The logo of the Melammu Project

The Melammu Project

The Heritage of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East

  The Melammu Project
  
   General description
   Search string
   Browse by topic
   Search keyword
   Submit entry
  
   About
   Open search
   Thematic search
   Digital Library
   Submit item
  
   Ancient texts
   Dictionaries
   Projects
   Varia
   Submit link
  FAQ
  Contact us
  About

  The Newsletter
  To Project Information >

  

All creatures were tame (1)

 Printable view
Topics (move over topic to see place in topic list)

01 Religious and ideological doctrines and imagery


 		Keywords
animals
paradise
Period
5th century BCE
Greek Classical Age
Hittite Empire
Sumerian Ur III Empire 		Channel
Greek philosophers and scholars
Hittite culture
Sumerian poetry

Text
Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta 136-140:
In those days, there being no snakes, there being no scorpions, there being no hyenas, there being no lions, there being no dogs or wolves, there being nothing fearful or hair-rising, mankind had no opponents.

Tale of the God Lama (Hittite):
(When Lama was king in heaven,) wolves [and (?) … ] did not exist, … [the mountains (?)] flowed with beer-wine, the valleys [flow]ed with [ … ] poured out: mankind [ … was well off (?)], and he was fully [ … ].’

Empedocles DK 31 B 130: For all were gentle and obedient toward men, both animals and birds, and they burned with kindly love; and trees grew with leaves and fruit ever on them, burdened with abundant fruit all the year.

Sources (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Empedocles DK 31 B 130
Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta 136-140
Tale of the God Lama (Hittite)

Bibliography

West 1997, 315West, Martin L. The East Face of Helicon. West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth. Oxford: Clarendon Press 1997.

Amar Annus


URL for this entry: http://www.aakkl.helsinki.fi/melammu/database/gen_html/a0001238.php

Illustrations
No pictures

^
T
O
P