Ziusudra

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Ziusudra
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[1]
Ziusudra (also Zi-ud-sura and Zin-Suddu; Hellenized Xisuthros: "found long life" or "life of long days") of
Shuruppak is listed in the WB-62 Sumerian king list recension as the last king of Sumer prior to the deluge. He is
subsequently recorded as the hero of the Sumerian flood epic. He is also mentioned in other ancient literature,
including The Death of Gilgamesh
[2]
and The Poem of Early Rulers,
[3]
and a late version of The Instructions of
Shuruppak
[4]
refers to Ziusudra.
[5]
Akkadian Atrahasis ("extremely wise") and Utnapishtim ("he found life"), as
well as biblical Noah ("rest") are similar heroes of flood legends of the ancient Near East.
Although each version of the flood myth has distinctive story elements, there are numerous story elements that are
common to two, three, or four versions. The earliest version of the flood myth is preserved fragmentarily in the Eridu
Genesis, written in Sumerian cuneiform and dating to the 17th century BC, during the 1st Dynasty of Babylon when
the language of writing and administration was still Sumerian. Strong parallels are notable with other Near Eastern
flood legends, such as the biblical account of Noah.
Ziusudra
Sumerian king list
Main article: Sumerian king list
In the WB-62 Sumerian king list recension, Ziusudra, or Zin-Suddu of Shuruppak is recorded as having reigned as
both king and gudug priest for 10 sars, or periods of 3,600.
[6]
In this version, Ziusudra inherited rulership from his
father uruppak (written SU.KUR.LAM) who ruled for 10 sars.
[7]
The line following Ziusudra in WB-62 reads:
Then the flood swept over. The next line reads: After the flood swept over, kingship descended from heaven; the
kingship was in Kish. The city of Kish flourished in the Early Dynastic period soon after an archaeologically attested
Ziusudra
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river flood in Shuruppak (modern Tell Fara, Iraq) and various other Sumerian cities. This flood has been radiocarbon
dated to ca. 2900 BCE.
[8]
Polychrome pottery from the Jemdet Nasr period (ca. 30002900 BCE) was discovered
immediately below the Shuruppak flood stratum, and the Jemdet Nasr period immediately preceded the Early
Dynastic I period.
[9]
The significance of Ziusudra's name appearing on the WB-62 king list is that it links the flood mentioned in the three
surviving Babylonian deluge epics of Ziusudra (Eridu Genesis), Utnapishtim (Epic of Gilgamesh), and Atrahasis
(Epic of Atrahasis) to river flood sediments in Shuruppak, Uruk, Kish et al. that have been radiocarbon dated to ca.
2900 BC. This has led some scholars to conclude that the flood hero was king of Shuruppak at the end of the Jemdet
Nasr period (ca. 30002900) which ended with the river flood of 2900 BC.
[10]
Ziusudra being a king from Shuruppak is supported by the Gilgamesh XI tablet (see below) making reference to
Utnapishtim (Akkadian translation of the Sumerian name Ziusudra) with the epithet "man of Shuruppak" at line 23.
Sumerian flood myth
Main article: Sumerian creation myth
The tale of Ziusudra is known from a single fragmentary tablet written in Sumerian, datable by its script to the 17th
century BC (Old Babylonian Empire), and published in 1914 by Arno Poebel.
[11]
The first part deals with the
creation of man and the animals and the founding of the first cities Eridu, Bad-tibira, Larsa, Sippar, and Shuruppak.
After a missing section in the tablet, we learn that the gods have decided to send a flood to destroy mankind. The god
Enki (lord of the underworld sea of fresh water and Sumerian equivalent of Babylonian god Ea) warns Ziusudra, the
ruler of Shuruppak, to build a large boat; the passage describing the directions for the boat is also lost. When the
tablet resumes, it is describing the flood. A terrible storm raged for seven days, "the huge boat had been tossed about
on the great waters," then Utu (Sun) appears and Ziusudra opens a window, prostrates himself, and sacrifices an ox
and a sheep. After another break, the text resumes, the flood is apparently over, and Ziusudra is prostrating himself
before An (Sky) and Enlil (Lordbreath), who give him "breath eternal" and take him to dwell in Dilmun. The
remainder of the poem is lost. (text of Ziusudra epic)
[12]
The Epic of Ziusudra adds an element at lines 258261 not found in other versions, that after the river flood
[13]
"king
Ziusudra ... they caused to dwell in the land of the country of Dilmun, the place where the sun rises". Dilmun is
usually identified as Bahrain, an island in the Persian Gulf on the east side of the Arabian peninsula. In this version
of the story, Ziusudra's boat floats down the Euphrates river into the Persian Gulf (rather than up onto a mountain, or
up-stream to Kish).
