''Atra-Hasis'' ( akk, , Atra-ḫasīs) is an 18th-century BCE
Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to:
* Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire
* Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language
* Akkadian literature, literature in this language
* Akkadian cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...
epic
Epic commonly refers to:
* Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation
* Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements
Epic or EPIC may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and medi ...
, recorded in various versions on
clay tablet
In the Ancient Near East, clay tablets (Akkadian ) were used as a writing medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age.
Cuneiform characters were imprinted on a wet clay tablet with a stylu ...
s, named for its protagonist, Atrahasis ('exceedingly wise'). The ''Atra-Hasis'' tablets include both a
creation myth
A creation myth (or cosmogonic myth) is a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it., "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop ...
and one of three surviving
Babylonia
Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. ...
n
flood myths
A flood myth or a deluge myth is a myth in which a great flood, usually sent by a deity or deities, destroys civilization, often in an act of divine retribution. Parallels are often drawn between the flood waters of these myths and the primaeval ...
. The name "Atra-Hasis" also appears, as king of
Shuruppak
Shuruppak ( sux, , "the healing place"), modern Tell Fara, was an ancient Sumerian city situated about 55 kilometres (35 mi) south of Nippur on the banks of the Euphrates in Iraq's Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate. Shuruppak was dedicated to Ni ...
in the times before a flood, on one of the '' Sumerian King Lists''.
The oldest known copy of the epic tradition concerning AtrahasisThe variant versions are not direct translations of a single original. can be dated by colophon (scribal identification) to the reign of
Hammurabi
Hammurabi (Akkadian: ; ) was the sixth Amorite king of the Old Babylonian Empire, reigning from to BC. He was preceded by his father, Sin-Muballit, who abdicated due to failing health. During his reign, he conquered Elam and the city-states ...
’s great-grandson,
Ammi-Saduqa Ammi-Saduqa (or Ammisaduqa, Ammizaduga) was a king, c. 1646–1626 BC according to the Middle Chronology dating, (or c. 1582–1562 according to the Short Chronology), of the First Dynasty of Babylon. Some twenty-one year-names survive for his reign ...
(1646–1626 BC). However, various
Old Babylonian
Old Babylonian may refer to:
*the period of the First Babylonian dynasty (20th to 16th centuries BC)
*the historical stage of the Akkadian language
Akkadian (, Akkadian: )John Huehnergard & Christopher Woods, "Akkadian and Eblaite", ''The Camb ...
fragments exist, and the epic continued to be copied into the first millennium BC.
The story of Atrahasis also exists in a later
Assyrian
Assyrian may refer to:
* Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia.
* Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire.
** Early Assyrian Period
** Old Assyrian Period
** Middle Assyrian Empire
** Neo-Assyrian Empire
* Assyrian ...
version, first rediscovered in the
Library of Ashurbanipal
The Royal Library of Ashurbanipal, named after Ashurbanipal, the last great king of the Assyrian Empire, is a collection of more than 30,000 clay tablets and fragments containing texts of all kinds from the 7th century BC, including texts in vari ...
, 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
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
'', the hero of which had his name corrected to ''Atra-Hasis'' by
Heinrich Zimmern
:''To be distinguished from Heinrich Zimmer (1890–1943) German Indologist, and Heinrich Zimmer (Celticist) (1851–1910)''
Heinrich Zimmern (14 July 1862, in Graben – 17 February 1931, in Leipzig) was a German Assyriologist. He was the first ...
in 1899.
In 1965,
Wilfred G. Lambert
Wilfred George Lambert FBA (26 February 1926 – 9 November 2011) was a historian and archaeologist, a specialist in Assyriology and Near Eastern Archaeology.
Early life
Lambert was born in Birmingham, and, having won a scholarship, he was edu ...
and Alan R. Millard 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.Lambert, Wilfred G., and Alan R. Millard. 1999
969
Year 969 ( CMLXIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 1st millennium, the 69th ...
''Atrahasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood''. London:
Eisenbrauns
Eisenbrauns, an imprint of Penn State University Press, is an academic publisher specializing in the ancient Near East and biblical studies. They publish approximately twenty new books and reference works each year, as well as reprinting out-of- ...
. . A further fragment was recovered in
Ugarit
)
, image =Ugarit Corbel.jpg
, image_size=300
, alt =
, caption = Entrance to the Royal Palace of Ugarit
, map_type = Near East#Syria
, map_alt =
, map_size = 300
, relief=yes
, location = Latakia Governorate, Syria
, region = F ...
