In the Egyptian version, humanity's rebellion and Ra's mercy leads to a closer relationship with the gods and in the biblical version the same is suggested by God's covenant with Noah after the flood waters subside. (7)Ītrahasis, as noted, is not the oldest version of the Mesopotamian flood story and the earlier, oral version almost certainly influenced other culture's versions including the Egyptian and Hebrew. Dalley comments:Īll these flood stories may be explained as deriving from the one Mesopotamian original, used in traveler's tales for over two thousand years, along the great caravan routes of Western Asia: translated, embroidered, and adapted according to local tastes to give a myriad of divergent versions, a few of which have come down to us.

This is not necessarily so, however, as it is just as possible that a popular flood story, repeated down through the ages, inspired storytellers in different regions. She drank the beer, fell asleep, and later woke up as the loving goddess and friend to humanity she is usually depicted as.Īlmost every culture has some form of a Great Flood story and this is often cited as proof that there must have been some cataclysmic deluge at some point. He then had massive quantities of beer dyed red to look like blood and ordered it placed in Hathor's path. He sent the goddess Hathor as an extension of himself (known as The Eye of Ra) to slaughter humanity but, after she had killed many, he repented of the decision. The Book of the Heavenly Cow tells how, after the sun god Ra had created humans, they rebeled against him and he decided to destroy them. The biblical work draws on the earlier oral version of the Mesopotamian flood story which is echoed in the works cited above and which may also have influenced an Egyptian text known as The Book of the Heavenly Cow, a part of which dates to Egypt's First Intermediate Period (2181-2040 BCE). The best known tale of the Great Flood, of course, is from the biblical Book of Genesis 6-9 in which God becomes incensed with the wickedness of humanity and destroys them with a flood, except for the righteous Noah and his family. The Sumerian version of the tale has Ziusudra ('The Far Distant') as the hero but tells the same story. Gilgamesh's quest for immortality leads him eventually to Utnapishtim but his journey does him no good as everlasting life is denied to mortals. The Epic of Gilgamesh retells the story, with more or less the same details, but the hero is Utnapishtim ('He Found Life') who is spirited away by the gods with his wife and lives forever in the land across the seas.

Atrahasis himself is carried away to paradise to live apart from these new human beings whom Nintu then creates. From now on, it is declared, there will be women who cannot bear children, demons who will snatch infants away and cause miscarriages, and women consecrated to the gods who will have to remain virgins. Enlil, though only just before wishing he had not destroyed humanity, is now furious at Enki for allowing any one to escape alive.Įnki explains himself to the assembly, the gods descend to eat of Atrahasis' sacrifice, and Enki then proposes a new solution to the problem of human overpopulation: create new creatures who will not be as fertile as the last. At this point Atrahasis comes out of his ark and makes a sacrifice to the gods. After the waters subside Enlil and the other gods realize their mistake and regret what they have done yet feel there is no way they can un-do it. MHRA 'EPIC', All Acronyms, 30 June 2022, Bluebook All Acronyms, EPIC (Jun. EPIC, All Acronyms, viewed June 30, 2022, MLA All Acronyms. Retrieved June 30, 2022, from Chicago All Acronyms. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Quote Copy APA All Acronyms.

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