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Sumer and Babylon · Adapa myth

Adapa refuses the bread of life

EvidenceDocumentedThe text exists and is quoted from a published translation. What it describes is a separate question.What this means
ReferenceAdapa myth
Writtenc. 1400 BCE (Amarna copy)
SetEridu, before the Flood
Adapa breaks the wing of the South Wind and is summoned to Anu's heaven. Enki warns him to refuse the food and drink he is offered, because it is the bread and water of death. It was really the bread and water of life, and Adapa loses immortality.

Summary by the editors. Translation: Summary in my own words

Read it literally

Two visitor factions give a human opposite advice about longevity. Enki kept humans mortal on purpose.

What scholars say

Adapa is counted among the seven sages.

Taken up alive Council of gods Strange time

Quick answers about Adapa myth

Where is Adapa myth found?

Adapa myth (Sumer and Babylon). Translation quoted: Summary in my own words.

When was Adapa myth written?

c. 1400 BCE (Amarna copy).

What do scholars say about Adapa myth?

Adapa is counted among the seven sages.

Rabbit holes in this passage

PersonAdapaA wise man was offered the bread and water of eternal life in heaven and refused, on his own god's advice. The best copy of his story was dug up in Egypt, in the royal archive of Akhenaten; scholars still debate whether Ea's advice was an honest mistake or a deliberate trick. What really happened in that hall?GodEnki (Ea)Enki saves humanity from the Flood without technically breaking his oath: bound to secrecy, he tells the plan to a wall while the hero listens on the other side. The Sumerian god of fresh water also designs the first humans, and in another story gives away civilization while drunk. Who walked off with it?

Sources

  1. Adapa and the Food of Life, trans. R. W. Rogers, Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament (1912)Primary text
  2. Enki and the World Order, ETCSL t.1.1.3, University of OxfordPrimary text

Scholarly dates are rounded. The wording follows the named public-domain translation.

Updated