Sumerian ยท Penn Museum CBS 10673
The Eridu Genesis
A Sumerian creation and flood narrative
Fragmentary tablet, c. 1600 BCE
The earliest surviving flood story from Mesopotamia. Only about a third of the original tablet survives, but enough remains to trace four episodes: creation, the founding of the first five cities, the divine decision to flood the world, and the survival of the pious king Ziusudra.
From the tablet
13 lines ยท cuneiform on the left, English on the right
- 1.๐โ๐ญโ๐โ๐ โ๐ฉ๐โ๐
uโ-ba an den-lilโ den-ki dnin-แธซur-saฤ-ฤaโ-keโ
/ph/uba an denlil denki dninkhursangngake
In those days An, Enlil, Enki, and Ninhursaฤa,
- 2.๐โ๐
saฤ-ฤiโ-ga mu-un-dimโ-eลก ki-bi-ลกeลก mu-un-ilโ-eลก
/ph/sangngiga muundimesh kibishesh muunilesh
Fashioned the black-headed people and raised them up from the earth.
- 3.๐โ๐
uโ-ba iri-iri-bi-ลกeลก ki-bi-ลกeลก mu-un-ฤar-re-eลก
/ph/uba iriiribishesh kibishesh muunngarreesh
Then the cities were established, each one founded in its own place:
- 4.๐ โ๐ญ
eridugki nu-dimโ-mud-ra in-na-an-ลกumโ
/ph/eridugki nudimmudra innaanshum
Eridu was given to Nudimmud (Enki),
- 5.๐ญโ๐ฉ๐
badโ-tibira dinanna-ra in-na-an-ลกumโ
/ph/badtibira dinannara innaanshum
Bad-tibira was given to Inanna,
- 6.๐ โ๐ญโ๐
la-ra-akki dpa-bil-saฤ-ra in-na-an-ลกumโ
/ph/laraakki dpabilsangra innaanshum
Larak was given to Pabilsaฤ,
- 7.๐ โ๐ญโ๐
zimbirki dutu-ra in-na-an-ลกumโ
/ph/zimbirki dutura innaanshum
Sippar was given to Utu (the sun god),
- 8.๐ โ๐ญ
ลกuruppakki dsudโ-ra in-na-an-ลกumโ
/ph/shuruppakki dsudra innaanshum
And Shuruppak was given to Sud.
- 9.๐โ๐ฝ
nam-luโ-uluโ numun-bi แธซa-lam-e-deโ di-bi ba-an-dab
/ph/namluulu numunbi khalamede dibi baandab
A verdict was reached: that the seed of mankind would be destroyed.
- 10.๐ โ๐ญโ๐
inim an den-lilโ-laโ-keโ a-ne-ne ba-an-ลกumโ
/ph/inim an denlillake anene baanshum
The word of An and Enlil had been spoken.
- 11.๐ฃโ๐โ๐โ๐ฃโ๐ฒ
zi-uโ-sud-raโ lugal-amโ maโ gal mu-na-duโ
/ph/ziusudra lugalam ma gal munadu
Ziusudra, the king, built for himself a great boat.
- 12.๐โ๐
uโ 7-amโ ฤiโ 7-amโ a-ma-ru kalam-ma ba-urโ
/ph/u 7am ngi 7am amaru kalamma baur
For seven days and seven nights the flood swept across the land.
- 13.๐โ๐ฃโ๐โ๐
egir a-ma-ru-keโ zi-uโ-sud-raโ ki-bi-ลกeลก mu-un-zi
/ph/egir amaruke ziusudra kibishesh muunzi
After the flood, Ziusudra rose up in his place.
Tap a line to focus on it and see the signs that make it up. A guided learn-cuneiform mode is coming next.
Signs in this tablet
The core cuneiform signs you'll see recur throughout this text. Each glyph is a real Unicode character from the Cuneiform block.
Commentary
The Sumerian Ziusudra ('life of long days') is the literary ancestor of the Akkadian Atra-แธซasฤซs and Utnapishtim (in Gilgamesh tablet XI), and through them of the biblical Noah.
Unlike later versions, the Eridu Genesis frames the flood as a routine cosmic 'fate decision' by the high gods, with a single sympathetic deity (read as Enki) leaking the warning.
The list of five antediluvian cities โ Eridu, Bad-tibira, Larak, Sippar, Shuruppak โ is preserved nearly verbatim in the Sumerian King List, suggesting the two compositions drew on a shared tradition.
The standard scholarly edition is Thorkild Jacobsen, 'The Eridu Genesis' (Journal of Biblical Literature 100, 1981).
Sources
- Jacobsen, T. โ 'The Eridu Genesis' (1981)
- Penn Museum tablet CBS 10673
- Sumerian King List (ETCSL 2.1.1)
