Significance of Atrahasis in Ancient Mesopotamia
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The Significance of Atrahasis in Ancient Mesopotamia
The flood story in Atarhasis is merely a textual source that represents Mesopotamian society's perception of reality. The narrative itself begins with an illustration of the world just before the emergence of mankind. The "Anunnaki" the established greater gods appointed lower set of gods called the "Igigi," to "dig out canals," and "clear channels," which would later become the two major Mesopotamian rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates. (Atrahasis, 9). After 3,600 years of strenuous labor, the Igigi rebelled against their assigned task by burning their tools in order to communicate a message of disdain to the ruler of the gods Ellil (Atrahasis 10). Men are thereafter created in order to appease the Igigi and to serve the gods by filling the previous occupation of the gods. Shortly after the creation of mankind, humans begin to inhabit and toil the earth and due to their hard work, they become prosperous and reproduce at a rapid exponential rate. The growth in population seen textually as "noise" that irritates the gods during the day and disrupts their divine slumber at night (Atrahasis 18). The gods realizing that the immense disturbances stems form the exorbitant amount of people, then send down famine and plagues in order to regulate the population and destroy those who are impious. However the "noise" of human beings persists which therefore forces some of the gods lead by Ellil to send down a great deluge in order to rid themselves of mankind forever (Atrahsis 31)...