l*****a
发帖数: 38403 | 1 The earliest record of the Sumerian creation myth and flood myth is found on
a single fragmentary tablet excavated in Nippur, sometimes called the Eridu
Genesis. It is written in the Sumerian language and datable by its script
to 2150 BC,[1] during the first Babylonian dynasty, where the language of
writing and administration was still Sumerian. Other Sumerian creation myths
from around this date are called the Barton Cylinder, the Debate between
sheep and grain and the Debate between Winter and Summer, also found at
Nippur.[2]
Summary
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.[3]
Legacy
The two flood myths with many similarities to the Sumerian story, are the
Utnapishtim episode in the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the Biblical flood. The
ancient Greeks also had a very similar flood legend. | l*****a
发帖数: 38403 | 2 The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from Mesopotamia and is among the
earliest known works of literature. Scholars believe that it originated as a
series of Sumerian legends and poems about the protagonist of the story,
Gilgamesh king of Uruk, which were fashioned into a longer Akkadian epic
much later. The most complete version existing today is preserved on 12 clay
tablets from the library collection of 7th-century BC Assyrian king
Ashurbanipal. It was originally titled He who Saw the Deep (Sha naqba īmuru
) or Surpassing All Other Kings (Shūtur eli sharrī), which are the first
few words of the epic in different versions.
The story revolves around a relationship between Gilgamesh and his close
male companion, Enkidu. Enkidu is a wild man created by the gods as
Gilgamesh's equal to distract him from oppressing the citizens of Uruk.
Together they undertake dangerous quests that incur the displeasure of the
gods. Firstly, they journey to the Cedar Mountain to defeat Humbaba, its
monstrous guardian. Later they kill the Bull of Heaven that the goddess
Ishtar has sent to punish Gilgamesh for spurning her advances.
The latter part of the epic focuses on Gilgamesh's distressed reaction to
Enkidu's death, which takes the form of a quest for immortality. Gilgamesh
attempts to learn the secret of eternal life by undertaking a long and
perilous journey to meet the immortal flood hero, Utnapishtim. Ultimately
the poignant words addressed to Gilgamesh in the midst of his quest
foreshadow the end result: "The life that you are seeking you will never
find. When the gods created man they allotted to him death, but life they
retained in their own keeping." Gilgamesh, however, was celebrated by
posterity for his building achievements, and for bringing back long-lost
cultic knowledge to Uruk as a result of his meeting with Utnapishtim. The
story is widely read in translation, and the protagonist, Gilgamesh, has
become an icon of popular culture.
Relationship to the Bible
Further information: Panbabylonism
Various themes, plot elements, and characters in the Epic of Gilgamesh can
also be found in the Hebrew Bible in the stories of Adam and Eve in the
Garden of Eden (both stories involve a serpent) and the story of Noah and
the Flood.
Citing the similarities between the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Hebrew Bible's
Flood story, some scholars have argued that the Epic of Gilgamesh is proof
that the stories found in the Hebrew Bible are true because the Babylonians
must have copied the Hebrew Bible's account of the Flood story. However, as
Michael Coogan points out, "theoretically the Babylonians could have known
of Genesis, [but] other versions of the tale were written many centuries
before biblical Israel existed." Most scholars, consequently, accept the
priority of the Mesopotamian flood story. Andrew R. George, known for his
translations of the epic, notes that "...the Flood episode in Gen. 6-8
matches the older Babylonian myth so well in plot, and particularly, in
details, few doubt that Noah's story is descended from a Mesopotamian
account".[11] What is particularly noticeable, according to another scholar,
is the way the Genesis flood story follows the Gilgamesh flood tale "point
by point and in the same order", even when the logic of the story permits
other alternatives.[12]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_of_Gilgamesh#Relationship_to_ |
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