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[21] The gods were digging watercourses, canals they opened, the life of the land.The Igigi-gods were digging watercourses canals they opened, the life of the land. [25] The Igigi-gods dug the Tigris river and the Euphrates thereafter.Springs they opened from the depths, wells ... they established. They heaped up all the mountains.[Several lines missing]
... years of drudgery. [35] ... the vast marsh.They counted years of drudgery ,... and forty years, too much! ... forced labor they bore night and day.They were complaining, denouncing, [40] muttering down in the ditch:"Let us face up to our foreman the prefect, he must take off our heavy burden upon us!Enlil, counsellor of the gods, the warrior, come, let us remove him from his dwelling; [45] Enlil, counsellor of the gods, the warrior, come, let us remove him from his dwelling!"[Several lines missing]
[61] "Now them, call for battle, battle let us join, warfare!"The gods heard his words: they set fire to their tools, [65] they put fire to their spaces, and flame to their workbaskets.Off they went, one and all, to the gate of the warrior Enlil's abode.[Several lines missing]
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Translation by Stephanie Dalley "Myths From Mesopotamia:Gilgamesh, The Flood, and Others"
This story as we have it comes from an early Babylonian version of about 1700 BC, but it certainly dates back to Sumerian times. It combines familiar Sumerian motifs of the creation of mankind and the subsequent flood. On one of the Sumerian king-lists, Atrahasis is listed as king of Shuruppak in the years before the flood. The name Atrahasis means "Extra-wise," and is thus, as Stepanie Dalley points out, quite similar in meaning to that of Prometheus ("Forethinker"), father of the Greek flood hero Deucalion.
The story begins way before Atrahasis appears on the scene, however. It starts out with the gods digging ditches. Men have not been thought of yet, so the gods had to do the work:
When the gods instead of man did the work, bore the loads, the gods' load was too great, the work too hard, the trouble too much, the great Anunnaki made the Igigi carry the workload sevenfold.
Anu their father was king, their counselor warrior Ellil (Enlil), their Chamberlain was Ninurta, their canal-controller Ennugi. They took the box of lots cast the lots; the gods made the division. Anu went up to the sky, and Ellil (Enlil took the earth for his people.The bolt which bars the sea was assigned to far-sighted Enki. When Anu had gone up to the sky, and the gods of the Apsu had gone below, the Annunaki of the sky, made the Igigi bear the workload.The gods had to dig out canals, had to clear channels, the lifelines of the land.The gods dug out the Tigris river and then dug out the Euphrates.(lines fragmentary) ...in the deep ...they set up ...the Apsu ...of the land ...inside it ...raised its top ...of all the mountainsThey were counting the years of loads ...the great marsh, they were counting the years of loads.
For 3,600 years they bore the excess, hard work, night and day.They groaned and blamed each other, grumbled over the masses of excavated soil:After 3,600 years of this work, the lower gods begin to complain. They decide to go on strike, burning their tools and surrounding the chief god Enlil's "dwelling". Enlil's vizier Nusku gets Enlil out of bed and alerts him to the angry mob outside. Enlil is scared. (His face is described as being "sallow as a tamarisk.") The vizier Nusku advises Enlil to summon the other great gods, especially Anu (sky-god) and Enki (the clever god of the fresh waters). Anu advises Enlil to ascertain who is the ringleader of the rebellion. They send Nusku out to ask the mob of gods who is their leader. The mob answers, "Every single one of us gods has declared war!".
Then...made his voice heard and spoke to the gods, his brothers: Let us confront our Chamberlain, and get him to relieve us of our hard work! come, let us carry the Lord, the counselor of the gods, the warrior from his dwelling. Come, let us carry Ellil, the counselor of the gods, the warrior, from his dwelling. Now, cry battle! Let us mix fight with battle!
The gods listened to his speech, set fire to their tools, put aside their spades for fire, their loads for the fire-god, they flared up.
When they reached the gate of warrior Ellil's dwelling, it was night, the middle watch, the house was surrounded, the god had not realized.
