Reading Guide: Atrahasis
HOME
KSU   -   English 2110/39 & 40   -   Mr. Hagin   -   Revised: 22 January 2005
WLRC
 
Atrahasis (Dalley, 1-38)
 
Introduction
I strongly suggest reading the eight-page introduction to this story.  Inside, you will learn that Atrahasis is the early Sumerian version of the later Hebrew tale of Noah’s Ark.  You will see that several names of the characters in Atrahasis (and the Gilgamesh epic that we will read shortly) contain the early versions of more commonly known characters, such as Noah and Odysseus.  Atrahasis is one of dozens of flood narratives that exist from Mesopotamia alone.
 

Tablet I (9-20)
The story officially begins on page 9 of your Dalley text, and is divided into three parts (tablets).  In this first section, the Igigi are yoked with the burden of labor that the higher gods refuse to do.  When they rebel, the first people are created to relieve the gods of their work.  However, when the population grows too large, the gods are angered by the noise created from the Earth below, and they vow to destroy mankind.  A man named Atrahasis will communicate with Ea/Enki to seek a solution to the people’s problems.

NOTE: The god Enki is also called Ea (his Babylonian name).  Both names are used in this story (because it is pieced together with fragments from both the Sumerian and Babylonian cultures).

1. What complaints do the Igigi bring to Ellil?
 
 

2. What is Ea’s solution to the problems claimed by the Igigi?
 
 

3. Which god was sacrificed in order to assist in the creation of the first people?  Why?
 
 

4. What was “bestowed” onto mankind?
 
 

5. How many men and women were first created?  Why?
 
 

6. List a few of Mami’s rules for pregnancy and childbirth.
 
 

7. After the world becomes populated, what does Ellil complain about?  What is his solution?
 
 

8. Why is Atrahasis allowed to speak directly to Enki?
 
 

9. What is Enki’s advice to Atrahasis?
 
 
 

Tablet II (20-29)
The gods continue to curse the people below, but each time they are thwarted, thanks to Enki’s/Ea’s assistance to his people.  This section is repetitive, but it describes the long-term suffering of the people in Mesopotamia.  Focus on the behaviors and actions of these gods.  One note on this tablet: on page 28, where a gap of 34 lines is indicated, Ellil decides to try a great flood to finally destroy mankind.

10. What is Ellil’s second curse upon people?
 
 

11. What does Enki/Ea suggest that the people do this time to defy the angry gods?
 
 

12. What is the third heavenly curse levied against the people?
 
 

13. What is the fourth curse?  Does it get cured?
 
 

14. After these curses fail to deplete the human population, what is Ellil’s fifth curse?
 
 

15. After six years of this curse, what do the people begin to eat?  How many households remain?
 
 

16. What is the sixth curse planned by Ellil to destroy mankind?
 
 

17. Why does Ellil become furious with Enki/Ea?
 
 
 

Tablet III (29-35)
The text is fragmentary, and so you will be missing a few important plot points due to the poor condition of the cuneiform tablets.  Here is a helpful note: in the middle of page 33, where a gap of 58 lines is indicated, Atrahasis and his boat sail safely on the flood waters, they eventually settle on dry land, and Atrahasis presents a sacrificial offering to Enki/Ea, which also attracts the other gods, who are starved and parched by the end of the flood.

18. Why does Enki/Ea talk to the wall of Atrahasis’ reed hut while he sleeps inside?
 
 

19. What instructions does Enki/Ea give the “wall”?

 

20. What is the goddess Mami’s (Nintu’s) reaction to the devastation of the great flood?
 
 

21. Why are the gods starving and thirsty during the seven-day storm?
 
 

22. What does Nintu scold the gods about?
 
 

23. What does Enki/Ea say is his reason for defying his oath to the other gods?
 
 

24. Rather than destroy mankind in the future, what curse do they impose upon women in order to control the growth of the human population?