CLT-3378 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Enlil, Atra-Hasis, Flood Myth
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ATRAHASIS & THE FLOOD
CULTURE: Babylonian TYPE: poem DATE: ca. 1700 BCE LANGUAGE: Akkadian (in cuneiform script)
FLOOD MYTH
originated in Mesopotamia
myth spread abroad
subcategory of apocalyptic myth: how gods level destruction on humans because one of more humans
offended the gods
flood myth: how one god, angry at humans, sends a flood to destroy ALL life on earth
FLOOD MYTH: BASIC SCHEME
god angry at humans
sends flood to destroy life on earth
another god warns one man
o build boat, put animals on it
man & wife survive flood
man sacrifices to gods
gods regret sending flood
ATRAHASIS
3 tablet poem (cuneiform)
ipiq-aya = author (or complier)
ATRAHASIS: GODS AT WORK
3600 years – gods dig canals
gods: orker’s strike
complain to Ellil
o Ellil= gods’ oss
o Ellil= storms & winds
author of Atrahasis says:
o gods drew lots
o Ellil = earth
o Anu= sky
o Enki/Ea = Apsu
Ellil: Anu & Enki (advice)
Eki’s adie
o creator goddess Mami/Nintu: humans
o humans, work of gods
o blood of slain god
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