The fullest existing text of the Gilgamesh epic is on 12 unfinished Akkadian-language tablets discovered in the library of Assyrian monarch Ashurbanipal (reigned 668–627 BCE) at Nineveh in the mid-19th century by Turkish Assyriologist Hormuzd Rassam. Various fragments discovered elsewhere in Mesopotamia and Anatolia have partially filled the gaps in the tablets. In addition, five … Read more
The Epic of Gilgamesh has piqued Christians’ curiosity since its discovery in the ruins of Nineveh’s great library in the mid-nineteenth century, with its account of a universal flood that bears striking similarities to Noah’s Flood. The rest of the Epic, which may date from the third millennium B.C., is largely irrelevant to Christians because … Read more
The Atrahasis is an Akkadian/Babylonian epic about the gods sending the Great Flood to wipe out humanity. Only Atrahasis (whose name means “very wise”) was informed of the impending flood by the god Enki (also known as Ea), who told him to build an ark to preserve himself. Atrahasis heeded the god’s directions, loading two … Read more