Atrahasis and Cypria (1)

Text
Atrahasis Epic (OBV) 2.1-21:
Twelve hundred years had not yet passed, when the land extended and the peoples multiplied. The land was bellowing like a bull, the god got disturbed with their uproar. Enlil heard their noise and addressed the great gods: “The noise of mankind has become too intense for me, with their uproar I am deprived of sleep. Cut off supplies for the peoples, let there be a scarcity of plant-life to satisfy their hunger. Adad should withhold his rain, and below, the flood should not come up from the abyss. Let the wind blow and parch the ground, let the clouds thicken but not release a downpour, let the fields diminish their yields, let Nisaba stop up her breast. There must be no rejoicing among them, [ … ] must be suppressed.”

Cypria fr. 1:
Once upon a time, when countless people moved on the face of the earth … [ … they oppressed] the breadth of the deep-chested earth. Zeus saw this and took pity and deep in his heart he decided to relieve the all-nourishing earth of mankind by settling alight the great conflict of the Ilian war.

Sources (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Atrahasis Epic (OBV) 2.1-21
Cypria fr. 1

Bibliography

Amar Annus

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