"Where the tablet
picks up, the gods An, Enlil, Enki and Ninhursanga create the black-headed
people and create comfortable conditions for the animals to live and procreate.
Then kingship descends from heaven and the first cities are founded: Eridu,
Bad-tibira, Larsa, Sippar, and Shuruppak.
After a missing
section in the tablet, we learn that the gods have decided not to save mankind
from an impending flood. Zi-ud-sura, the king and gudug priest, learns of this.
In the later Akkadian version, Ea, or Enki in Sumerian, the god of the waters,
warns the hero (Atra-hasis in this case) and gives him instructions for the
ark. This is missing in the Sumerian fragment, but a mention of Enki taking
counsel with himself suggests that this is Enki's role in the Sumerian version
as well.
When the tablet
resumes it is describing the flood. A terrible storm rocks the huge boat for
seven days and seven nights, then Utu (the Sun god) appears and Zi-ud-sura
creates an opening in the boat, prostrates himself, and sacrifices oxen and
sheep.
After another break
the text resumes: the flood is apparently over, the animals disembark and
Zi-ud-sura prostrates himself before An (sky-god) and Enlil (chief of the
gods), who give him eternal life and take him to dwell in Dilmun for
"preserving the animals and the seed of mankind". The remainder of
the poem is lost."
No comments:
Post a Comment