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Sumer and Babylon · Atrahasis, tablet I

Atrahasis: the gods go on strike

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ReferenceAtrahasis, tablet I
Writtenc. 1700–1640 BCE
SetBefore humans
'When the gods were man', they did the work. The junior gods (Igigi) dig the rivers for 3,600 years, then burn their tools and surround Enlil's house. Enki proposes making a worker. The god We-ila is killed, and his flesh and blood are mixed with clay by the birth goddess to make seven men and seven women.

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

Read it literally

Humans are engineered from a god's blood and clay to replace striking gods as labor. The closest ancient text to the 'we were made' idea.

What scholars say

The oldest full copy was written by a scribe named Nur-Aya in the reign of Ammi-saduqa.

Looks like technology Council of gods
People and places hereAmmi-saduqaNur-Aya

Quick answers about Atrahasis, tablet I

Where is Atrahasis, tablet I found?

Atrahasis, tablet I (Sumer and Babylon). Translation quoted: Summary in my own words.

When was Atrahasis, tablet I written?

c. 1700–1640 BCE.

What do scholars say about Atrahasis, tablet I?

The oldest full copy was written by a scribe named Nur-Aya in the reign of Ammi-saduqa.

Files in this passage

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?BeingIgigiThe oldest strike in literature was a strike by gods; after thousands of years digging rivers and heaping up mountains, the junior gods of Babylon burned their tools and surrounded their boss's house at night. The epic Atrahasis says humankind was created to take over the work. How does a god settle a labor dispute?

Sources

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

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

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