A number of stories of a similar character to those of Genesis, though not directly connected with the latter, have been included in this chapter, together with two fragments which probably relate, the one to the Tower of Babel, the other to the destruction of the cities of the Plain. The first and principal text is the story of Atarpi, or Atarpi nisu, “Atarpi the man.” This story is on a tablet in six columns, and there is only one copy of it. It is terribly mutilated, very little being preserved except Column III., but there are numerous repetitions throughout the text. The inscription has originally been a long one, probably extending to about 400 lines of writing, and the text differs from the generality of these inscriptions, being very obscure and difficult. In consequence of this and other reasons, only an outline of most of the story is given here.
We are first told of a quarrel between a mother named Zibanit and her daughter, and that the mother shuts the door of the house, and turns her daughter adrift, the words of the original being “the mother to the daughter opens not her door.” The doings of a man named Zamu have some connection with the affair, his “descending into the street on getting” something being mentioned immediately before the expulsion of the daughter; and at the close we are told of Atarpi, sometimes called Atarpi-nisu, or Atarpi the “man” who had his couch beside the river of the north, and was pious to the gods, but took no notice of these things. When the story next opens, we find the god Bel calling together an assembly of the gods his sons, and relating to them that he is angry at the sin of the world, stating also that he will bring down upon it disease, tempest, distress, madness, burning and sickness. This is followed by the statement that these things came to pass, and Atarpi then invoked his god Hea to remove these evils. For a whole year, it would seem, he interceded for the people, and at last Hea answered, and announced his resolve to destroy the people. After this the story reads:
- 1. (Hea called) his assembly (by the river) of the north; he said to the gods his sons:
- 2. ...... I made them
- 3. .... shall not stretch until before he turns.
- 4. Their famine I observe,
- 5. their shame the woman takes not;
- 6. I will look to judge the people?
- 7. in their stomach let famine dwell,
- 8. above let Rimmon drink up his rain,
- 9. let him drink up below, let not the flood be carried in the canals,
- 10. let it remove from the field its inundations,
- 11. let the corn-god give over increase, let blackness overspread the corn,
- 12. let the plowed fields bring forth thorns,
- 13. let the growth of their fruit perish, let food not come forth from it, let bread not be produced,
- 14. let distress also be spread over the people,
- 15. may favour be shut up, and good not be given.
—–———–———–———– - 16. He looked also to judge the people,
- 17. in their stomach dwelt famine,
- 18. above Rimmon drank up his rain,
- 19. he drank it up below, the flood was not carried in the canals,
- 20. it removed from the field its inundations,
- 21. the corn-god gave over increase, blackness spread over the corn,
- 22. the plowed fields brought forth thorns, the growth of their fruit perished,
- 23. food came not forth from it, bread was not produced,
- 24. distress was spread over the people,
- 25. favour was shut up, good was not given.
—–———–———–———–
This will serve to show the style of the tablet. The instrument of punishment was apparently famine from want of rain.
Here the story is again lost, and where it recommences Hea is making a speech, directing another person to cut something into portions, and place seven on each side, and then to build brickwork round them. After this comes a single fragment, the connection of which with the former part is obscure.
- 1. Seated was the goddess ....
- 2. to her face also he gave ....
—–———–———–———– - 3. Anu opened his mouth and speaks; he said to (Nusku);
- 4. Nusku open thy gate; thy weapons (take)
- 5. in the assembly of the great gods when ....
- 6. their speech? ....
- 7. Anu sent m ....
- 8. your king sent ....
At present no satisfactory story can be made out of the detached fragments of this tablet, but it evidently belongs to the mythical portion of Babylonian history, and it is impossible not to compare the unsuccessful intercession of the righteous man Atarpi with the pleadings of Abraham on behalf of the cities of the plain.
The next text is a single fragment, K 2407, belonging to a curious story of a wise man who puts a riddle to the gods.
K 2407.