Atra-Hasis

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Atra-Hasis (Akkadian: 𒀜𒊏𒄩𒋀, romanized: Atra-ḫasīs) is an 18th-

century BC Akkadian epic, recorded in various versions on clay
tablets,[1] named for its protagonist, Atrahasis ('exceedingly wise').
The Atra-Hasis tablets include both a creation myth and one of three
surviving Babylonian flood myths. The name "Atra-Hasis" also appears, as
king of Shuruppak in the times before a flood, on one of the Sumerian King
Lists.
The oldest known copy of the epic tradition concerning Atrahasis[i] can be
dated by colophon (scribal identification) to the reign of Hammurabi’s
great-grandson, Ammi-Saduqa (1646–1626 BC). However, various Old
Babylonian dialect fragments exist, and the epic continued to be copied
into the first millennium BC.[2]: 8–15
The story of Atrahasis also exists in a later Assyrian dialect version, first
rediscovered in the Library of Ashurbanipal, though its translations have
been uncertain due to the artifact being in fragmentary condition and
containing ambiguous words. Nonetheless, its fragments were first
assembled and translated by George Smith as The Chaldean Account
of Genesis, the hero of which had his name corrected to Atra-
Hasis by Heinrich Zimmern in 1899.
In 1965, Wilfred G. Lambert and Alan Millard[3] published many
additional texts belonging to the epic, including an Old Babylonian copy
(written c. 1650 BC) which is the most complete recension of the tale to
have survived. These new texts greatly increased knowledge of the epic
and were the basis for Lambert and Millard’s first English translation of
the Atrahasis epic in something approaching entirety. [2] A further
fragment was recovered in Ugarit.
SynopsisEdit
Learn more
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citations
for verification. (November 2011)

Tablet IEdit

Cuneiform tablet with the Atra-Hasis epic in

the British Museum
Taking place, according to its incipit, “when gods were in the ways of
men," Tablet I of Atra-Hasis contains the creation myth of Anu, Enlil,
and Enki—the Sumerian gods of sky, wind, and water. Following
the cleromancy ('casting of lots'), the sky is ruled by Anu, Earth by Enlil,
and the freshwater sea by Enki.[ii]
Enlil, god of Earth, assigned junior dingirs (Sumerian: 𒀭, lit. 'divines')[iii] to
do farm labor, as well as maintain the rivers and canals. After 40 years,
however, the lesser dingirs rebelled and refused to do strenuous labor.
Enki, who is also the kind, wise counselor of the gods, suggested that
rather than punishing these rebels, humans should be created to do such
work, instead. The mother goddess Mami is subsequently assigned the
task of creating humans by shaping clay figurines mixed with the flesh and
blood of the slain god Geshtu-E ('ear' or 'wisdom'; 'a god who had
intelligence').[iv] All the gods, in turn, spit upon the clay. After 10 months, a
specially made womb breaks open and humans are born.
Tablet I continues with legends about overpopulation and plagues,
mentioning Atra-Hasis only at the end.

Tablet IIEdit
Tablet II begins with more human overpopulation. To reduce this
population, Enlil sends famine and drought at formulaic intervals of 1200
years. Accordingly, in this epic, Enlil is depicted as a cruel, capricious god,
while Enki is depicted as kind and helpful. Enki can be seen to have
parallels to Prometheus, in that he is seen as man's benefactor and defies
the orders of the other gods when their intentions are malicious towards
humans.

Tablet II remains mostly damaged, but it ends with Enlil's decision to

destroy humankind with a flood, with Enki bound by oath to keep this
plan secret.

