The Epic of Atrahasis – a non-biblical account of the Great Flood (1600 BC)
The Epic of Atrahasis is the fullest Mesopotamian account of the Great Flood. The text is known from several versions: two written by Assyrian scribes (one in the Assyrian, one in the Babylonian dialect), the third one (on three tablets) was written during the reign of king Ammi-saduqa of…
Berossus’ Babylonian History – Fragment 4 (278 BC)
Fragment 4 of Berossus' Babylonian History, which was published in 278 BCE, in the translation by Verbrugghe and Wickersham (with some minor modifications).The text itself is lost, but was quoted by a Byzantine author named George Syncellus, who lived in the early ninth century. Syncellus, Chronological Excerpts 53-56…
Epic of Gilgames – Tablet XI – non-biblical account of the Great Flood (1100 BC)
The Epic of Gilgameš is one of the most famous texts from ancient Babylonia. It tells the story of a king who is trying to find immortality, and meets Ut-napištim, who has survived the Great Flood and has found what Gilgameš is looking for. In the following text,…
The Epic of Atraḥasis – a non-biblical account of the Great Flood (1700 BC)
The Epic of Atraḥasis is the fullest Mesopotamian account of the Great Flood, with Atraḥasis in the role of Noah. It was written in the seventeenth century BCE. Translation Complaints of the Lower Gods When the gods were man they did forced labor, they bore drudgery. Great indeed was the…
Account of Nebuchadnezzar II from Berossus (605 BC)
Berossus' own account (in Babylonian History) is lost, but it was summarized by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in his Against Apion. One such account is the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II (562 BC – 605 BC). Berossus at length comes down to Nabopolassar, who was king of Babylon and…
