In Mesopotamian mythology, the Tablet of Destinies[a] (Sumerian: 𒁾𒉆𒋻𒊏 dub namtarra;[1] Akkadian: ṭup šīmātu, ṭuppi šīmāti) was envisaged as a clay tablet inscribed with cuneiform writing, also impressed with cylinder seals, which, as a permanent legal document, conferred upon the god Enlil his supreme authority as ruler of the universe.
[4] In the Sumerian poem Ninurta and the Turtle it is the god Enki, rather than Enlil, who holds the Tablet; it therefore resides with Enki in the Abzu (the primeval sea below the void space of the underworld (Kur) and the earth (Ma) above).
[5] Both this poem and the Akkadian Anzû poem concern the theft of the tablet by the bird Imdugud (Sumerian) or Anzû (Akkadian) from its original owner (Enki or Enlil).
[6] In the end, the Tablet is recovered by the god Ninurta and returned to Enlil.
[1] The Tablet of Destinies is an important device in the Babylonian epic Enuma Elish,[4] in which Tiamat bestows this tablet on Kingu when she takes him as her consort and gives him command of her army.