Difference between revisions of "Atra-Hasis" - New World Encyclopedia
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| − | + | '''Atra-Hasis''' also spelled '''Atrahasisis''', is an eighteenth-century B.C.E. [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] [[Epic poetry|epic]], named after its human hero. It contains both a [[creation myth]] and a [[deluge (mythology)|flood account]], and is one of three surviving [[Babylonian]] flood stories. The oldest known copy of the epic of Atrahasis can be dated by its scribal identification to the reign of [[Hammurabi]]'s great-grandson, [[Ammi-Saduqa]] (1646–1626 B.C.E.), but various [[Old Babylonian]] fragments exist. The story continued to be copied into the first millennium BCE. | |
| − | |||
| − | + | ==Texts== | |
| + | The Atrahasis story also exists in a later fragmentary Assyrian version, the first one having been rediscovered in the library of [[Ashurbanipal]], but because of the fragmentary condition of the tablets and ambiguous words, translations were originally uncertain. | ||
| − | + | W. G. Lambert and [[Alan Millard|A. R. Millard]], ''Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets in the British Museum, London'' (1965) published many additional texts belonging of the epic written around 1650 B.C.E. which constitute our most complete surviving recension of the tale. These new texts greatly increased knowledge of the epic and they served as the foundation for the first English translation of the Atrahasis epic in something approaching entirety, by Lambert and Millard (''Atrahasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood'', Oxford, 1969). | |
| + | |||
| + | A further fragment has been recovered in archaeological work at the Mesopotamian city of [[Ugarit]].<ref>[[Walter Burkert]], ''The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture in the Early Archaic Age'' (Harvard) 1992, pp 88-91. Burkert traces the model drawn from Atrahasis on a corresponding passage, to the division by lots of the air, underworld and sea among the Greek gods [[Zeus]], [[Hades]] and [[Poseidon]] in the ''[[Iliad]]'', in which "a resetting through which the foreign framework still shows."</ref> | ||
==Synopsis== | ==Synopsis== | ||
| − | + | The best surviving text of the Atrahasis epic is written on three tablets in Akkadian, the language of ancient Babylon. | |
| − | Tablet II begins with more overpopulation of humans | + | Tablet I contains a creation myth about the Sumerian gods [[Anu]], [[Enlil]] and [[Enki]], the gods of heaven/sky, earth/wind, and water, "when gods were in the ways of men" according to its ''[[incipit]]''. Following the [[Cleromancy|casting of lots]], heaven is ruled by Anu, earth by Enlil, and the freshwater sea by Enki. Enlil assigned junior gods to do farm labor and maintain the rivers and canals, but after 40 years they rebel and refuse to do hard labor. Enki, the kind, wise counselor to the gods, advises against punishing the rebels, suggests that humans be created to do the work. The mother goddess Mami (probably synonymous with [[Ninhursag]]) is assigned the task of creating humans by shaping clay figurines mixed with the flesh and blood of a slain minor deity, Weila or Aw-ilu, who was sacrificed for this purpose. After ten months, a specially made womb breaks open and humans are born. Tablet I continues with legends about overpopulation and plagues, and Atrahasis is also introduced. |
| + | |||
| + | Tablet II begins with more overpopulation of humans, which is become bothersome to the gods. Tiring of the incessant noise, Enlil sends famine and drought at formulaic intervals of 1200 years to reduce the population. Enki, who often takes the side of mankind in Babylonian mythology, intervenes to help mankind stave off these disasters. Tablet II is badly damaged, but ends with Enlil's decision to destroy mankind altogether with a flood and Enki bound by an oath to keep the plan secret. | ||
| − | Tablet III | + | Tablet III contains the flood story, which was also adapted in the [[Epic of Gilgamesh]], in which Gilgamesh learns the story of flood from its survivor, known in that version as Utnapishtim. The clever Enki devises a way to warn the hero Atrahasis ("Extremely Wise") of [[Shuruppak]] without technically breaking his oath. Speaking "to" the reed wall of Atrahasis' house (suggestive of an oracle) Enki advised Atrahasis to dismantle his house and build a boat to escape the flood planned Enlil to destroy mankind. The boat is to have a roof, upper and lower decks, and to be sealed with bitumen. Atrahasis boards the boat with his family, servants, and animals, and seals the door. The storm and flood begin. Even the gods are afraid of the might deluge that ensues. After seven days, the flood ends and Atrahasis descends from the boat to offer sacrifices to the gods. |
| + | |||
| + | Enlil is furious with Enki for violating his oath, but Enki denies breaking his oath and argues: "I made sure life was preserved." Enki and Enlil agree on other means for controlling the human population. | ||
==Literary inheritance== | ==Literary inheritance== | ||
| − | The Epic of Atrahasis provides additional information on the flood and flood hero that is omitted in Gilgamesh | + | The Epic of Atrahasis provides additional information on the flood and flood hero that is omitted in the [[Epic of Gilgamesh]] and other versions of the Ancient Near East flood story. According to Atrahasis III ii.40-47 the flood hero was at a banquet when the storm and flood began: "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." |
