In Mesopotamian mythology, a primal goddess who is a personification of salt water and the mother of the gods.
When conflict between her husband, Apsu, and the other gods resulted in Apsu's death, Tiamat waged war on the other divinities, backed by an army of demons she had created. Her battle with, and defeat at the hands of, Marduk forms the substance of the Babylonian creation epic Enuma elish . From her body Marduk fashioned the heavens and the earth.