Ancient Near Eastern Literature 5
1. The Akkadian empire:
Short History ca. 2350-2150 BCE
2. Contemporary
Inscriptions
Rare: mostly royal
inscriptions
Legends start to be composed in the Old Babylonian period around 1900 BCE
-Old Akkadian kings Sargon and Naram-Sin became model rulers
-Old Akkadian Empire ideal of imperial idea
Inscriptions on Akkadian Art
Sumerian King List, ca. 2050 BCE
Fictional with Historical Elements
Sargon and Ur-Zababa
Sargon's rise to power
Sargon's Birth Legend
The Curse of Agade
-Sargon rises to power:
from cupbearer of Ur-Zababa
to king of Akkad
-In Sumerian
-Oldest fictional Sargon epic
-ca. 1900 BCE
-end not preserved
The Cuthean Legend
Rich literary tradition centered on these two kings
(considered the greatest kings ever, but also negative aspects reflected: the “sin” of Naram-Sin as cause for Gutian invasion)
Opening lines similar to Gilgamesh
-Story starts with Sargon's rise and Akkad's blessings in the beginning.
Origins of the Akkadian empire:
Sargon
-in Sumerian
-oldest Naram-Sin story
-ca. 2050 BCE
-explicitly negative
Sargon ca. 2334-2279 BCE
Akk. Šarru-kīn “The king is legitimate”
-Known from three time periods:
Old Babylonian (ca. 1750 BCE?)
Middle Babylonian (ca. 1250 BCE?)
New Assyrian/Babylonian (ca. 750 BCE)
Open the foundation box and read well the stela
That I, Naram-Sin, son of Sargon,
Have written for all time.
Defeat of Lugalzagesi of Umma around 2325:
southern Iraq is conquered
Sargon:
"My king, this is my dream, which I will tell you about: There was a young woman who was as high as the heavens and as broad as the earth. She was firmly set as the base of a wall. For me, she drowned you in a great river, a river of blood."
-Naram-Sin wants to build a new temple for Ishtar-of-Akkad. Enlil however does not give him a favorable omen (i.e. permission).
I am Sargon the great king, king of Akkade.
My mother was a high priestess, I did not know my father.
(...)
My mother, the high priestess, conceived me, she bore
me in secret.
She placed me in a reed basket, she sealed my hatch
with pitch (...)
The river carried me off, it brought me to Aqqi,
Aqqi, drawer of water, brought me up as he dipped his bucket
Aqqi, drawer of water, raised me as his adopted son. (...)
Sargon also conquers areas
to the north and south according
to his inscriptions
However: most Akkadian inscriptions
are known through collections of
inscriptions written on large tablets:
-[...] Inscription on a statue, its base is not inscribed
-Inscription written on its righthand side
Prologue about Enmerkar, legendary king of Uruk:
-At Akkade, Sargon (his father was a gardener), the cupbearer of Ur-Zababa, the king of Akkade, the one who founded Akkade, was king; he reigned 56 years;
-Rimush, son of Sargon, reigned 9 years;
-Manishtushu, elder brother of Rimush, son of Sargon, reigned 15 years;
-Naram-Sin, son of Manishtushu, reigned 37 years;
-Shar-kali-sharri, son of Naram-Sin, reigned 25 years.
Who was king? Who was not king?
-Irgigi was king, Nanum was king, Imi was king, Elulu was king; those four kings reigned 3 years;
-Dudu reigned 21 years; Shu-Durul, son of Dudu, reigned 15 years;
-Eleven kings reigned 181 years.
-Akkade was defeated; its kingship was taken to Uruk.
(Enmerkar) whose wisdom and weaponry captured, defeated, and killed that host, Did not write (that judgment) upon a stela, nor leave (it) for me. Nor did he publish his name, so I did not bless him.
-Naram-Sin brings upon him the wrath of the gods when he destroys Nippur and Enlil's shrine the Ekur to undo Enlil's decision
Bassetki statue
Sargon's daughter:
Enheduanna
The Story turns back to Naram-Sin, an enemy horde was created by the gods:
Ur-Zababa:
Now then, when the cupbearer has delivered my bronze hand-mirror (?) to you, in the E-sikil, the fated house, throw them (the mirror and Sargon) into the mould like statues."
