06_Biblica_AN_Ska_Layout 1 01/04/14 12:04 Pagina 111 111 OLD AND NEW IN THE BOOK OF NUMBERS I have answered most of these objections elsewhere 39. Let me come back only to the first matter, the connection between creation and temple 40. The question I would like to ask is the following: is the construction of a temple necessarily the final conclusion of a creation myth? Answering this question will enable us to cope with the question of P’s ending. Let me start with the most important parallel to Genesis 1, namely the Babylonian myth enuma elish. I do not intend to analyse this myth in de- tail. My only concern is to understand better its purpose. I would suggest that one of the main purposes of enuma elish is theological and political, namely to establish the universal rule of Marduk and Babylon over the Babylonian empire. Since Marduk is the creator of the universe, and since he resides in his temple, the Esagila, in Babylon, it follows naturally that Babylon is the residence of the ruler of the universe. Coming to Genesis 1, we have to adjust to another mentality. The creator of the universe is not the founder of a world empire. The text establishes, nonetheless, that this God, the creator of the universe, who eventually re- veals himself as the God of Israel, is responsible also for the whole universe. A first proof of this can be found in the Flood Story (Genesis 6–9), and surely in the Priestly version of it. More important for our purpose, the cre- ator and ruler of the universe organises the world after the Flood. This is well illustrated in the so-called “Table of the Nations” in Genesis 10*41. There is no question of wars and conquests. Every nation receives a piece of land, and the whole world is populated with these different nations, each one speaking its own language. Three times, the Priestly Writer repeats the same refrain with only slight variations: “[...] These are the descendants of Japheth [Cam, Sem] in their lands, with their own language, by their fam- ilies, in their nations” (10,5.20.31). The occupation of the earth is a peaceful process that occurs under God’s benevolent supervision. Each nation has 39 Cf. SKA, “Une histoire sans fin”, 636-653. 40 Cf. RÖMER, “De la périphérie au centre”, 8-9. The most important study on the topic is that by M. WEINFELD, “Sabbath, Temple, and the Enthronement of the Lord – The Problem of the Sitz im Leben of Gen 1:1–2:3”, Mélanges bibliques et orientaux en l’honneur de Henri Cazelles (éd. A. CACQUOT – M. DELCOR) (AOAT 212; Neukirchen-Vluyn 1981) 501-512; the idea is already present in B. JACOB, Das erste Buch der Tora. Genesis (Berlin 1934) 67. 41 See, especially, G.L. PRATO, “Dalla geografia neutrale alla mappa ideologica centralizzata: la “tavola dei popoli” (Gn 10) da testo delle origini a immagine normativa”, Biblica et semitica. Studi in memoria di Francesco Vattioni (ed. L. CAGNI) (Napoli 1999) 511-546 = Identità e memoria nell’Israele antico. Storiografia e confronto culturale negli scritti biblici e giudaici (Biblioteca di storia e storiografia dei tempi biblici 16; Brescia 2010) 80-124; T. HIECKE, Die Genealogien der Genesis (BHS 39; Freiburg im Breis- gau 2003).