummu drifted around aimlessly, because there was nothing yet: not even time), lost him so soon after. Mummu did anything it could possibly do but Apsu remained sleeping. Ea took Apsu's halo and wore it himself, slew Apsu, and chained Mummu. Why did Mummu and Tiamat let Ea do all this? I tend to believe that they were too distraught in their grief of Apsu forever sleeping that they stood paralyzed before him. And after Ea slaughtered Apsu, Mummu’s best and only friend, right before its eyes, Mummu lost all its will. (Or even better yet, Ea was a crafty sorcerer, perhaps he again crafted something special for Tiamat and Mummu. Your guess is good as mine.)
Now although, Apsu was dead, he still was a river. So Apsu became the dwelling place of Ea, together with his wife Damkina. Within the heart of Apsu Ea and Damkina created Marduk (also an important character in this story, so to try to remember him, too!). Marduk exceeded Ea and the other gods in his godliness - Ea called him "My son, the Sun!". And in other news: Anu creates four winds. Anu and its four winds are very exciting, to be sure, but sadly we must return to our creation story.
Other gods then say to Tiamat – “when your consort (Apsu) was slain you did nothing”. Tiamat was outraged by her children’s disrespect towards her, so she crafted her own grand plan: Make 'Monsters' and let them battle with the other gods. (No sympathy anymore towards her children, after their atrocities). She creates eleven chimeric creatures armed with weapons and makes the god Kingu chief of the war party, and her new consort too. The Tablet of Destinies is then given to Kingu, making his command unchangeable. (At this point one can imagine Tiamat being a sea monster, as the ancient ones started as well).
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