Introduction
The Atra-Hasis artifact dates from around 1900 BC. The artifact itself is a clay tablet measuring 11.5 cm X 6 cm containing 60 lines of cuneiform script. It dates back to about 1900 BC, but was recently rediscovered in a private collection and has been translated. It records an ancient Akkadian epic of Atra-Hasis, the protagonist, and includes a detailed account of a great flood. Interestingly, it has striking similarities to the Biblical account of Noah and the ark found in the book of Genesis.
For example:
The gods • want to destroy all humans; • by a flood;
• One god warns a man about the flood; and • instructs him to build a massive boat.
The boat is to have • multiple decks; • a roof; • and the joints sealed with bitumen.
• Animals were taken on board two by two; • a storm rages; • the known world floods; • the boat lands on a mountain; and • the survivor offers a sacrifice to the god who saved him.
There are some differences as well, the most important of which are:
• There are multiple gods (rather than one God); • the gods send the flood because of overpopulation (with the resulting noise annoying the gods); • craftsmen of the city help Atra-Hasis construct the boat; • it rains for 7 days (instead of 40); and • the sacrifice is eaten by the gods.
The Flood Story of Gilgamesh
Tablet 11 of the Epic of Gilgamesh contains the flood story as told by Utnapishtim, who behaves just like Atra-Hasis. In this recorded version of the story, which dates back to ~2100 BC in the Sumerian texts, a man builds a boat to survive a divinely sent flood that wipes out mankind. All of the earliest flood accounts, including Atra-Hasis, Gilgamesh, and Ziusudra, appear to descend from a common source. And although the Genesis account is unique in its monotheistic perspective and discussion of sin, there seems to be no doubt that the Mesopotamian texts, along with several others from the ancient world, recount the same basic story.
Summary
The antiquity of the Atra-Hasis story tells us several important things about the Genesis account of the Flood. First that there is agreement across cultures and nationalities that there was a catastrophic flood event in that geographic region in the long distant past. It demonstrates that the Biblical account was not simply an invention of a later time, but instead demonstrates a collective remembrance a knowledge and acceptance of a remarkably similar cultural memory of a catastrophic flood.