Tablet IIIEdit
Tablet III of the Atra-Hasis epic contains the flood myth. It tells of how
Enki, speaking through a reed wall,[v] warns the hero Atra-Hasis
('extremely wise') of Enlil's plan to destroy humankind by flood, telling
the hero to dismantle his house (perhaps to provide a construction site)
and build a boat to escape. Moreover, this boat is to have a roof
"like Abzu" (or Apsi; a subterranean, freshwater realm presided over by
Enki); to have upper and lower decks; and to be sealed with bitumen.
Atra-Hasis boards the boat with his family and animals, then seals the
door. The storm and flood begin, and even the gods are afraid. After seven
days, the flood ends and Atra-Hasis offers sacrifices to the gods. Enlil is
furious with Enki for violating his oath, but Enki denies doing so: "I made
sure life was preserved." In conclusion, Enki and Enlil agree on other
means for controlling the human population.

The words "river" and "riverbank" are used in Tablet III,[4] probably in
reference to the Euphrates, the river upon which the ancient
city Shuruppak, ruled by Atra-Hasis,[5] was located.
Alterations and adaptationsEdit
Lineage of Atra-HasisEdit
In later versions of the flood story, contained in the Epic of Gilgamesh and
the Sumerian creation myth, the hero is not named Atra-Hasis.
In Gilgamesh, the name of the flood hero is Utnapishtim, who is said to be
the son of Ubara-Tutu, king of Shuruppak: "Gilgamesh spoke to
Utnapishtim, the Faraway... O man of Shuruppak, son of Ubara-
Tutu."[6] Many available tablets comprising the Sumerian King
Lists support the lineage of the flood hero given in Gilgamesh by omitting a
king named Shuruppak as a historical ruler of Shuruppak, implying a
belief that the flood story took place after or during the rule of Ubara-
Tutu.
In the Sumerian creation myth, first recorded in the 17th century BC (i.e.
the Old Babylonian Empire), the hero is named Ziusudra, who also
appears in the Instructions of Shuruppak as the son of the eponymous
Shuruppak, who himself is called the son of Ubara-Tutu.[7]
The Sumerian King Lists also make no mention of Atra-Hasis, Utnapishtim,
or Ziusudra.[8] Tablet WB 62, however, provides a different chronology:
Atra-Hasis is listed as a ruler of Shuruppak and a gudug priest, preceded
by his father Shuruppak, who is, in turn, preceded by his father Ubara-
Tutu, as in The Instructions of Shuruppak.[8] This tablet is unique in that it
mentions both Shuruppak and Atra-Hasis.
Gilgamesh and the flood mythEdit
Subsequent versions of the flood myth in the Ancient Near East evidently
alter (omit and/or editorially change) information about the flood and the
flood hero found in the original Atra-Hasis story.[9]: xxx In particular, a lost,
intermediate version of the Atra-Hasis flood myth seems to have been
paraphrased or copied in a late edition of the Epic of Gilgamesh (Tablet
XI).[10] This modern addition of Gilgamesh, known as the 'standard
version', is traditionally associated with the Babylonian scribe Sîn-lēqi-
unninni (circa 1300–1000 BC), though some minor changes may have
been made since his time.[9]: xxiv–xxv
Regarding the editorial changes to the Atra-Hasis text in Gilgamesh, Jeffrey
H. Tigay comments: "The dropping of individual lines between others
which are preserved, but are not synonymous with them, appears to be a
more deliberate editorial act. These lines share a common theme, the
hunger and thirst of the gods during the flood."[10]
AlterationsEdit
Examples of alterations to the Atra-Hasis story in Gilgamesh include:
• Omitting information, for example:
o The hero being at a banquet when the storm and flood
begins: "He invited his people...to a banquet.... He sent his
family on board. They ate and they drank. But he [Atrahasis]
 was in and out. He could not sit, could not crouch, for his
heart was broken and he was vomiting gall."[11]
o "She was surfeited with grief and thirsted for beer."[12]
o "From hunger they were suffering cramp."[12]

• Editorial changes, for example:

"Like dragonflies they have filled the river" [13] was changed
o
to "Like the spawn of fishes, they fill the sea."[14]
• Weakening of anthropomorphic descriptions of the gods, for example:
o "The Anunnaki (the senior gods) [were sitt]ing in thirst and
hunger"[15] changed to "The gods feared the deluge."[16]

