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Sumer and Babylon · Atrahasis, tablets II–III

Atrahasis: the Flood to stop the noise

EvidenceDocumentedThe text exists and is quoted from a published translation. What it describes is a separate question.What this means
ReferenceAtrahasis, tablets II–III
Writtenc. 1700–1640 BCE
SetThe Flood
Humans multiply and their noise keeps Enlil awake. He sends plague, then drought, then famine, and finally the Flood. Enki warns Atrahasis by speaking to the reed wall of his house, so Enki technically breaks no oath.

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

Read it literally

A council vote to wipe out humanity, and one member who leaks the plan through a loophole. That is a spy thriller.

What scholars say

Older than Genesis; Genesis 6–9 shares its structure.

Council of gods Strange time

Quick answers about Atrahasis, tablets II–III

Where is Atrahasis, tablets II–III found?

Atrahasis, tablets II–III (Sumer and Babylon). Translation quoted: Summary in my own words.

When was Atrahasis, tablets II–III written?

c. 1700–1640 BCE.

What do scholars say about Atrahasis, tablets II–III?

Older than Genesis; Genesis 6–9 shares its structure.

Rabbit holes in this passage

TextAtrahasisAccording to the Babylonian epic Atrahasis, the first humans were made partly from the flesh and blood of a god who was killed because he had intelligence. Overworked junior gods had gone on strike, and humans were the fix; then people grew too noisy, and the Flood followed. What went wrong with the plan?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?GodEnlilThe king of the gods grew so annoyed by the noise of multiplying humans that he sent plague, then drought, then the Flood. Yet in one Sumerian myth the other gods arrest Enlil himself and expel him from his own city for ritual impurity. Why did the most powerful god in Sumer end up exiled?

Sources

  1. Atra-hasis, ed. and trans. W. G. Lambert and A. R. Millard, Atra-hasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood (Oxford, 1969)Primary text
  2. Enki and the World Order, ETCSL t.1.1.3, University of OxfordPrimary text
  3. Enlil and Ninlil, ETCSL t.1.2.1, University of OxfordPrimary text

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

Updated