Tiamat
Mythic, worshipped in Babylonia (modern-day Iraq), circa 1780–514 B.C.E.
Tiamat, a Babylonian personification of saltwater who is generally depicted as a dragon, created the first gods out of her union with Apsu, the personification of freshwater. According to the Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation epic, she was eventually destroyed by the god Marduk, who split her body in half. The top portion of her body became the sky and the bottom became the earth and her tears created the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. She is considered the Mother of All and all Babylonian gods are her descendants.
