Nammu

Primordial Mother of the Deep who "gave birth to Heaven and Earth," according to Sumerian scripture. She created humans from the clay (long before Genesis was written). Babylonians called her Tiamat, Mother of the Gods, but in the Enuma Elish, her son Marduk killed and dismembered her to create the above and below. Canaanites also honored Athirat Yammi (which some translate as Asherah of the Sea) as Qaniyatu Elima, Mother of the Gods. Here I have painted Nammu as a woman sea-serpent. She is the waters and the Source, pouring out the essence of life.