05-12-2007, 10:17 PM
I've put online a Babylonian text known as the Epic of Atrahasis. At the end of this text, the anonymous author (seventeenth century BC) deals with the Great Flood, but it is the long prologue that is interesting: the gods are tired of all their labor, digging rivers and erecting mountains, so they create Mankind to do the job. However, the humans are making a lot of noise, so they send a flood to silence them. It ends on a very grim note: as a measure to keep humankind quiet, the gods create childbirth and infancy mortality.
The name of the hero of the Flood, Atrahasis is pronounced with a "hard h", or very smooth g, like in Scottish loch, hence the underlined h in Atrahasis.
The name of the hero of the Flood, Atrahasis is pronounced with a "hard h", or very smooth g, like in Scottish loch, hence the underlined h in Atrahasis.