.
In its most complete surviving version, the ''Atra-Hasis'' epic is written on three tablets in Akkadian, the language of ancient Babylon.
Synopsis
Tablet I
Taking place, according to its
incipit
The incipit () of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin and means "it beg ...
, “when gods were in the ways of men," Tablet I of ''Atra-Hasis'' contains the
creation myth
A creation myth (or cosmogonic myth) is a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it., "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop ...
of
Anu
Anu ( akk, , from wikt:𒀭#Sumerian, 𒀭 ''an'' “Sky”, “Heaven”) or Anum, originally An ( sux, ), was the sky father, divine personification of the sky, king of the gods, and ancestor of many of the list of Mesopotamian deities, dei ...
,
Enlil
Enlil, , "Lord f theWind" later known as Elil, is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Bab ...
, and
Enki
, image = Enki(Ea).jpg
, caption = Detail of Enki from the Adda Seal, an ancient Akkadian cylinder seal dating to circa 2300 BC
, deity_of = God of creation, intelligence, crafts, water, seawater, lakewater, fertility, semen, magic, mischief
...
—the Sumerian gods of sky, wind, and water. Following the ''
cleromancy
Cleromancy is a form of sortition (casting of lots) in which an outcome is determined by means that normally would be considered random, such as the rolling of dice, but that are sometimes believed to reveal the will of a deity.
In classical civ ...
'' ('casting of lots'), the sky is ruled by Anu, Earth by Enlil, and the freshwater sea by Enki.
Walter Burkert
Walter Burkert (; 2 February 1931 – 11 March 2015) was a German scholar of Greek mythology and cult.
A professor of classics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, he taught in the UK and the US. He has influenced generations of studen ...
traces the model drawn from Atrahasis to a corresponding passage, the division by lots of the air, underworld and sea among
Zeus
Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D ...
,
Hades
Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...
, and
Poseidon
Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ch ...
in the ''
Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odysse ...
'', 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
Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...
.
Enlil, god of Earth, assigned junior ' ()Green, Margaret Whitney. 1975. "Eridu in Sumerian Literature" (PhD dissertation).
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
. p. 224.
The
Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to:
* Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire
* Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language
* Akkadian literature, literature in this language
* Akkadian cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...
determinative
A determinative, also known as a taxogram or semagram, is an ideogram used to mark semantic categories of words in logographic scripts which helps to disambiguate interpretation. They have no direct counterpart in spoken language, though they may ...
''
dingir
''Dingir'' (, usually transliterated DIĜIR, ) is a Sumerian word for "god" or "goddess". Its cuneiform sign is most commonly employed as the determinative for religious names and related concepts, in which case it is not pronounced and is con ...
'' () primarily translates to 'god' or 'goddess'. However, it may also mean 'priest' or 'priestess', even while other Akkadian words (e.g. and ) also translate to such. The
noun
A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for:
* Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...
'divine' is thus used to preserve this ambiguity in ''dingir''. to do farm labor, as well as maintain the rivers and canals. After 40 years, however, the lesser 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
Mami may refer to:
People
*Cheb Mami, Algerian raï singer
*Mami (given name), a Japanese feminine given name
*Mami (goddess), a goddess in the Babylonian epic ''Atra-Hasis''
*Mami Wata, a pantheon of ancient water spirits or deities Entertainment ...
is subsequently assigned the task of creating humans by shaping clay figurines mixed with the flesh and blood of the slain god
Geshtu-E Ilawela (formerly variously transcribed as Geshtu-(E), Geshtu, Gestu, or We-ila) is, in Sumerian and Akkadian mythology, a minor god of intelligence. In the Atra-Hasis Epic he was sacrificed by the great gods and his blood was used in the creation ...
('ear' or 'wisdom'; 'a god who had intelligence').On some tablets the under-god Weila or Aw-ilu, was slain for this purpose. 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 II
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, perhaps because priests of Enki were writing and copying the story. 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 III
Tablet III of the ''Atra-Hasis'' epic contains the
flood myth
A flood myth or a deluge myth is a myth in which a great flood, usually sent by a deity or deities, destroys civilization, often in an act of divine retribution. Parallels are often drawn between the flood waters of these Mythology, myths and the ...
. It tells of how Enki, speaking through a reed wall,Suggestive of an
oracle
An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination.
