The first tablet of the Atrahasis epic opens before the creation of humanity, with the lesser gods forced to labor at digging canals for the elder gods until they rebel and lay down their tools. The god Enki proposes a solution: the birth goddess Nintu will fashion human beings from clay mixed with the flesh and blood of a slain god, so that mortals can take over the gods' labor, a creation narrative that frames humanity's existence from its outset as a solution to a divine labor dispute.
Facts
Identity
Position in the Canon Canonical Reference Literary form (class) Connections
Associated With
Enki, Deities This source names Enki directly: "The god Enki proposes a solution: the birth goddess Nintu will fashion human beings from clay mixed with the flesh and blood of a slain god, so that mortals can take over the gods' labor, a creation..."
Source Atra-hasis: The Babylonian Story of the FloodW. G. Lambert and A. R. Millard
This source names Utnapishtim directly: "The first tablet of the Atrahasis epic opens before the creation of humanity, with the lesser gods forced to labor at digging canals for the elder gods until they rebel and lay down their tools."
Source Atra-hasis: The Babylonian Story of the FloodW. G. Lambert and A. R. Millard
Belongs to Tradition
Source Epic of Gilgamesh (Wikipedia)
Contained In
Source Atra-hasis: The Babylonian Story of the FloodW. G. Lambert and A. R. Millard
In Language
Originates in Language
Related To
Sources
1. Atra-hasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood
W. G. Lambert and A. R. Millard, Oxford University Press, 1969Tablet I, the creation of humanityQuote, Tablet I, the creation of humanity
Atra-hasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood: narrative epic recounting the gods creating humanity.
Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others
Stephanie Dalley, Oxford University Press, 2000on the Atrahasis creation narrativeView the Source Epic of Gilgamesh (Wikipedia)
Belongs to Tradition: Mesopotamian Religion, Lead states this is an epic from ancient MesopotamiaView the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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