cosmos-godsWe're still mapping where this idea was first discussed. Key passages and related ideas below.

The Tablet of Destinies & the Fixing of Fates

Whoever holds the tablet on which fates are written holds the cosmos itself.

The gods are imagined as decreeing 'destinies' — the allotted fate (Akkadian shimtu) of each person, city, and thing. This power is concentrated in a mythic 'Tablet of Destinies,' possession of which makes its holder supreme. In the Anzu epic the bird steals it from Enlil and must be defeated to restore order; in Enuma Elish Marduk seizes it. Fate here is not blind: it is a decree, written and sealed, that can in principle be appealed, reaffirmed at the New Year, or altered by the gods who issued it.