Description
The word '' ...
. 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
The Abzu or Apsu ( Sumerian: ; Akkadian: ), also called (Cuneiform:, ; Sumerian: ; Akkadian: — ='water' ='deep', recorded in Greek as ), is the name for fresh water from underground aquifers which was given a religious fertilising qualit ...
" (or Apsi; a subterranean, freshwater realm presided over by Enki); to have upper and lower decks; and to be sealed with
bitumen
Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...
.
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, probably in reference to the
Euphrates
The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...
, the river upon which the ancient city
Shuruppak
Shuruppak ( sux, , "the healing place"), modern Tell Fara, was an ancient Sumerian city situated about 55 kilometres (35 mi) south of Nippur on the banks of the Euphrates in Iraq's Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate. Shuruppak was dedicated to Ni ...
, ruled by Atra-Hasis, was located.
Alterations and adaptations
Lineage of Atra-Hasis
In later versions of the flood story, contained in the ''
Epic of Gilgamesh
The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poetry, epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, and is regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature and the second oldest religious text, after the Pyramid Texts. The literary history of Gilgamesh ...
'' and the
Sumerian creation myth
The earliest record of a Sumerian creation myth, called The Eridu Genesis by historian Thorkild Jacobsen, is found on a single fragmentary tablet excavated in Nippur by the Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania in 1893, and first recognized ...
, the hero is not named Atra-Hasis.
In ''Gilgamesh'', the name of the flood hero is
Utnapishtim
Ut-napishtim or Uta-na’ishtim (in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''), Atra-Hasis, Ziusudra ( Sumerian), Xisuthros (''Ξίσουθρος'', in Berossus) ( akk, ) is a character in ancient Mesopotamian mythology. He is tasked by the god Enki (Akkadian: E ...
, who is said to be the son of
Ubara-Tutu
Ubara-tutu (or Ubartutu) of Shuruppak was the last antediluvian king of Sumer, according to some versions of the Sumerian King List. He was said to have reigned for 18,600 years (5 sars and 1 ner). He was the son of En-men-dur-ana, a Sumerian myt ...
, king of
Shuruppak
Shuruppak ( sux, , "the healing place"), modern Tell Fara, was an ancient Sumerian city situated about 55 kilometres (35 mi) south of Nippur on the banks of the Euphrates in Iraq's Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate. Shuruppak was dedicated to Ni ...
: "Gilgamesh spoke to Utnapishtim, the Faraway... O man of Shuruppak, son of Ubara-Tutu." 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 Old Babylonian Empire, or First Babylonian Empire, is dated to BC – BC, and comes after the end of Sumerian power with the destruction of the Third Dynasty of Ur, and the subsequent Isin-Larsa period. The chronology of the first dynasty ...
), the hero is named
Ziusudra
Ziusudra (Old Babylonian: , Neo-Assyrian: , grc-gre, Ξίσουθρος, Xísouthros) of Shuruppak (c. 2900 BC) is listed in the WB-62 Sumerian King List recension as the last king of Sumer prior to the Great Flood. He is subsequently re ...
, who also appears in the ''
Instructions of Shuruppak
__NOTOC__
The Instructions of Shuruppak (or, ''Instructions of Šuruppak son of Ubara-tutu'') are a significant example of Sumerian wisdom literature. Wisdom literature, intended to teach proper piety, inculcate virtue, and preserve community ...
'' as the son of the eponymous Shuruppak, who himself is called the son of Ubara-Tutu.
The ''Sumerian King Lists'' also make no mention of Atra-Hasis, Utnapishtim, or Ziusudra.Zólyomi, Gábor, trans. 2001
999 999 or triple nine most often refers to:
* 999 (emergency telephone number), a telephone number for the emergency services in several countries
* 999 (number), an integer
* AD 999, a year
* 999 BC, a year
Books
* ''999'' (anthology) or ''999: ...
Faculty of Oriental Studies
The Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (formerly the Faculty of Oriental Studies), is a subdivision of the University of Oxford.
The faculty is engaged in a broad range of research and teaching on modern and historical Asian and Middl ...
,
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
. Archived from th original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2020. 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''. This tablet is unique in that it mentions both Shuruppak and Atra-Hasis.