Enheduanna was made high priestess of
the important moongod of Ur: Nanna
-The gods decide to wreak havoc on Akkad by unleashing barbaric hordes of Guteans. Akkad is cursed by the gods.
Troops with bodies of "cave birds," humans with raven faces did the great gods create (...) Tiamat suckled them (...) Seven kings they were, allies, glorious in form, 360.000 were their troops.
Genre of legends in which children of noble
birth are abandoned. Later they return to claim their position
She composed Beautiful Sumerian Poetry that was copied for centuries
The horde roams around the Middle East:
Probably the first named Female Poet in the World
The entire region of Burushandar was destroyed (...) They destroyed Gutium and invaded Elam (...) Seventeen kings with 90.000 troops came with them to support them!
Enlil brought out of the mountains those who do not resemble other people, who are not reckoned as part of the Land, the Gutians, an unbridled people, with human intelligence but canine instincts
King Ur-Zababa despatched Sargon, the creature of the gods, to Lugal-zage-si in Unug with a message written on clay, which was about murdering Sargon
Naram-Sin's
Victory Stele
Naram-Sin assembles an army to fight the horde, but the gods do not give him favorable omens:
The Divine Naram-Sin ca. 2254-2218 BCE
-Sargon was succeeded by his two sons Rimush and Manishtushu
Like a robber plundering the city, he set tall ladders against the temple. To demolish Ekur as if it were a huge ship
-However, his grandson Naram-Sin would turn out to be his greatest successor
Speaking to myself, thus I said: "What lion observed divination? What wolf consulted a dream interpreter? I will go, as I like, like a brigand"
Deified himself
Agade, you pounced on Ekur: it is as if you had pounced on Enlil! May your holy walls, to their highest point, resound with mourning
Inscription on doorpost
Karna (Indian epic Mahabharata)
Insurrection against Naram-Sin:
-Two major coalitions of north and south
-Northern: under Iphur-Kish, king of Kish
-Southern: under Amar-girid, king of Uruk
-All local cities of Sumer and Akkad participated
-Several armies
-Naram-Sîn was victorious
Without divine favor his campaign is doomed, Naram-Sin loses 270.700 men and is at a loss
May your prostitute hang herself at the entrance to her brothel! May your pregnant (?) priestesses and cult prostitutes abort (?) their children!
I was confounded, bewildered, at a loss, anxious, in despair.
Speaking to myself, thus I said, "What have I left for a reign?
The Last Kings of Akkad: 2217-2150 BCE
The Great Rebellion
šar-kali-šarri (ca. 2217-2193 BCE)
-Probably propaganda from the Ur III kings:
the major dynasty after the Akkadian empire
Under the last Akkad kings Dudu and šu-turul no empire, only Agade and hinterland (ca. 2205-2150 BCE)
A kind of Horde-Deluge sweeps over the country as punishment to Naram-Sin:
-End of power by Gutians (mountain tribes), period of unrest
-Sumerian city states became independent
-In Syria: new local territorial states
Want, anxiety of every kind came down upon them. Above, on the earth, there was a deluge, below, in the netherworld, there was an earthquake
-Victory over a coalition of Mesopotamian rebels and foreign rulers
-Focal point of resistance in Uruk and Kish
-Later renderings focus more on the attack than the
victory
-Stories become -over time- more and more fantastic
Various genres:
Fictional autobiography (texts in 1st person singular)
Fictional letters
Literary reworkings of original royal inscriptions
Legends of heroic deeds
Omens (Sargon: positive, Naram-Sin often negative)
Laments and legends depicting Naram-Sin as cursed ruler,
who caused the downfall of the empire.
Sargon's Deeds
Ea appeases the gods and Naram-Sin asks them again an omen, the tables are turned on the Horde, but Naram-Sin learned his lesson:
Sargon, King of Battle
-The Great Rebellion
1) Naram-Sin the mighty king, king of
Agade, when the four quarters of the earth attacked him together, through the love Ishtar bore him, was victorious in nine campaigns in one year and captured the kings whom they raised up against him.
Speaking to myself, thus I said, "Without divination (of liver), flesh, and entrails,
I will not lay hand on them to kill." (...)To the great gods I brought (the captives) as tribute, I did not lay hand on them to kill.
1) Sargon, king of Kish, was victorious in 34 battles. He destroyed city walls all the way to the shore of the sea, He moored ships of Meluhha (Oman), Magan (Indus civilization), and Dilmun (Bahrain) at the quay of Agade.