[14]
The Sumerian word KUR in line 140 of the Gilgamesh flood myth was interpreted to mean
"mountain" in Akkadian, although in Sumerian, KUR did not mean "mountain" but rather "land", especially a
foreign country.
A Sumerian document known as The Instructions of Shuruppak dated by Kramer to about 2500 BC, refers in a later
version to Ziusudra. Kramer concluded that "Ziusudra had become a venerable figure in literary tradition by the
middle of the third millennium B.C."
[15]
Xisuthros
Xisuthros () is a Hellenization of Sumerian Ziusudra, known from the writings of Eusebius of Caesarea,
an attendee at the First Council of Nicaea and early historian of the Christian Church. Eusebius was quoting
Alexander Polyhistor, a Pontic historian living in Rome. Alexander was himself translating the writings of Berossus,
a priest of Marduk in Babylon, on whom Alexander relied heavily for information on Mesopotamia. Among the
interesting features of this version of the flood myth, are the identification, through interpretatio graeca, of the
Sumerian god Enki with the Greek god Cronus, the father of Zeus; and the assertion that the reed boat constructed by
Xisuthros survived, at least until Berossus' day, in the "Corcyrean Mountains" of Armenia. Xisuthros was listed as a
king, the son of one Ardates, and to have reigned 18 sari. The word for 3600 was sari (shar in Akkadian) and hence
18 sari was mistranslated as 64,800 years. This resulted from confusing the archaic U
4
sign meaning year and the
Ziusudra
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shar sign (3600) which both have a 4-sided diamond shape.
[16]
Xisuthros reigned 18 years. The reigns of other kings
were also mistranslated in the surviving king list of Berossus.
Atrahasis
Main article: Atrahasis
The Akkadian Atrahasis Epic tells how the god Enki warns the hero Atrahasis ("Extremely Wise") to build a boat to
escape a flood. The Epic of Ziusudra does not make it absolutely clear whether the flood was a river flood or
something else, although it does state that mankind, along with all of the antediluvian cities, will be destroyed.
According to one scholar, the Epic of Atrahasis tablet III iv, lines 69 identifies the flood as a local river flood: "Like
dragonflies they [dead bodies] have filled the river. Like a raft they have moved in to the edge [of the boat]. Like a
raft they have moved in to the riverbank."
[17]
It should be noted, however, that most other authorities interpret the Atrahasis flood as universal. A. R. George, and
Lambert and Millard make it clear that the gods' intention in Atrahasis is to "wipe out mankind".
[18]
The flood
destroys "all of the earth".
[19]
In the context of the larger story, it is difficult to see how a local river flood could
accomplish these purposes. The use of a comparable metaphor in the Gilgamesh epic suggests that the reference to
"dragonflies [filling] the river" is simply an evocative image of death rather than a literal description of the flood
[20]
Moreover, the very preceding line in Atrahasis mentions "the sea".
The Epic of Atrahasis provides additional information on the flood and flood hero that is omitted in Gilgamesh XI
and other versions of the Ancient Near East flood myth. Likewise, the Gilgamesh XI flood text provides additional
information that is missing in damaged portions of the Atrahasis tablets.
At lines 6 and 7 of tablet RS 22.421 we are told "I am Atrahasis. I lived in the temple of Ea [Enki], my Lord." Prior
to the Early Dynastic period, kings were subordinate to priests, and often lived in the same temple complex where
the priests lived.
Tablet III,ii lines 5556 of the Atrahasis Epic state that "He severed the mooring line and set the boat adrift." This is
consistent with a river flood, but does not require it. If Atrahasis severed the mooring lines, the runaway boat might
go down the river into the Persian Gulf. However, it is difficult to reconcile this suggestion with the information in
Gilgamesh that the craft came to rest upon a mountain.