When they reached the gate of warrior Ellil's dwelling, it was night, the middle watch, Ekur was surrounded, Ellil had not realized.Yet Kalkal was attentive, and had it closed, He held the lock and watched the gate. Kalkal roused Nusku. They listened to the noise of the Igigi.Then Nusku roused his master, made him get out of bed: My lord, your house is surrounded, a rabble is running around your door! Ellil, your house is surrounded, a rabble is running around your door! Ellil had weapons brought to his dwelling.
Ellil made his voice heard and spoke to the vizier Nusku, Nusku, bar your door, take up your weapons and stand in front of me. Nusku barred his door took up his weapons and stood in front of Ellil.Nusku made his voice heard and spoke to the warrior Ellil, 'O my lord, your face is sallow as Tamarisk! why do you fear your own sons? 'O Ellil, you face is sallow as Tamarisk! why do you fear your own sons?
Send for Anu to be brought down to you have Enki fetched into your presence. He sent for Anu to be brought down to him, Enki was fetched into his presence, Anu, king of the sky was present, Enki, king of the Apsu attended.The great Anunnaki were present. Ellil got up and the case was put.Ellil made his voice heard and spoke to the great gods: Is it against me that they have risen? shall I do battle...? what did I see with my own eyes? a rabble was running around my door!
Anu made his voice heard and spoke to the warrior Ellil Let Nusku go out aAnd find out the word of the Igigi who have surrounded your door.A command... (lines fragmentary) To...(lines fragmentary)Ellil made his voice heard and spoke to the vizier Nusku, Nusku, open your door, take up your weapons and stand before me!
In the assembly of all the gods, bow, then stand and tell them, your father Anu, your counselor, warrior Ellil, your chamberlain Ninurta and your canalcontroller Ennugi have sent me to say, who is in charge of the rabble? who is in charge of the fighting? who declared war? who ran to the door of Ellil? Nusku opened his door, took up his weapons, went before EllilIn the assembly of all the gods He bowed, then stood and told the message. Your father Anu, you counselor warrior Ellil, your chamberlain Ninurta, and your canal controller Ennugi have sent me to say"Who is in charge of the rabble? who is in charge of the fighting? who declared war? who ran to the door of Ellil?" Ellil...(lines fragmentary) Every single one of us declared war! we have put a stop to the digging.The load is excessive, it is killing us! our work is too hard, the trouble too much! so every single one of us gods has agreed to complain to Ellil Nusku took his weapons went and returned to Ellil My lord, you sent me to...(lines fragmentary) I went... I explained... Saying every single one of us gods declared war we have put a stop to the digging.The load is excessive, it is killing us! our work is too hard, the trouble too much, so every single one of us gods has agreed to complain to Ellil! Ellil listened to that speech. His tears flowed. Ellil spoke guardedly, addressed the warrior Anu, Noble one, take a decree with you to the sky, show your strength-While the Anunnaki are sitting before you call up one god and let them cast him for destruction Anu made his voice heardAnd spoke to the gods his brothers, what are we complaining of? their work was indeed too hard, their trouble was too much.Every day the Earth resounded. The warning signal was loud enough, we kept hearing the noise. (lines fragmentary) ...do ...tasks While the Anunnaki are sitting before you and while Belet-Ili the womb goddess is present, call up one and cast him for destruction! Anu made his voice heard and spoke to Nusku Nusku, open your door, take up your weapons, bow in the assembly of the great gods, then stand and tell them... (lines fragmentary)Your father Anu, your counselor warrior Ellil, your chamberlain Ninurta and your canal controller Ennugi have sent me to say who is in charge of the rabble who will be in charge of battle? which god started the war? a rabble was running around my door! When Nusku heard this, he took up his weapons, bowed in the assembly of the great gods, then stood and told them Your father Anu, your counselor warrior Ellil, your chamberlain Ninurta and your canal controller Ennugi have sent me to say, who is in charge of the rabble? who is in charge of the fighting? which god started the war? a rabble was running around Ellil's door!(Enki)/Ea made his voice heard and spoke to the gods his brothers, why are we blaming them? their work was too hard, their trouble was too much. every day the earth resounded. The warning signal was loud enough, we kept hearing the noise.
