Note 6 — Chapter VII · Dragon Folk-stories
Reading edition
When, however, we investigate the dragon beliefs of ancient Babylonia, we meet with a reference to the Ku-pu as the source of divine power and wisdom. After Merodach (Marduk) the dragon-slayer kills Tiamat, the “mother dragon”, a form of the mother-goddess, he “divides the flesh of the Ku-pu, and devises a cunning plan”. As the late Mr. Leonard W. King pointed out,6 Ku-pu is a word of uncertain meaning. It did not signify the heart, because it had been previously stated in the text that Merodach severed her inward parts, he pierced her heart.