The myth of Atrahasis is a tale from ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). The clay tablets inscribed with the old Babylonian version of the epic can be dated to around 1700 BC, although there is a fragmentary Sumerian version which is even older. It tells the story of how the gods tried to destroy mankind, but were thwarted when one of their number warned a wise man called Atrahasis. It is the tale, the gods tell, of:
“How we sent the Flood.
But a man survived the catastrophe.”
The Story of Atrahasis
In Mesopotamian mythology, man was expressly created to toil for the gods. The god Enki commanded:
“Belet-ili the womb-goddess is present,
Let the womb-goddess create offspring,
And let man bear the load of the gods!”
And so mankind was created, seven males and seven females made out of clay and the flesh and blood of the slain god Geshtu-e. Yet all was not well. Before long, man had grown too troublesome.
“The country became too wide, the people too numerous,
The country was as noisy as a bellowing bull.
The God grew restless at their racket,
Ellil had to listen to their noise.
He addressed the great gods,
'The noise of mankind has become too much,
I am losing sleep over their racket.'”
The god Ellil, decidedly cranky by this time, ordered a series of disasters to be visited upon mankind, including famine, drought and disease, before finally ordering the Flood. Each catastrophe was thwarted by the god Enki, who advised the wise Atrahasis on how to avert disaster.
“Dismantle the house, build a boat,
Reject possessions, and save living things.”
The climax is unfortunately fragmentary, leaving the reader with an ending where the gods agree that there should be some curb on humanity's reproduction.
The Story of Atrahasis Across the Near East
Variations on the Flood story abound in antiquity. Apart from the biblical account, these include the work of Apollodorus who recounts how Deucalion, son of Prometheus, survived a flood in Thessaly in a floating chest or ark, and Ovid, who alludes to a flood in Phrygia in Metamorphoses. In her introduction to the story, Stephanie Dalley writes that all these flood stories may be explained as deriving from the one Mesopotamian original.
The survivor of the Flood goes by many names. In the Sumerian tale he is known as Ziusudra, while in the epic of Gilgamesh he is called Ut-napishtim, a name which can mean “He found life.” As Atrahasis (“Extra-wise”), he is mentioned in the Sumerian king lists as either the king of the city of Shuruppak, modern Tell Fara, or the king's son. Dalley notes that the various names attached to various legendary figures of the ancient Near East could be traced back to Atrahasis, from Noah to Ulysses.
Sources:
Stephanie Dalley, Myths From Mesopotamia: Creation, The Flood, Gilgamesh and Others (Oxford University Press, 1989)
Henrietta McCall, Mesopotamian Myths (British Museum Press, 1990)
 |
