The Sumerian origins of the Flood story: the George Smith’s discovery
One of the greatest breakthroughs in cuneiform decipherment was achieved by Mr. George Smith, an amateur who frequented the British Museum with great dedication. By profession, he was a cliché engraver, but his passion for Assyrian history led him to spend a lot of his free time at the museum. The director noticed his commitment and offered him the position of conservator. In 1872, after ten years of tireless work, he found himself copying a Babylonian cuneiform tablet from the Assyrian city of Nineveh, reduced to just a fragment. The tablet described a ship that, after landing on Mount Nisir, released a dove that returned because it had found no land to rest on, surrounded as it was by a vast expanse of water. Smith then searched for other tablets that could confirm this account, as he believed he had discovered references to the Great Flood, as described in the Bible.
Smith shared his findings with the Society of Biblical Archaeology in London in December 1872, earning worldwide acclaim. The Daily Telegraph decided to fund an expedition to Nineveh to continue the excavations in hopes of finding further evidence of the Babylonian flood theory. Smith embarked on the journey in early 1873, and despite the vast area to be explored, he had remarkable luck. By May of the same year he had uncovered a tablet's fragment containing seventeen lines in cuneiform script that was one of the missing pieces of the flood narrative. This new tablet mentioned Utnapishtim, the Babylonian Noah, and his voyage with the ark through the waters that covered the earth. Energized by this sensational discovery, Smith, despite the approaching hot summer season, continued his excavations. After this further discovery the Daily Telegraph lost interest, cut the funding, and forced Smith to return home.
Although Smith's discovery confirmed the biblical flood narrative, it did not provide proof that the event actually occurred. Additionally, the uncovered Mesopotamian writings were filled with fantasy and mythological characters, far from any acceptable historical reality. Another question arose: was the biblical flood narrative derived from the Mesopotamian version, or was it the original flood story as seen by the Hebrews?
In 1914, Arno Poebel provided an answer by publishing the translation of a tablet fragment found at the University Museum of Philadelphia, part of the Nippur collection. The fragment demonstrated that the original flood story was Sumerian, from which the Babylonians later adapted their version. Written in Sumerian cuneiform, the tablet included parts of the prologue to the flood epic, as well as sections on the creation of humanity and the origin of kingship. The remaining fragment, which represented only a third of the original, recounted the myth of Ziusudra (the Sumerian Noah, while Utnapishtim was the Babylonian version) and his ark.
At the beginning of the text, about 40 text lines are missing, making it impossible to reconstruct the start of the story. Then a god (maybe Enki) informs the other gods that he will save humanity from destruction. After three lines of difficult interpretation, there are four lines recalling the creation of humans, animals, and plants.
Here are some excerpts:
When An, Enlil, Enki, and Ninursag
Had formed the "Black-Headed" (Sumerians),
Vegetation sprang up luxuriantly on the earth;
The animals, the quadrupeds of the countryside, were skillfully created.
(An was the chief of all gods; Enki and Enlil were his sons, while Ninursag was their half-sister; the "Black-Headed" were the Sumerians.)
After the loss of another forty lines, the poem explains how kingship came from heaven and describes the founding of five cities (pre-flood).
Here are some lines:
He founded the five cities in certain sacred places;
He pronounced their names and made them centers of worship.
The first of these cities, Eridu, he gave to Nudimmud, the Chief;
The second, Bad-tibira, he gave to the god...;
The third, Larak, he gave to the god Endurbilhursag;
The fourth, Sippar, he gave to the god Utu, the Hero;
The fifth, Shuruppak, he gave to the god Sud.
At this point, another forty lines are missing, and in the following lines it is revealed that not all gods agreed with the cruel decision to unleash the flood. Enki, the god who favored humanity, decided to warn Ziusudra, the Sumerian Noah, about the other gods' decree. Since Enki had also promised not to reveal this terrible secret to humanity, he cleverly found a loophole: he told Ziusudra to be in a certain room at a specific time, and from the other side of the dividing wall, he informed him that the assembly of gods had decided to send a universal flood to destroy humanity.
Here are some excerpts:
Ziusudra, standing by his side, listened.
"Stand by the wall on my left;
By the wall, I will say a word to you, listen to my word;
Lend an ear to my instructions;
For our part, a flood is about to invade the centers of worship
To destroy the seed of humankind.
This is our decision, the decree of the assembly of the gods.
By the command of Anu and Enlil...,
To its kingship, to its law, a limit will be set."
Forty lines of text are again missing, where the god would have given Ziusudra instructions to build a large boat to save himself and his family. The story then recounts how the waters covered the entire earth after it rained for seven days and nights. Finally, the sun god Utu made his light shine again, and Ziusudra, kneeling, offered sacrifices to him.
After another break in the tablet, the text describes how An and Enlil grant life to Ziusudra as if he were a god, and how he is taken by the sun god Utu to Dilmun, the place where the sun rises.
Here the text ends completely, leaving us with no further information about what happened to Ziusudra after he effectively became an immortal deity. As is now clear, this account presents King Ziusudra, who is the grandfather of the Babylonian Utnapishtim and the great-grandfather of the biblical Noah.
It is hard to doubt that it was indeed the Sumerian version of the flood that influenced all subsequent versions, including the biblical one.