Gilgamesh and the flood myth
Subsequent versions of the flood myth in the
Ancient Near East
The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia (modern Iraq, southeast Turkey, southwest Iran and northeastern Syria), ancient Egypt, ancient Iran ( Elam, ...
evidently alter (omit and/or editorially change) information about the flood and the flood hero found in the original ''Atra-Hasis'' story.George, Andrew R., trans. 2003
999 999 or triple nine most often refers to:
* 999 (emergency telephone number), a telephone number for the emergency services in several countries
* 999 (number), an integer
* AD 999, a year
* 999 BC, a year
Books
* ''999'' (anthology) or ''999: ...
''The Epic of Gilgamesh'' (reprint and corrected ed.), edited by A. R. George. London:
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Tablet XI).Tigay, Jeffrey H. 1982. ''The Evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic''. Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press
The University of Pennsylvania Press (or Penn Press) is a university press affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The press was originally incorporated with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on 26 Ma ...
. . pp. 238–39. This modern addition of ''Gilgamesh'', known as the 'standard version', is traditionally associated with the Babylonian
scribe
A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing.
The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its promi ...
Sîn-lēqi-unninni
Sîn-lēqi-unninni ( akk, ) was a '' mašmaššu'' who lived in Mesopotamia, probably in the period between 1300 BC and 1000 BC. He is traditionally thought to have compiled the best-preserved version of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''. ...
(''circa ''1300–1000 BC), though some minor changes may have been made since his time.
Regarding the editorial changes to the ''Atra-Hasis'' text in ''Gilgamesh'',
Jeffrey H. Tigay
Jeffrey Howard Tigay (born December 25, 1941) is a modern wikt:biblical, biblical scholar who is best known for the study of Book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy and in his contributions to the Deuteronomy volume of the ''JPS Torah Commentary'' (1996 ...
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."
Alterations
Examples of alterations to the ''Atra-Hasis'' story in ''Gilgamesh'' include:
* Omitting information, for example:
** 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 trahasiswas in and out. He could not sit, could not crouch, for his heart was broken and he was vomiting gall."
** "She was surfeited with grief and thirsted for beer."''Atra-Hasis'' III.iv.
** "From hunger they were suffering cramp."
* Editorial changes, for example:
** "Like dragonflies they have filled the river" was changed to "Like the spawn of fishes, they fill the sea."
* Weakening of
anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
descriptions of the gods, for example:
** "The
Anunnaki
The Anunnaki (Sumerian: , also transcribed as Anunaki, Annunaki, Anunna, Ananaki and other variations) are a group of deities of the ancient Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians and Babylonians. In the earliest Sumerian writings about them, which c ...
(the senior gods) ere sittng in thirst and hunger" changed to "The gods feared the deluge."''The Epic of Gilgamesh'' XI 113.
See also
*
Alan Millard
Alan Ralph Millard (born 1 December 1937) is Rankin Professor Emeritus of Hebrew and Ancient Semitic languages, and Honorary Senior Fellow (Ancient Near East), at the School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology (SACE) in the University of Li ...
Flood myth
A flood myth or a deluge myth is a myth in which a great flood, usually sent by a deity or deities, destroys civilization, often in an act of divine retribution. Parallels are often drawn between the flood waters of these Mythology, myths and the ...
*
Gilgamesh flood myth
The Gilgamesh flood myth is a flood myth in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''. Many scholars believe that the flood myth was added to Tablet XI in the "standard version" of the Gilgamesh Epic by an editor who used the flood story from the Epic of Atrahas ...
*
Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark ( he, תיבת נח; Biblical Hebrew: ''Tevat Noaḥ'')The word "ark" in modern English comes from Old English ''aerca'', meaning a chest or box. (See Cresswell 2010, p.22) The Hebrew word for the vessel, ''teva'', occurs twice in t ...
*
Sumerian creation myth
The earliest record of a Sumerian creation myth, called The Eridu Genesis by historian Thorkild Jacobsen, is found on a single fragmentary tablet excavated in Nippur by the Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania in 1893, and first recognized ...
References
Notes
Citations
Further reading
*Best, Robert M. 1999. ''Noah's Ark and the Ziusudra Epic''.
Eisenbrauns
Eisenbrauns, an imprint of Penn State University Press, is an academic publisher specializing in the ancient Near East and biblical studies. They publish approximately twenty new books and reference works each year, as well as reprinting out-of- ...
. .
*Laessoe, Q. 1956. “The Atrahasis Epic: A Babylonian History of Mankind.” ''Bibliotheca Orientalis'' 13:90–102.