Characters
Noah
Ziusudra is one of several mythic characters who are protagonists of Near Eastern flood myths, including Atrahasis, Utnapishtim and the biblical Noah.
- Atra-Hasis (“exceedingly wise” Akkadian: 𒀜𒊏𒄩𒋀)
- Uta-napishtim (“he has found life” Akkadian: 𒌓𒍣), legendary king of Shuruppak
- Ziusudra (Old Babylonian: 𒍣𒌓𒋤𒁺 zi-ud-su₃-ra₂) of Shuruppak
Gods
Taking place, according to its incipit, “when gods were in the ways of men,” Tablet I of Atra-Hasis contains the creation myth of Anu, Enlil, and Enki—the Sumerian gods of sky, wind, and water. Following the cleromancy (‘casting of lots’), the sky is ruled by Anu, Earth by Enlil, and the freshwater sea by Enki.[ii]
Enlil, god of Earth, assigned junior dingirs (Sumerian: 𒀭, lit. ‘divines’)[iii] to do farm labor, as well as maintain the rivers and canals. After 40 years, however, the lesser dingirs 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 is subsequently assigned the task of creating humans by shaping clay figurines mixed with the flesh and blood of the slain god Geshtu-E (‘ear’ or ‘wisdom’; ‘a god who had intelligence’).[iv] All the gods, in turn, spit upon the clay. After 10 months, a specially made womb breaks open and humans are born.
Anu
Anu (Akkadian: 𒀭𒀭 ANU, from 𒀭 an “Sky”, “Heaven”) or Anum, originally An (Sumerian: 𒀭 An)
Equivalents:
- Zeus, Uranus (Greek)
- Ahura Mazda (Achaemenid)
Enlil
Enlil (𒀭𒂗𒆤), 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, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Hurrians.
Enlil’s name comes from ancient Sumerian EN (𒂗), meaning “lord” and LÍL (𒆤), the meaning of which is contentious, and which has sometimes been interpreted as meaning winds as a weather phenomenon (making Enlil a weather and sky god, “Lord Wind” or “Lord Storm”).
Enki
Enki (Sumerian: 𒀭𒂗𒆠 DEN-KI) is the Sumerian god of water, knowledge (gestú), crafts (gašam), and creation (nudimmud), and one of the Anunnaki. He was later known as Ea (Akkadian: 𒀭𒂍𒀀) or Ae in Akkadian (Assyrian-Babylonian) religion, and is identified by some scholars with Ia in Canaanite religion. His symbol is the goat-fish (Capricorn).
Equivalent:
- Posdeidon, Prometheus (Greek)
- Azazel (Hebrew: עֲזָאזֵל)
- Lucifer (Latin name for Venus. Greek:Phosphorus Φωσφόρος, “light-bringer”)
Ninhursag
Ninḫursaĝ (Sumerian: 𒀭𒎏𒄯𒊕 Ninḫarsang; DNIN-ḪAR.SAG̃) sometimes transcribed Ninursag, Ninḫarsag, or Ninḫursaĝa, also known as Damgalnuna or Ninmah, was the ancient Sumerian mother goddess of the mountains, and one of the seven great deities of Sumer. She is known earliest as a nurturing or fertility goddess.
Names:
- Mami
- Aruru (Sumerian: 𒀭𒀀𒊒𒊒)
- Damkina (Sumerian: 𒀭𒁮𒆠𒈾, “true wife”), the consort of the god Enki
The Eridu Genesis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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 by Arno Poebel in 1912. It is written in the Sumerian language and dated to around 1600 BC. Other Sumerian creation myths from around this date are called the Barton Cylinder, the Debate between sheep and grain and the Debate between Winter and Summer, also found at Nippur.
Atra-Hasis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atra-Hasis
Atra-Hasis (Akkadian: 𒀜𒊏𒄩𒋀, romanized: Atra-ḫasīs) is an 18th-century BC Akkadian epic, recorded in various versions on clay tablets, named for its protagonist, Atrahasis (‘exceedingly wise’). The Atra-Hasis tablets include both a creation myth and one of three surviving Babylonian flood myths. The name “Atra-Hasis” also appears, as king of Shuruppak in the times before a flood, on one of the Sumerian King Lists.
Epic of Gilgamesh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_of_Gilgamesh
The Epic of Gilgamesh (/ˈɡɪlɡəmɛʃ/) is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian poems about Bilgamesh (Sumerian for “Gilgamesh”), king of Uruk, dating from the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2100 BC). These independent stories were later used as source material for a combined epic in Akkadian. The first surviving version of this combined epic, known as the “Old Babylonian” version, dates back to the 18th century BC and is titled after its incipit, Shūtur eli sharrī (“Surpassing All Other Kings”). Only a few tablets of it have survived. The later Standard Babylonian version compiled by Sîn-lēqi-unninni dates from the 13th to the 10th centuries BC and bears the incipit Sha naqba īmuru (“He who Saw the Abyss”, lit. ‘“He who Sees the Unknown”’).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilgamesh_flood_myth
- Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh a secret story that begins in the old city of Shuruppak on the banks of the Euphrates River.
- The “great gods” Anu, Enlil, Ninurta, Ennugi, and Ea were sworn to secrecy about their plan to cause the flood.
- But the god Ea (Sumerian god Enki) repeated the plan to Utnapishtim through a reed wall in a reed house.
- Ea commanded Utnapishtim to demolish his house and build a boat, regardless of the cost, to keep living beings alive.
Enūma Eliš
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/En%C5%ABma_Eli%C5%A1
Enūma Eliš (Akkadian Cuneiform: 𒂊𒉡𒈠𒂊𒇺, also spelled “Enuma Elish”) Babylonian creation myth (named after its opening words). The title Enūma Eliš, meaning “when on high”, is the incipit. It was recovered by English archaeologist Austen Henry Layard in 1849 (in fragmentary form) in the ruined Library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh (Mosul, Iraq).
Enūma Eliš has about a thousand lines and is recorded in Akkadian on seven clay tablets, each holding between 115 and 170 lines of Sumero-Akkadian cuneiform script. Most of Tablet V has never been recovered, but, aside from this lacuna, the text is almost complete.
Over the seven tablets, it describes the creation of the world, a battle between gods focused on the supremacy of Marduk, the creation of man destined for the service of the Mesopotamian deities, and it ends with a long passage praising Marduk. The rise of Marduk is generally viewed to have started from the Second Dynasty of Isin, triggered by the return of the statue of Marduk from Elam by Nebuchadnezzar II, although a late Kassite date is also sometimes proposed. It may have been recited during the Akitu festival. Some late Assyrian versions replace Marduk with Ashur.
The tale begins before creation, when only the primordial entities Apsu and Tiamat existed, co-mingled together. There were no other things or gods, nor had any destinies been foretold. Then from the mixture of Apsu and Tiamat two gods issued – Lahmu and Lahamu; next Anshar and Kishar were created. From Anshar came firstly the god Anu, and from Anu, came Nudimmud (also known as Ea).