Since the upper-class gods now see that the work of the lower-class gods "was too hard," they decide to sacrifice one of the rebels for the good of all. They will take one god, kill him, and make mankind by mixing the god's flesh and blood with clay:
There is... (lines fragmentary)
Belet-ili the womb goddess is present- Let her create a mortal man so that he may bear the yoke...(lines fragmentary) So that he may bear the yoke, the work of Ellil, Let man bear the load of the gods! Belet-ili the womb goddess is present, let the womb goddess create offspring, and let them bear the load of the gods! They called up the goddess, asked the midwife of the gods, wise Mami, 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!After Enki instructs them on purification rituals for the first, seventh and fifteenth of every month, the gods slaughter Geshtu-e, "a god who had intelligence" (his name means "ear" or "wisdom") and form mankind from his blood and some clay. After the birth goddess mixes the clay, all the gods troop by and spit on it. Then Enki and the womb-goddess take the clay into "the room of fate,"
Nintu made her voice heard and spoke to the great gods, on the first, seventh, and fifteenth of the month I shall make a purification by washing. then one god should be slaughtered. And the gods can be purified by immersion.Nintu shall mix the clay with his flesh and blood. Then a god and a man will be mixed together in clay.
Let us hear the drumbeat forever after, let a ghost come into existence from the god's flesh, let her proclaim it as her living sign, and let the ghost exist so as not to forget the slain god. They answered yes in the assembly, the great Anunnaki who assign the fates On the first, seventh, and fifteenth of the month He made a purification by washing.Geshtu-E, a god who had intelligence, they slaughtered in their assembly.Nintu mixed clay with his flesh and blood.They heard the drumbeat forever after.A ghost came into existence from the god's flesh, and she proclaimed it as his living sign.The ghost existed so as not to forget the slain god.After she had mixed that clay, She called up the Anunnaki, the great gods.The Igigi, the great gods, spat spittle upon the clay.Mami made her voice heard
And spoke to the great gods, I have carried out perfectly the work that you ordered of me.You have slaughtered a god together with his intelligence.I have relieved you of your hard work, I have imposed your load on man.You have bestowed noise on man, You have bestowed noise on mankind.I have undone the fetter and granted freedom. They listened to the speech of hers, and were freed from anxiety, and kissed her feet: We used to call you Mami, but now your name shall be Mistress of All Gods. Far sighted Enki and wise Mami went into the room of fate.The womb-goddesses were assembled.He trod the clay in her presence; She kept reciting an incantation, For Enki, staying in her presence, made her recite itWhen she had finished her incantation, She pinched off fourteen pieces of clay, and set seven pieces on the right, seven on the left.Between them she put down a mud brick. She made use of a reed, opened it to cut the umbilical cord, called up the wise and knowledgeable Womb goddesses, seven and seven.Seven created males, seven created females, for the womb goddess is creator of fate.He...(lines fragmentary) them two by two, ...them two by two in her presence.
Mami made these rules for people: In the house of a woman who is giving birth the mud brick shall be put down for seven days.Belet-ili, wise Mami shall be honored.The midwife shall rejoice in the house of the woman who gives birthAnd when the woman gives birth to the baby, the mother of the baby shall sever herself.A man to a girl...(lines fragmentary) ...her bosom a beard can be seen on a young man's cheek.
In gardens and waysides a wife and her husband choose each other.The creation of man seems to be described here as being analogous or similar to the process of making bricks: tread (knead) the clay and then pinch off pieces that will become bricks. Here, the seven pieces on the right become males and the seven pieces on the left become females. The brick between the two may be a symbol of the fetus, for when the little pieces of clay are ready to be "born," their birth is described like this:
The womb goddesses were assembled and Nintu was present. They counted the months, called up the Tenth month as the term of fates.When the Tenth month came, she slipped in a staff and opened the womb.Just as you put a wooden spatula into a beehive-shaped brick oven to remove the bricks (like getting the pizza out when it's done), the womb-goddess or midwife uses a staff to check to see if the womb has dilated enough for birth. After the seven men and seven women are born, the birth-goddess gives rules for celebrations at birth: they should last for nine days during which a mud brick should be put down. After nine days, the husband and wife could resume conjugal relations.