Utnapishtim
Main article: Gilgamesh flood myth
In the eleventh tablet of the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim "the faraway" is the wise king of the
Sumerian city state of Shuruppak who, along with his unnamed wife, survived a flood sent by Enlil to drown every
living thing on Earth. Utnapishtim was secretly warned by the water god Ea of Enlil's plan and constructed a great
boat or ark to save himself, his family and representatives of each species of animal. When the flood waters
subsided, the boat was grounded on the mountain of Nisir. When Utnapishtim's ark had been becalmed for seven
days, he released a dove, who found no resting place and returned. A swallow was then released who found no perch
and also returned, but the raven which was released third did not return. Utnapishtim then made a sacrifice and
poured out a libation to Ea on the top of mount Nisir. Utnapishtim and his wife were granted immortality after the
flood. Afterwards, he is taken by the gods to live forever at "the mouth of the rivers" and given the epithet "faraway".
The Babylonian myth of Utnapishtim (meaning "He found life", presumably in reference to the gift of immortality
given him by the gods) is matched by the earlier Epic of Atrahasis, and by the Sumerian version, the Epic of
Ziusudra. In fact, we now know that Utnapishtim and Atrahasis are one and the same. Atrahasis' name was simply
changed to Utnapishtim after he was granted immortality. This explains why the name Atrahasis occurs in the
Gilgamesh flood story even though the character is introduced as Utnapishtim.
Ziusudra
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Noah
Main article: Noah
The similarities between the story of Noah's Ark, the Sumerian story of Ziusudra, and the Babylonian stories of
Atrahasis and Utnapishtim are shown by corresponding lines in various versions:
"the storm had swept...for seven days and seven nights" Ziusudra 203
"For seven days and seven nights came the storm" Atrahasis III,iv, 24
"Six days and seven nights the wind and storm" Gilgamesh XI, 127
"rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights" Genesis 7:12
"He offered a sacrifice" Atrahasis III,v, 31
"And offered a sacrifice" Gilgamesh XI, 155
"offered burnt offerings on the altar" Genesis 8:20
"built an altar and sacrificed to the gods" Berossus.
"The gods smelled the savor" Atrahasis III,v,34
"The gods smelled the sweet savor" Gilgamesh XI, 160
"And the Lord smelled the sweet savor..." Genesis 8:21
The Hebrew flood story of Genesis 69 dates to at least the 5th century BC. According to the documentary
hypothesis, it is a composite of two literary sources J and P that were combined by a post-exilic editor, 539400 BC.
Hans Schmid believes both the J material and the P material were products of the Babylonian exile period (6th
century BC) and were directly derived from Babylonian sources (see also Panbabylonism).
[21]
Notes
[1] http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ w/ index. php?title=Template:Mesopotamian_myth& action=edit
[2] http:/ / etcsl.orinst. ox. ac. uk/ cgi-bin/ etcsl.cgi?text=t. 1. 8. 1. 3# Translation of versions of The Death of Gilgamesh
[3] http:/ / etcsl.orinst. ox. ac. uk/ cgi-bin/ etcsl.cgi?text=t. 5. 2. 5# Translation of The Poem of Early Rulers
[4] http:/ / etcsl.orinst. ox. ac. uk/ cgi-bin/ etcsl.cgi?text=t. 5. 6. 1# Translation of The Instructions of Shuruppak
[5] Speculated by Samuel Noah Kramer as deriving from sources from as early as 2500 BC, Kramer concluded that "Ziusudra had become a
venerable figure in literary tradition by the middle of the third millennium B.C." , (Samuel Noah Kramer "Reflections on the Mesopotamian
Flood," Expedition, 9, 4, (summer 1967), pp 12-18.)
[6] S. Langdon, "The Chaldean Kings Before the Flood," Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1923), pp 251-259.
[7] [7] Langdon, p. 258, note 5.
[8] Harriet Crawford, Sumer and the Sumerians, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1991), p. 19.
[9] Erik Schmidt, Excavations at Fara (1931), University of Pennsylvania's Museum Journal, 2:193217.
[10] M.E.L. Mallowan, "Noah's Flood Reconsidered", Iraq (1964), 26:6282.