-Narrative about the revolt strongly inspired on the "official" royal inscriptions
-Old Babylonian manuscript ca. 1750 BCE (?)
-Middle Babylonian version ca. 1350 BCE from Egypt
The god Enlil will deal with the Horde, not Naram-Sin, the story ends with a moral:
"What lands could rival Agade? What king could rival you?
You have no adversary, you are their mighty opponent."
Sargon travels with his army to Purushhanda in Anatolia to help out Akkadian merchants.
He humiliates the king of Purushhanda, Nur-Daggal, who becomes his vassal
The Siege of Apishal
2) Sargon, the king prostrated and prayed to Dagan. He gave him the Upper Land: Mari, Yarmuti, Ebla, all the way to the cedar forest (Lebanon) and the silver mountains
-Story concerning the preparations of the siege
and a ruse from Apishal, fragmentary
Huge difference with
Curse of Agade:
instead of doom for Akkad
Naram-Sin learns from his
mistakes and
becomes a pacifist!
Sargon Letter
2) Because he defended Agade in this crisis, his city asked of Ishtar in Eannaki, of Enlil in Nippur, of Dagan in Tuttul, of Ninhursag in Kesh, of Enki in Eridy, of Sin in Ur, of Shamash in Sippar, of Nergal in Cutha, that he be God of their city, and built his temple in Agade
-Known from Old Babylonian manuscripts ca. 1750 BCE (?)
on the Bassetki Statue
3) Sargon, the king, Enlil gave him no rival! 5400 men eat every day before him.
The Cuthean Legend
Sargon calls upon his allies to help him in his conquest of Purushhanda
Whoever you may be, governor, prince, or anyone else,
Whom the gods shall name to exercise kingship,
I have made a foundation box for you,
I have written you a stela,
In Cutha in the Emeslam,
In the cella of Nergal have I left it for you.
(...)
Gird on your weapons, (but) stay out of sight,
Restrain your valor, take care of your person.
Though he raids your land, go not out against him,
Though he carries off your livestock, go not nigh him,
Though he eats the flesh of your soldiers,
Though he murders [...]
Be moderate, control yourself,
Answer them, "Yes, my lord!"
To their wickedness, repay kindness,
To kindness (add) gifts and gratifications.
You should not trespass against them.
Let expert scholars tell you my stela.
You who have read the stela and placed yourself
that you can proceed effectively,
You who have blessed me,
so may a future one bless you.
Sargon, Lord of Lies
What went before?
ca. 3200 BCE: invention of writing
4000-2900: Uruk period: first cities etc.
2900-2350: Early Dynastic: Sumerian city states
3) Whosoever shall do away with this inscription, may Shamash and Ishtar and Nergal, who guard the king, and all these other gods, tear out his foundation and pluck up his seed
-known from an Old Assyrian manuscript ca. 1850 BCE (?)
Parody on Sargon's deeds.
1. The Story about the Flood...still here
Aftermath
The Decision to Unleash the Flood
When the Gods were Man....
The Ark
-The Gods regret their onslaught
-In the beginning of time the Gods did all the work
-Some gods were more equal than others: The Seven Annunaki gods let the lesser Igigi Gods do all the work
Decision itself:
Reasons for the Flood:
"lying like dogs curled up in the open"
-The Main Gods had divided the Cosmos by casting lots: Anu: the Sky, Enlil: the Earth, Ea/Enki: the Apsu
Atrahasis
Ararat
-Mesopotamian Tradition:
an order from Enlil
-Ea is restrained by oath
-Biblical: God's remorse
The Flood continues
Atrahasis: 7 days and 7 nights
Gilgamesh: 7 days and 7 nights
Bible: 150 days (Yahwist)
40 days (Priestly)
-OB Atrahasis: Noise
-Sumerian Flood Story: Inanna
complains about Mankind
-Gilgamesh: No reason given
-Yahwist: Remorse
-Priestly: Corruption and Violence of Mankind
-The Ark runs aground on a mountain
Gilgamesh: Nimush
Berossus: Armenia
Bible: Mount Ararat
Biblical
-The Igigi gods are fed up with their work and decide to go to Enlil's house to protest
-One God (called Alla in Late Version and We-ila in Old Babylonian Version) wants an insurrection
-The Flood Hero sends out birds to seek out dry land
Gilgamesh: dove, swallow, raven
Bible: raven, dove, dove
3. Known throughout the Middle East
Babylonian Boundary Stone
with divine symbols
Lamp=Nusku
Gilgamesh
Genesis 6:5-6 (Yahwist)
And Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
And it repented Yahweh that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
Genesis 6:7 (Yahwist)
And Yahweh said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the ground; both man, and beast, and creeping things, and birds of the heavens; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
Genesis 6:11-12 (Priestly)
And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
And God saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.