| − | Atrahasis tablet III iv.6-9 clearly | + | Atrahasis tablet III iv.6-9 clearly identifies the flood as a river flood: "Like dragonflies they [dead bodies] have filled the river. Like a raft they have moved in to the edge [of the boat]. Like a raft they have moved in to the riverbank." |
| − | The flood story in the [[Epic of Gilgamesh]], Chapter XI was paraphrased or copied verbatim from the Epic of Atrahasis.<ref>Tigay, pages 238-239</ref> | + | The flood story in the [[Epic of Gilgamesh]], Chapter XI was paraphrased or copied verbatim from the Epic of Atrahasis.<ref>Tigay, pages 238-239</ref> However, editorial changes were also made, some of which had long-term consequences. The sentence quoted above--"Like dragonflies they have filled the river"—was changed in Gilgamesh XI line 123 to: "Like the spawn of fishes, they fill the sea." We can see the myth-maker's hand at work here, changing a local river flood into an ocean deluge. In a like manner, biblical scholars have noted that the biblical version of the flood story changes the theological milieu from one of polytheism to monotheism, in which God takes on the role of both Enlil, who initiates the flood, and Enki, who takes compassion on mankind and warns the righteous Noah to build the ark. |
| − | Other editorial changes were made to the Atrahasis text in Gilgamesh that removed any suggestion that the "gods" may have been people with human feelings and needs. For example, Atrahasis OB III, 30-31 "The [[Anunnaki]] (the senior gods) [were sitt]ing in thirst and hunger | + | Other editorial changes were made to the Atrahasis text in Gilgamesh that removed any suggestion that the "gods" may have been people with human feelings and needs. For example, Atrahasis OB III, 30-31 "The [[Anunnaki]] (the senior gods) [were sitt]ing in thirst and hunger" was changed in Gilgamesh XI, 113 to "The gods feared the deluge." Some sentences in Atrahasis III iv were omitted in Gilgamesh, e.g. "She was surfeited with grief and thirsted for beer" and "From hunger they were suffering cramp."<ref>Of these and other editorial changes to the Atrahasis text in Gilgamesh Dr. 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."</ref> |
| − | The Akkadian | + | The Akkadian symbol ''[[dingir]]'', which is usually translated as "god" or "goddess," may be more properly rendered as "holy one," as it can also mean "priest" or "priestess"<ref>Margaret Whitney Green, ''Eridu in Sumerian Literature'', PhD dissertation, University of Chicago (1975), p. 224.</ref> although there are other Akkadian words (e.g. ''ēnu'' and ''ēntu'') that are also translated priest and priestess. |
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
Revision as of 14:26, 3 September 2008
Atra-Hasis also spelled Atrahasisis, is an eighteenth-century B.C.E. Akkadian epic, named after its human hero. It contains both a creation myth and a flood account, and is one of three surviving Babylonian flood stories. The oldest known copy of the epic of Atrahasis can be dated by its scribal identification to the reign of Hammurabi's great-grandson, Ammi-Saduqa (1646–1626 B.C.E.), but various Old Babylonian fragments exist. The story continued to be copied into the first millennium B.C.E.
Texts
The Atrahasis story also exists in a later fragmentary Assyrian version, the first one having been rediscovered in the library of Ashurbanipal, but because of the fragmentary condition of the tablets and ambiguous words, translations were originally uncertain.
W. G. Lambert and A. R. Millard, Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets in the British Museum, London (1965) published many additional texts belonging of the epic written around 1650 B.C.E. which constitute our most complete surviving recension of the tale. These new texts greatly increased knowledge of the epic and they served as the foundation for the first English translation of the Atrahasis epic in something approaching entirety, by Lambert and Millard (Atrahasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood, Oxford, 1969).
A further fragment has been recovered in archaeological work at the Mesopotamian city of Ugarit.[1]
Synopsis
The best surviving text of the Atrahasis epic is written on three tablets in Akkadian, the language of ancient Babylon.
Tablet I contains a creation myth about the Sumerian gods Anu, Enlil and Enki, the gods of heaven/sky, earth/wind, and water, "when gods were in the ways of men" according to its incipit. Following the casting of lots, heaven is ruled by Anu, earth by Enlil, and the freshwater sea by Enki. Enlil assigned junior gods to do farm labor and maintain the rivers and canals, but after 40 years they rebel and refuse to do hard labor. Enki, the kind, wise counselor to the gods, advises against punishing the rebels, suggests that humans be created to do the work. The mother goddess Mami (probably synonymous with Ninhursag) is assigned the task of creating humans by shaping clay figurines mixed with the flesh and blood of a slain minor deity, Weila or Aw-ilu, who was sacrificed for this purpose. After ten months, a specially made womb breaks open and humans are born. Tablet I continues with legends about overpopulation and plagues, and Atrahasis is also introduced.
