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Atrahasis describes humanity being created from clay mixed with the flesh and blood of a slain god. Genesis 2 uses a similar image, with God forming the first human from the soil of the ground and breathing life into him.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Atrahasis
Ancient Near East
Then one god should be slaughtered. And the gods can be purified by immersion. Nintu shall mix clay With his flesh and his blood. Then a god and a man Will be mixed together in clay. Let us hear the drumbeat forever after Let a ghost come into existence from the gods flesh Let her proclaim it as his living sign And let the ghost exist so as not to forget (the slain god). They answered Yes! in the assembly, The great Anunnaki who assign the fates. On the first, seventh, and fifteenth of the month He made a purification by washing. Ilawela who had intelligence They slaughtered in their assembly. Nintu mixed clay With his flesh and blood. They heard the drumbeat forever after. A ghost came into existence from the gods flesh, And she (Nintu) proclaimed it as his living sign. The ghost existed so as not to forget (the slain god). After she had mixed that clay,
Date: 18th-century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Genesis 2:7
Hebrew Bible
6 Springs would well up from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground. 7 The Lord God formed the man from the soil of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 The Lord God planted an orchard in the east, in Eden; and there he placed the man he had formed.
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Notes and References
“… Not only does Genesis share a common outline of primeval history with its neighbors, it also concurs with contemporary culture on various other points. Both agreed that an invisible supernatural world existed; that a God or gods existed; were personal; could think, speak, and communicate with men; indeed control human affairs. Genesis also agreed with oriental theology that man is more than material: he has a spiritual divine dimension. Atrahasis tells of man being made out of the mixture of clay and the flesh and blood of a dead god (Atrahasis 1.208–60). This parallels Genesis 2:7 where the Lord creates man out of the dust of the earth and breathes into him the divine breath of life. Similarly, Egyptian texts speak of man being made in the image of God (compare Genesis 1:26–27). Creation as an act of separation between light and darkness, land and sea, and by the word of God all find parallels in Near Eastern theology. …”
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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