Genesis 8:13
And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dried.
-The Igigi set out for Enlil's palace (called Ekur) in Nippur
-Enlils vizier Nusku wakes Enlil who orders him to take up arms
-Nusku asks why he fears his children.
-Anu, Enki/Ea, and Enlil come together to discuss the situation
Remains of Ekur today
Preparing for the Flood
The Creation of Mankind
Aftermath (2)
The Flood Hero is Spared
The Animals
A Message to those
staying behind
-The Flood Hero makes an offering
Necklace from Ur with fly-stones
-Nusku is sent outside to talk to the insurgents and identify the main culprit
-The Igigi answer that they are united in their protest
Reason:
Gilgamesh XI:161-163
The Gods did smell the savour
The Gods did smell the savour sweet
the Gods gathered like flies around the man making the sacrifice
Gilgamesh XI:81-86
Everything I owned I loaded aboard
....
I sent on board all my kith and kin
the beasts of the field, the creatures of the wild, and members of every skill and craft
Gilgamesh XI:40-43
In your city I can live no longer
I can tread no more on Enlil's ground
I must go to the Ocean Below, to live with Ea, my master
and he will send you a rain of plenty
-Enlil is saddened , but Ea/Enki sees that the complaints are justified
-Ea/Enki proposes to create mankind (lullu) to do the work of the Igigi
-The mother-goddess Mami/Nintu will bear Ea's clay to fruition
mother-goddess
-Sumerian Flood Story: Ziudsudra fulfills his cultic duties very well
-Atrahasis: Ea/Enki is his personal god with whom he speaks
-Gilgamesh: no reason given
-Yahwist/Priestly: Noah is a righteous man
-The Gods blame Enki/Ea
-He defends himself
-Gilgamesh: lapis lazuli flies as a reminder
-Bible: Rainbow as a reminder
-The clay must be mixed with the blood of a Slain God
The Role of Humans
-Sumerian King List: Dynasties Before and After
the Flood (+/- 2100 BCE)
-Sumerian Flood Story (date uncertain)
-Ark Tablet (+/- 1800 BCE) (Finkel 2014)
-Atrahasis (+/- 1650 BCE) Old Babylonian version**
Genesis 8:20-21 (Yahwist)
And Noah builded an altar unto Yahweh, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar. and Yahweh smelled the sweet savour;
Atrahasis OB version III:41-43
My God does not agree with your God,
Enki and Enlil are constantly angry with each other
They have expelled me from the land
We-ila is killed, he who had the inspiration (temu) for the rebellion, let his spirit (w)etemmu remain in man (Awilu). Let us hear the drumbeat for the rest of time (i.e. the heartbeat)
Creation of Mankind
Genesis 6:8-9
But Noah found favor in the eyes of Yahweh.
These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, and perfect in his generations: Noah walked with God
Genesis 7:7-9 (Yahwist)
And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creepeth upon the ground,
there went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, male and female, as God commanded Noah
Genesis 7:14-16 (Priestly)
They, and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort.
And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh wherein is the breath of life.
And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God commanded him: and Jehovah shut him in.
Bible: nothing
Genesis 9:12-13 (Priestly)
And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
Genesis 8:21 (Yahwist)
and Yahweh said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, for that the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done
-Mami/Nintu pinches of twice seven lumps of clay, fourteen birth goddesses give birth to seven women and seven men (Late Assyrian version)
-Man and Woman reach sexual maturity
-After nine months the humans are born
-A feast of nine days is celebrated for birth
Fertility statuette(?)
Aftermath (3)
The Flood
The Flood Hero is Warned
Mankind, a mixed blessing for the Gods
Ea's cunning
The Warning
-Middle Babylonian Flood Story (+/- 1200 BCE)*
-Flood Story from Ugarit, Syria (+/- 1150 BCE)*
-Flood Story in the Standard Gilgamesh epic (+/- 1100 BCE)
-Mankind is put to work to feed the Gods
-However, within 1200 years mankind was so numerous that their clamor disturbes Enlil in his sleep (...)