Her face was glad and joyful.She covered her head, performed the midwifery, put on her belt, said a blessing.She made a drawing in flour and put down a mud brick: I myself created it, my hands made it.The midwife shall rejoice in the house of the qadistu-priestess. Whenever a woman gives birthAnd the baby's mother severs herself, the mud brick shall be put down for nine days.Nintu the womb goddess shall be honored. She shall call their ... (name) MamiShe shall ... (be called) the womb goddess, Lay down the linen cloth.When the bed is laid out in their house, a wife and her husband shall choose each other.Inanna shall rejoice in the wife-husband relationship in the father-in-law's house.
Celebration shall last for nine days, and they shall call Inanna Ishhara.On the fifteenth day, the fixed time of fate She shall call...(lines fragmentary) A man...(lines fragmentary) Clean the home...(lines fragmentary)The son to his father...(lines fragmentary)They sat and...(lines fragmentary)He was carrying...(lines fragmentary) He saw...(lines fragmentary) Ellil...(lines fragmentary)They took hold of...(lines fragmentary)Made new picks and spades, made big canals, to feed people and sustain the gods.The gods' solution to their difficulties works well: men make new picks and spades and dig bigger canals to feed both themselves and the gods. But after 1200 years the population has increased so much that Enlil has trouble sleeping:
600 years, less than 600, passed, and 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.Give the order that suruppu-disease shall break out,The plague breaks out, but the wise Atrahasis appeals to his god Enki/Ea for help. Enki advises Atrahasis to have the people stop praying to their personal gods and to start praying and offering sacrifices the plague god, Namtar. Namtar is so shamed by this show of attention that he wipes "away his hand" and the plague ends.
Now there was one Atrahasis whose ear was open to his god Enki/Ea.He would speak with his god and his god would speak with him.Atrahasis made his voice heard and spoke to his lord, how long will the gods make us suffer? will they make us suffer illness forever?
Enki made his voice heardAnd spoke to his servant: call the elders, the senior men!Start an uprising in your own house, let the heralds proclaim...Let them make a loud noise in the land: do not revere your gods, do not pray to your goddesses, but search out the door of Namtara, bring as baked loaf into his presence.May the flour offerings reach him, may he be shamed by the presents and wipe away his hand. Atrahasis took the order, gathered the elders to his door.Atrahasis made his voice heardAnd spoke to the elders: I have called the elders, the senior men! start an uprising in your own house, let the heralds proclaim...let them make a loud noise in the land: do not revere your gods, do not pray to your goddesses, but search out the door of Namtara, bring as baked loaf into his presence.May the flour offerings reach him, may he be shamed by the presents and wipe away his hand. The elders listened to his speech; they built a temple for Namtara in the city.Heralds proclaimed...(lines fragmentary) They made a loud noise in the land.They did not revere their god, they did not pray to their goddess, but searched out the door of Namtara,Brought a baked loaf into his presence the flour offerings reached him.And he was shamed by the presents and wiped away his hand.The suruppu-disease left them.Famine
After another 1200 years, mankind has again multiplied to the point where they are violating Enlil's noise ordinances. This time Enlil decides on a drought to reduce their numbers, and gets Adad, the thunder-rain god, to hold back the rains. Again Atrahasis appeals to Enki, and again he advises concentrating worship on the one god responsible. Adad is also embarrassed, and releases his rain. (The text does not explain how Atrahasis has been able to live for 1200 years, but many legendary Sumerian kings had incredibly long lives.)
