Miguel Civil – författare

In this volume the Nippur Expedition publishes the first results of its new program of research at Nippur, the holy city of Mesopotamia. This program, bringing together an interdisciplinary team to work on a historical site in Mesopotamia, focuses on the entire city, not just the sacred aspects. Concentrating on the West Mound, the first season yielded a sequence of temples in Area WA and a Kassite administrative palace above an Old Babylonian house in Area WB.

The Babylonian flood story of Atra-hasis is of vital importance to ancient Near Eastern and biblical scholars, as well as students of history, anthropology, and comparative religion. Professors Lambert and Millard provide the reader with a detailed introduction, transliterated Akkadian with English translation, critical notes, and line drawings of the cuneiform tablets.The epic opens in a time when only the gods lived in the universe. Having decided on their established spheres of influence, the chief Mesopotamian gods—Anu, Enlil, and Enki—began their divine labors. In a joint effort, Enki and Mami (the mother goddess) engineered the creation of mankind from clay and the flesh and blood of a slain god. The remainder of the story recounts the expansion of humanity, the consequent irritation of Enki by this expansion, the attempt by Enki and Enlil to destroy humankind through a great flood, and the escape from the flood by Atra-hasis in a boat, accompanied by his possessions, family, and animals.This classic scholarly edition of the epic is once again made available as a quality Eisenbrauns reprint.