[11] "The Sumerian Flood Story" in Atrahasis, by Lambert and Millard, page 138
[12] http:/ / www.sacred-texts. com/ ane/ sum/ sum09.htm
[13] Lambert & Millard, page 97
[14] Best, pages 3031
[15] Samuel Noah Kramer, "Reflections on the Mesopotamian Flood," Expedition, 9, 4, (summer 1967), pp 1218.
[16] [16] Best, page 118
[17] [17] Tigay, Jeffrey H. (1982), The Evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, pages 220, 225
[18] [18] Andrew George, p. xliv.; Lambert and Millard p. 12
[19] Frymer-Kensky, Tikva Simone (2006), Studies in Bible and feminist criticism, Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society. p. 354
[20] George, Andrew (2003), The Babylonian Gilgamesh epic: introduction, critical edition and cuneiform texts, New York: Oxford University
Press, pp. 506, 875-876. Apparently, the appearance of large numbers of drowned dragonfliesor mayflies according to Georgewas a
common phenomenon associated with Mesopotamian river floods.
[21] Hans Heinrich Schmid, The So-Called Yahwist (1976) discussed in Antony F. Campbell and Mark A. O'Brien, Sources of the Pentateuch
(1993) pp 211, note 24.
Ziusudra
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References
W. G. Lambert and A. R. Millard, Atrahasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood, Eisenbrauns, 1999, ISBN
1-57506-039-6.
R. M. Best, Noah's Ark and the Ziusudra Epic, Eisenbrauns, 1999, ISBN 0-9667840-1-4.
External links
A comparison of equivalent lines in six ancient versions of the flood story (http:/ / www. noahs-ark-flood. com/
parallels. htm)
Ancient Near East flood myths (http:/ / www. livius. org/ fa-fn/ flood/ flood1. html) All texts: ( Ziusudra (http:/ /
www. livius. org/ fa-fn/ flood/ flood2-t. html), Atrahasis (http:/ / www. livius. org/ fa-fn/ flood/ flood3-t-atrahasis.
html), Gilgamesh (http:/ / www. livius. org/ fa-fn/ flood/ flood3-t-gilgamesh. html), Genesis (http:/ / www. livius.
org/ fa-fn/ flood/ flood1-t-bible1. html), Berossus (http:/ / www. livius. org/ fa-fn/ flood/ flood3-t-berossus.
html)), commentary, and a table with parallels (http:/ / www. livius. org/ fa-fn/ flood/ flood6-parallels. html)
ETCSL - Text and translation of the Sumerian flood story (http:/ / etcsl. orinst. ox. ac. uk/ cgi-bin/ etcsl.
cgi?text=t. 1.7. 4#) ( alternate site (http:/ / www-etcsl. orient. ox. ac. uk/ section1/ tr174. htm))
Precededby
Ubara-Tutu or Su-Kur-Lam
King of Sumer
c. legendary or 2900 BC
Succeededby
Jushur of Kish
Ensi of Shuruppak
c. legendary or 2900 BC
City flooded according to legend
Article Sources and Contributors
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Article Sources and Contributors
Ziusudra Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=599573224 Contributors: Alai, Altes, Antandrus, Avihu, Axem Titanium, BD2412, Badagnani, CanisRufus, Castanea dentata,
Casublett, Chester Markel, Codex Sinaiticus, Csernica, Dbachmann, DejahThoris, Denelson83, Epipelagic, Frietjes, Gabeedman, Greensburger, Hmains, Holek, JIP, Java7837, JeLuF, JimCubb,
John D. Croft, Jonathan Grynspan, Justjeshb, Karam.Anthony.K, Keenan Pepper, Lamashtu2006, Laputanlogic.com, Laszlovszky Andrs, Laura Anglin, Leandros, Mani1, Mazca, NebMaatRe,
Neelix, Ntsimp, OlEnglish, Ottershrew, Pawyilee, Pequod76, Phoe, PiCo, Pomte, Prosweda, RandomCritic, Rob117, SDC, Sam Spade, SamEV, Satanael, Scherzbold3000, Sineaste, StAnselm,
Steve Farrell, Str1977, Sumerophile, Summer Song, The Anome, Til Eulenspiegel, Tsujigiri, Usedbook, Usernodunno, Uzma Gamal, Vikreykja, Wapcaplet, Wereon, Wetman, Wknight94,
Zoeperkoe, 73 anonymous edits
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
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