When the second year arrived they had depleted the storehouse.When the third year arrived the people's looks were changed by starvation.When the fourth year arrived their upstanding bearing bowed, their well-set shoulders slouched, the people went out in public hunched over.When the fifth year arrived, a daughter would eye her mother coming in; a mother would not even open her door to her daughter. . . .When the sixth year arrived they served up a daughter for a meal, served up a son for food.Flood
Another 1200 years goes by and the noise becomes tremendous. This time, Enlil wants to make sure that no one god can weaken his/her resolve, so he declares "a general embargo of all nature's gifts. Anu and Adad were to guard heaven, Enlil the earth, and Enki the waters, to see that no means of nourishment reach the human race" (Jacobsen 119). In addition, Enlil decrees infertility: "Let the womb be too tight to let the baby out"
The tablets are broken and the text is fragmentary here, it seems that Enki foils the complete starvation plan by letting loose large quantities of fish to feed the starving people. Enlil is furious with Enki for breaking ranks with the rest of the gods and going against a plan that all had agreed to. Determined to wipe out mankind, Enlil decides on two things: Enki will create a flood to wipe them out and he will be forced to swear an oath not to interfere with the destruction. Enki resists creating the flood ("Why should I use my power against my people? . . . / This is Enlil's kind of work!", but apparently he does take the oath.
After another break, the text resumes with Enki addressing Atrahasis (still alive after all these years!) to warn him of the impending flood. Actually, Enki speaks to the walls of Atrahasis' reed hut so as not break the letter of his oath:
The gods went back to their regular offerings.
Wall, listen constantly to me! (lines fragmentary) reed hut, make sure you attend to all my words!Dismantle the house, build a boat, . . .(lines fragmentary) roof it like the ApsuSo the sun cannot see inside it!Make upper decks and lower decks, the tackle must be very strong, the bitumen [a kind of tar] strong . . . (lines fragmentary)Atrahasis gathers the elders of Shuruppak and makes up an excuse to leave town: he says that Enki and Enlil are angry with each other and that Enki has commanded him to go down to the water's edge. Which he does, and there he builds his boat and fills it with every type of animal (the text is fragmentary here) and his family. Adad begins to thunder, and sick with impending doom ("his heart was breaking and he was vomiting bile"), Atrahasis seals up the door of the boat with bitumen. The storm and flood turn out to be more than the gods bargained for:
Like a wild ass screaming the winds howledThe darkness was total, there was no sun. . . .(lines fragmentary)As for Nintu the Great Mistress, her lips became encrusted with rime.The great gods, the Annuna, stayed parched and famished.The goddess watched and wept . . . (lines fragmentary)The great mother goddess complains bitterly about Enlil and Anu's shortcomings as decision-makers, and she weeps for the dead humans who "clog the river like dragonflies." Also, "she longed for beer (in vain)." Now it is the gods' turn to go hungry: "like sheep, they could only fill their windpipes with bleating. / Thirsty as they were, their lips / Discharged only the rime of famine". After seven days and nights of rain, the flood subsides, and Atrahasis disembarks and offers a sacrifice. The hungry gods smell the fragrance and gather "like flies over the offering." In a mutilated passage, the great goddess swears by the flies in her necklace that she will remember the flood. Enlil spots the boat and is furious, knowing that only Enki could have been clever enough to come up with this new trick. Enki admits that he warned Atrahasis, "in defiance" of Enlil: "I made sure life was preserved". The text is fragmentary at this point, but apparently Enki persuades Enlil to adopt a more humane plan for dealing with the population and noise problem. Enki and the womb-goddess Nintu decide that henceforth one-third of the women will not give birth successfully: a pasittu demon will "snatch the baby from its mother's lap". They also create several classes of temple women who are not allowed to have children.
Dalley, Stephanie, ed. and trans. Myths from Mesopotamia. New York: Oxford UP, 1991.
Heidel, Alexander, ed. and trans. The Babylonian Genesis. Chicago: U of Chicago Press, 1951.Jacobsen, Thorkild. The Treasures of Darkness: A History of Mesopotamian Religion. New Haven: Yale UP, 1976.Pritchard, James B., ed. The Ancient Near East, Volume 1: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1958.Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1955. Abbreviated ANET.Sandars, N[ancy] K. Poems of Heaven and Hell from Ancient Mesopotamia. New York: Penguin, 1971.