Atrahasis III 48
Adad began to roar in the clouds
Atra-hasis:
The Gods decide on ways to curb mankind's numbers
-Death is decreed for mankind
-Children will die during birth
-Certain priestesses will live in celibacy
First Plague
The Flood
Death
-Atra-hasis/Gilgamesh: Atra-hasis/Uta-napishtim has a dream that he cannot explain. Ea breaks his oath by talking to a reed fence behind which Atra-hasis sits.
-Bible: "And God said unto Noah..."
Gilgamesh XI:110-113
Like a battle the cataclysm passed over the people.
One man could not discern another,
nor could people be recognized amid the destruction
Nam.tar
-Enlil sends the plaguegod Namtar to decimate mankind
-Atra-hasis is introduced as Enki/Ea's pious servant
-Enki/Ea advises him to persuade other people to make continuous offerings to Namtar
-Namtar is shamed and withdraws his plague
Gilgamesh:
-Uta-napishtim the Flood Hero receives as last the human immortality
-Ea proposes lion, wolf, famine, or plague to reduce Mankind
Immortality
Second Plague
Gilgamesh XI:23-25
O man of Shuruppak, son of Ubar-Tutu,
demolish the house, and build a boat!
Abandon wealth, and seek survival!
Genesis 7:22-23 (Priestly)
all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, of all that was on the dry land, died.
And every living thing was destroyed that was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and creeping things, and birds of the heavens; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only was left, and they that were with him in the ark.
-After another 1200 years Enlil proposes a drought
-Stormgod Adad withholds his fertile rain, his winds will dry up the fields
-Enki/Ea advises Atra-hasis again: now Adad needs extra offerings
-Adad is shamed and he offers mist in the morning and dew in the night
Bible:
God establishes a covenant with Noah
Yahwist: the seasons will remain
Priestly: all living creatures are given to Noah, but there is a ban on eating or spilling blood,
Atrahasis OB version III:22-24
Flee house, build boat,
forsake possessions, and save life
the boat that you build....break
34-35
I shall shower down upon you later
a windfall of birds a spate of fishes
Genesis 7:4
For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the ground.
Genesis 6:17-18
And I, behold, I do bring the flood of waters upon this earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is in the earth shall die.
But I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.
Adad
Third Plague
Genesis 8:22 (Yahwist)
While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
Genesis 9:1 (Priestly)
And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
-After again 1200 years Enlil sends a famine.
-The gods are now under oath not to interfere, also Enki/Ea
-Atra-hasis sleeps by the river for a dream-omen from him
-Enki/Ea saves mankind with a flood of fish
Ea/Enki
Plagues
The Existence of Celibacy
Multiplication of Mankind in the Bible
Structure:
1: Introduction and Historical overview
2: Canon, Colophon, Authors and Compositions
3: Some Major Works: Gilgamesh
4: Some Major Works: Enuma-eliš
5: Some Major works: Atrahasis and the Kings of Akkade
6: The Mesopotamian School
7: The Babylonian Job, Oral&Written, Metre and Stanza
Genesis 6:1-2
And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born unto them,
that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all that they chose.
Mixed together in the Noah story in Genesis
-Israeli Yahwite tradition (+/- 700 BCE)
-Israeli Priestly tradition (+/- 600 BCE)
Divine Intervention
Noise
Mini quiz about the last class
Flies
The Existence of Two Genders
Sumerian: Zi.ud.sud.ra "Life-of-long-days"
Childbirth
-Late Babylonian edition of Atrahasis (+/- 650 BCE)*
-Late Assyrian version of Atrahasis (+/- 650 BCE)*
-Berossus' Flood Story (+/- 280 BCE) (Babyloniaca)
1) In the Babylonian epic of Creation Tiamat is presented as two different entities, which two?
2) What was one of the main goals of the author of the epic?
3) In terms of structure, what difference can we see
with the Gilgamesh epic?
4) Enuma elish was strongly connected to which religious event in Babylonia?
Akkadian: Atra-hasis "Very wise"
Uta-napishtim "He-found-life"
Hebrew: Noah "Rest, Comfort"
Procreation
The Existence of death during Childbirth