Atrahasis Epic

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Complaints of the Lower Gods
When the gods were man
they did forced labor, they bore drudgery.
Great indeed was the drudgery of the gods,
the forced labor was heavy, the misery too much:
the seven great Anunna-gods were burdening
the Igigi-gods with forced labor
The Igigi-gods dug the Tigris river
and the Euphrates thereafter.
Springs they opened from the depths,
wells ... they established
They were complaining, denouncing,
muttering down in the ditch:
"Let us face up to our foreman the prefect,
he must take off our heavy burden upon us!
Enlil, counselor of the gods, the warrior,
come, let us remove him from his dwelling;
Off they went, one and all,
to the gate of the warrior Enlil's abode.
Insur rection of the Lower Gods
[The lesser Igigi gods march to Enlils house during
the night and declare]
"Everyone of us gods has declared war;
...excessive drudgery has killed us, our forced labor
was heavy, the misery too much!
Now, everyone of us gods
has resolved on a reckoning with Enlil."
T he C reation of M ankind Proposed
Ea made ready to speak,
and VDLGWRWKHJRGVKLVEURWKHUV
Belet-ili, the midwife, is present.
Let her create, then, a human, a man,
Let him bear the yoke!
Let him bear the yoke!
Let man assume the drudgery of the god."
They summoned and asked the goddess
the midwife of the gods, wise Mami: (another name
for Belet-ili)
"Will you be the birth goddess, creatress of

mankind?
T he C reation of M an
They slaughtered Aw-ilu, who had the inspiration,
in their assembly.
Mami mixed clay with his flesh and blood.
After she had mixed the clay,
she summoned the Anunna, the great gods.
The Igigi and the great gods, spat upon the clay.
Mami made ready to VSHDN
I have done away with your heavy forced labor,
I have imposed your drudgery on man.
You have bestowed clamor upon mankind.
I have released the yoke, I have made restoration."
They heard this speech of hers,
they ran, free of care, and kissed her feet, saying:
"Formerly we used to call you Mami,
now let your name be Belet-kala-ili (Mistress of all
the gods)!"
[The population increases and their noise disturbs
the gods, who decide to wipe out mankind with a
flood. The god Enki, however, sends a dream to
Atrahasis in order to save him.]
A trahasis' D ream E xplained
Atrahasis made ready to speak,
and said to his lord:
"Make me know the meaning of the dream.
let me know, that I may look out for its
consequence."
Enki made ready to speak,
and said to his servant:
Flee the house, build a boat,
forsake possessions, and save life.
The boat which you build
Let her be roofed over fore and aft.
The gear should be very strong,
the pitch should be firm, and so give the boat
strength. I will shower down upon you later
a windfall of birds, a spate of fishes.'"
He opened the water clock and filled it,

he told it of the coming of the seven-day deluge.
Atrahasis received the command.
He assembled the Elders at his gate.
Atrahasis made ready to speak,
and said to the Elders:
"My god does not agree with your god,
Enki and Enlil are constantly angry with each other.
They have expelled me from the land.
Since I have always reverenced Enki,
he told me this
Construction of the A r k
The Elders ...
The carpenter carried his axe,
the reed worker carried his stone,
the rich man carried the pitch,
the poor man brought the materials needed.
Boar ding of the A r k
Whatever he had ...
Pure animals he slaughtered, cattle ...
Fat animals he killed. Sheep ...
he choose and brought on board.
The birds flying in the heavens,
the cattle and the ... of the cattle god,
the creatures of the steppe,
... he brought on board
... he invited his people... to a feast
... his family was brought on board.
While one was eating an another was drinking,
he went in and out; he could not sit, could not kneel,
for his KHDUWZDVEURNHQ
The outlook of the weather changed.
[The storm god] Adad began to roar in the clouds.
The god they heard, his clamor.
He brought pitch to seal his door.
By the time he had bolted his door,
Adad was roaring in the clouds.
The winds were furious as he set forth,
He cut the mooring rope and released the boat.
T he G reat F lood
Anzu rent the sky with his talons,
... the flood came forth.
Its power came upon the peoples like a battle,
one person did not see another,
they could not recognize each other in the

catastrophe.
The deluge bellowed like a bull,
The wind resounded like a screaming eagle.
The darkness was dense, the sun was gone.
M ankind Tolerated but L imited
[The gods find themselves hungry because there are
no farmers left and sacrifices are no longer brought.
When they discover that Atrahasis has survived,
they make a plan to make sure that the noise will
remain within limits: they invent infertility, infant
mortality, and celibacy.]
Enki made ready to speak,
and said to Nintu the birth goddess:
"You, birth goddess, creatress of destinies,
establish death for all peoples!
..."Now then, let there be a third woman among the
people,
among the people are the woman who has borne
and the woman who has not borne.
Let there be also among the people the pasittu (shedemon):
let her snatch the baby from the lap who bore it.
And establish high priestesses and priestesses,
let them be celibate, and so cut down childbirth.

Atrahasis Epic

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!"#$%&'(&)*+,-,.$.!

"Will you be the birth goddess, creatress of

He opened the water clock and filled it,

they could not recognize each other in the

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