Chaos Describes the state of disorder that would exist in the absence of a divinely imposed order on the cosmos. In biblical and ancient Near Eastern literature, the supreme gods brought order to the universe and subdued the forces of chaos. The chaotic unpredictability and latent threat of the sea (ים, ym) resulted in its coming to represent these forces of chaos in ancient literature such as the Baal Cycle, where one of Baal’s main conflicts is a battle against the god of the sea, Yamm (the same Semitic word as the Hebrew for sea, yam). Baal’s eventual victory symbolizes the triumph of order over chaos. In addition to the sea itself, chaos could be represented as a great sea serpent or dragon (תנין, tnyn), variously known as Leviathan, Rahab, or Tiamat. In the Mesopotamian creation epic Enuma Elish, the god Marduk defeats the great sea monster Tiamat. The German word Chaoskampf, meaning “battle against chaos,” is often used as a technical term in biblical scholarship to refer to this story pattern of a deity battling the forces of chaos, either in the form of the sea or a sea monster.