See alsoEdit
• Alan Millard
• Babylonian and Assyrian religion
• Flood myth
• Gilgamesh flood myth
• Noah's Ark
• Sumerian creation myth

ReferencesEdit
NotesEdit
1. ^ The variant versions are not direct translations of a single original.
2. ^ Walter Burkert traces the model drawn from Atrahasis to a corresponding
passage, the division by lots of the air, underworld and sea
among Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon in the Iliad, in which “a resetting through
which the foreign framework still shows” (pp. 88–91). Burkert, Walter.
1992. The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture
in the Early Archaic Age. Harvard University Press.
3. ^ Green, Margaret Whitney. 1975. "Eridu in Sumerian Literature" (PhD
dissertation). University of Chicago. p. 224.
The Akkadian determinative dingir (𒀭) primarily translates to 'god' or
'goddess'. However, it may also mean 'priest' or 'priestess', even while other
Akkadian words (e.g. ēnu and ēntu) also translate to such. The noun 'divine'
is thus used to preserve this ambiguity in dingir.
4. ^ On some tablets the under-god Weila or Aw-ilu, was slain for this purpose.
5. ^ Suggestive of an oracle.
CitationsEdit
1. ^ Bottero, Jean. 2000. Ancestor of the West: Writing, Reasoning, and Religion
in Mesopotamia, Elam, and Greece. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press. ISBN 978-0226067155. p. 40.
2. ^ Jump up to:a b Lambert, Wilfred G., and Alan R. Millard. 1999
[1969]. Atrahasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood.
London: Eisenbrauns. ISBN 1-57506-039-6.
3. ^ Lambert, Wilfred G., and Alan Millard. 1965. Cuneiform Texts from
Babylonian Tablets in the British Museum. London.
4. ^ Atra-Hasis III, iv.7–9.
5. ^ "Sumerian King List." WB 62. circa 2000 BC.
6. ^ Kovacs, Maureen Gallery, trans. 1998. "The Story of the Flood." Epic of
Gilgamesh XI (electronic ed.), edited by W. Carnahan. Academy of Ancient
Texts.
7. ^ Zolyomi, Gabor, trans. 2003 [1999]. "The instructions of Suruppag." The
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (2nd ed.), edited by G.
Zolyomi, J. A. Black, E. Robson, and G. Cunningham. London: Faculty of
Oriental Studies, University of Oxford. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
8. ^ Jump up to:a b Zolyomi, Gabor, trans. 2001 [1999]. "The Sumerian king list:
translation." The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (2nd ed.),
edited by G. Zolyomi, J. A. Black, G. Cunningham, and E. Robson.
London: Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford. Archived from
the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
9. ^ Jump up to:a b George, Andrew R., trans. 2003 [1999]. The Epic of
Gilgamesh (reprint and corrected ed.), edited by A. R. George.
London: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-044919-1.
10. ^ Jump up to:a b Tigay, Jeffrey H. 1982. The Evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic.
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0-8122-7805-4. pp.
238–39.
11. ^ Atra-Hasis III, ii.40–47.
12. ^ Jump up to:a b Atra-Hasis III.iv.
13. ^ Atra-Hasis III.iv 6–7.
14. ^ The Epic of Gilgamesh XI 123.
15. ^ Atra-Hasis III 30–31.
16. ^ The Epic of Gilgamesh XI 113.

Further readingEdit
• Laessoe,Q. 1956. “The Atrahasis Epic: A Babylonian History of
Mankind.” Bibliotheca Orientalis 13:90–102. ISSN 0006-1913
• Wasserman, Nathan. 2020. The Flood: The Akkadian Sources: A New
Edition, Commentary, and a Literary Discussion. Peeters. ISBN 9-
0429417-4-X.
External linksEdit
• English text of The Epic of Atraḥasis

Last edited 5 days ago by 64.110.222.80

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