Atra-Hasis

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 explain how the gods came to create mankind and an early flood account which was later incorporated into the Epic of Gilgamesh and is also thought to have influenced the biblical flood story.

The story explains how the lesser gods tired of their labors on the canals and farms Mesopotamia and instigated a rebellion. Enlil, the god of the earth, wanted to punish the gods, but Enki, the god of the waters, argued that humans should be created to do the work instead. The goddess Nintu was appointed to create mankind by mixing clay with the blood of a junior god who was killed as a sacrifice. However, human overpopulation soon became a problem. Enlil sent various disasters to diminish humankind, but Enki persistently foiled his plans. Finally Enlil determined to send a flood to kill all mankind, but this time Enki warned the faithful Atrahasis of the plan. Atrahasis built a boat and saved his family and animals, thus repopulating mankind. Enlil was furious at Enki for ruining his plan once again, but this time they agreed on a new way to control human population. Nintu would see to it that one out of every three children conceived would die, and certain priestesses would not be allowed to have children at all.

Atrahasis himself is listed in the Sumerian king list as one of the kings who lived before the deluge, but his historicity cannot otherwise be confirmed. 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.

Synopsis

The best surviving text of the Atrahasis epic is written on three tablets in Akkadian, the language of ancient Babylon.

The creation 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 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. Enlil to know who is responsible for the rebellion, that they may be duly punished:

Who is in charge of the rabble?

Who is in charge of the fighting?

Who declared war?

Who ran to the door of Ellil?

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 Nintu is assigned the task of creating humans.

You are the womb-goddess, to be the creator of Mankind!

Create a mortal, that he may bear the yoke!

Let him bear the yoke, the work of Ellil

Let him bear the load of the gods!

The goddess creates mankind 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.

Overpopulation

Tablet II begins with more overpopulation of humans, which is become bothersome to the gods. Tiring of the incessant noise, Enlil sends, plague, famine and drought at formulaic intervals of 1200 years to reduce the population.

"The country was as noisy as a bellowing bull

The God grew restless at their racket,

Enlil 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.

Give the order that surrupu-disease shall break out.'"

Enki, who often takes the side of mankind in Babylonian mythology, intervenes to help mankind stave off these disasters. In response to the prayers of Atrahasis ("The Extremely Wise"), he provides the key to survival: prayers to the specific god responsible for the calamity—Namtar for plague, Hadad for rain, etc. When Enlil institutes widespread starvation, Enki, who controls the waters, foils his plan by letting loose large quantities of fish to feed the people. 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.

The Great Flood

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 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.

Wall, listen constantly to me!

Reed hut, make sure you attend to all my words!

Dismantle the house, build a boat...

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 mighty deluge that ensues. They watch aghast as:

Like a wild ass screaming the winds howled

The darkness was total, there was no sun. . . .

As for Nintu the Great Mistress,

Her lips became encrusted with rime.

The great gods, the Annunaki,

Stayed parched and famished.

The goddess watched and wept . . .

The Mother goddess weeps for her children who "clog the river like dragonflies." She also longs for beer, which humans can no longer offer. The other gods' also go hungry and thirsty, but, "like sheep, they could only fill their windpipes with bleating."

After seven days, the flood ends and Atrahasis descends from the boat to offer sacrifices to the gods, who hungrily hover of his offering "like flies." Enlil, however, is outraged to discover that humans have survived.

Enki denies breaking his oath and argues: "I made sure life was preserved." Enki and Enlil agree that other means must be devised for controlling the human population. Enki and Nintu decide that a third of human pregnancies will not succeed, as a demon will "snatch the baby from its mother's lap." They also institute various classes women associated with the temple who are not allowed to have children.

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. 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."

See also

• Ziusudra
• Gilgamesh flood myth
• Flood (mythology)
• Noah's Ark
• Babylonian and Assyrian religion
• Alan Millard

References

ISBN 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

• Online text of Atra-Hasis. livius.org

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Atra-Hasis  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Atra-Hasis"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.