Tablet II begins with more overpopulation of humans, which is become bothersome to the gods. Tiring of the incessant noise, Enlil sends famine and drought at formulaic intervals of 1200 years to reduce the population. Enki, who often takes the side of mankind in Babylonian mythology, intervenes to help mankind stave off these disasters. Tablet II is badly damaged, but ends with Enlil's decision to destroy mankind altogether with a flood and Enki bound by an oath to keep the plan secret.
Tablet III contains the flood story, which was also adapted in the Epic of Gilgamesh, in which Gilgamesh learns the story of flood from its survivor, known in that version as Utnapishtim. The clever Enki devises a way to warn the hero Atrahasis ("Extremely Wise") of Shuruppak without technically breaking his oath. Speaking "to" the reed wall of Atrahasis' house (suggestive of an oracle) Enki advised Atrahasis to dismantle his house and build a boat to escape the flood planned Enlil to destroy mankind. The boat is to have a roof, upper and lower decks, and to be sealed with bitumen. Atrahasis boards the boat with his family, servants, and animals, and seals the door. The storm and flood begin. Even the gods are afraid of the might deluge that ensues. After seven days, the flood ends and Atrahasis descends from the boat to offer sacrifices to the gods.
Enlil is furious with Enki for violating his oath, but Enki denies breaking his oath and argues: "I made sure life was preserved." Enki and Enlil agree on other means for controlling the human population.
Literary inheritance
The Epic of Atrahasis provides additional information on the flood and flood hero that is omitted in the Epic of Gilgamesh and other versions of the Ancient Near East flood story. According to Atrahasis III ii.40-47 the flood hero was at a banquet when the storm and flood began: "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."
Atrahasis tablet III iv.6-9 clearly identifies the flood as a river flood: "Like dragonflies they [dead bodies] have filled the river. Like a raft they have moved in to the edge [of the boat]. Like a raft they have moved in to the riverbank."
The flood story in the Epic of Gilgamesh, Chapter XI was paraphrased or copied verbatim from the Epic of Atrahasis.[2] However, editorial changes were also made, some of which had long-term consequences. The sentence quoted above—"Like dragonflies they have filled the river"—was changed in Gilgamesh XI line 123 to: "Like the spawn of fishes, they fill the sea." We can see the myth-maker's hand at work here, changing a local river flood into an ocean deluge. In a like manner, biblical scholars have noted that the biblical version of the flood story changes the theological milieu from one of polytheism to monotheism, in which God takes on the role of both Enlil, who initiates the flood, and Enki, who takes compassion on mankind and warns the righteous Noah to build the ark.
Other editorial changes were made to the Atrahasis text in Gilgamesh that removed any suggestion that the "gods" may have been people with human feelings and needs. For example, Atrahasis OB III, 30-31 "The Anunnaki (the senior gods) [were sitt]ing in thirst and hunger" was changed in Gilgamesh XI, 113 to "The gods feared the deluge." Some sentences in Atrahasis III iv were omitted in Gilgamesh, e.g. "She was surfeited with grief and thirsted for beer" and "From hunger they were suffering cramp."[3]
The Akkadian symbol dingir, which is usually translated as "god" or "goddess," may be more properly rendered as "holy one," as it can also mean "priest" or "priestess"[4] although there are other Akkadian words (e.g. ēnu and ēntu) that are also translated priest and priestess.
See also
- Ziusudra
- Gilgamesh flood myth
- Flood (mythology)
- Noah's Ark
- Babylonian and Assyrian religion
- Alan Millard
Notes
- ↑ Walter Burkert, The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture in the Early Archaic Age (Harvard) 1992, pp 88-91. Burkert traces the model drawn from Atrahasis on a corresponding passage, to the division by lots of the air, underworld and sea among the Greek gods Zeus, Hades and Poseidon in the Iliad, in which "a resetting through which the foreign framework still shows."
- ↑ Tigay, pages 238-239
- ↑ Of these and other editorial changes to the Atrahasis text in Gilgamesh Dr. 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."
- ↑ Margaret Whitney Green, Eridu in Sumerian Literature, PhD dissertation, University of Chicago (1975), p. 224.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Lambert, W.G. and A. R. Millard, Atrahasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood, Eisenbrauns, 1999. ISBN 1-57506-039-6
- Laessoe, Q. "The Atrahasis Epic, A Babylonian History of Mankind," Biblioteca Orientalis 13 [1956] 90-102.
- Tigay, Jeffrey H.The Evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1982, ISBN 0-8122-7805-4.
External links
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