Eridu Genesis

The Sumerian Deluge
Ancient Near East

And as Ziusudra stood there beside it, he went on hearing: Step up to the wall to my left and listen! Let me speak a word to you at the wall and may you grasp what I say, may you heed my advice! By our hand a flood will sweep over the cities of the half-bushel baskets, and the country; the decision, that mankind is to be destroyed, has been made. A verdict, a command of the assembly, can not be revoked, no order of An and Enlil is known to have been countermanded, their kingship, their term, has been uprooted; they must bethink themselves ... Now ... What I have to say to you ... All the evil winds, all stormy winds gathered into one and with them, them, the Flood was sweeping over the cities of the half-bushel baskets, for seven days and seven nights. After the flood had swept over the country, after the evil wind had tossed the big boat about on the great waters, the sun came out spreading light over heaven and earth.

Genesis 6:13

Hebrew Bible

12 God saw the earth, and indeed it was ruined, for all living creatures on the earth were sinful. 13 So God said to Noah, “I have decided that all living creatures must die, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Now I am about to destroy them and the earth. 14 Make for yourself an ark of cypress wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you should make it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 16 Make a roof for the ark and finish it, leaving 18 inches from the top. Put a door in the side of the ark, and make lower, middle, and upper decks.

 Notes and References

"... In Mesopotamia clay tablets are found with traditions that are in some agreement with Genesis 6-9. In the Arahasis Epic, the gods sent a flood to wipe out all humans. The god Enki warned Atrahasis in a dream and advised him to make a boat. In the Gilgamesh Epic, the hero passes countries, mountain peaks, and seas to end up at the home of his ancestor Utnapishtim, who lives on an island paradise in a distant sea, beyond the end of the world ... Compare also 'The Eridu Genesis' (COS 1.158) and the publication of a Babylonian tablet from about 1750 B.C.E. ..."

Paul, Mart-Jan "God's Descrution of the Earth by the Flood (Genesis 6.:13)" in Dekker, Jacob, and H. G. L. Peels, editors. Reading and Listening: Meeting One God in Many Texts (p. 35) Uitgeverij 2VM, 2018

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