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{{Short description|King of Shuruppak (c. 2900 BC)}}
{{Mesopotamian myth|expanded=4}}
{{Contains special characters|cuneiform}}
{{use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Ziusudra<br />{{cuneiform|𒍣𒌓𒋤𒁺}}
| title = [[Shuruppak|King of Shuruppak]]<br />[[Sumerian King List|King of Sumer]]
| image = Sumerian King List, 1800 BC, Larsa, Iraq (detail).jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Sumerian King List, 1800 BC, Larsa, Iraq
| succession = [[Antediluvian]] king
| reign = {{circa|2900&nbsp;BCE}}
| predecessor = [[Ubara-tutu]]
| successor = ''Deluge''<br />[[Jushur]] of Kish
| spouse =
| dynasty = [[Antediluvian]]
| issue =
| father = [[Ubara-tutu]] ''(Akkadian tradition)''
| mother =
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| death_date = ''Immortal''
| death_place =
| place of burial =
| religion =
}}


'''Ziusudra''' ({{lang-akk-x-oldbabyl|{{cuneiform|8|𒍣𒌓𒋤𒁺}}|translit=Ṣíusudrá}} [ṣi₂-u₄-sud-ra₂], {{lang-akk-x-neoassyr|{{cuneiform|11|𒍣𒋤𒁕}}|translit=Ṣísudda}},{{sfn|Oracc}} {{lang-grc|Ξίσουθρος|translit=Xísouthros}}) of [[Shuruppak]] (c. 2900&nbsp;BC) is listed in the WB-62 [[Sumerian King List]] recension as the last king of [[Sumer]] prior to the [[Great Flood]]. He is subsequently recorded as the hero of the [[Eridu Genesis]] and appears in the writings of [[Berossus]] as Xisuthros.{{citation needed|date=June 2019}}
'''Ziusudra''' (also '''Zi-ud-sura''' and '''Zin-Suddu'''; Hellenized '''Xisuthros''': "found long life" or "life of long days") of [[Shuruppak]] is listed in the WB-62 [[Sumerian king list]]{{citation needed|date=October 2014}} recension as the last king of [[Sumer]] prior to the [[Deluge myth#Sumerian|deluge]]. He is subsequently recorded as the hero of the [[Sumerian creation myth|Sumerian flood epic]]. He is also mentioned in other ancient literature, including ''The Death of Gilgamesh''<ref>http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.8.1.3# Translation of versions of ''The Death of Gilgamesh''</ref> and ''The Poem of Early Rulers'',<ref>http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.5.2.5# Translation of ''The Poem of Early Rulers''</ref> and a late version of ''[[Instructions of Shuruppak|The Instructions of Shuruppak]]''<ref>http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.5.6.1# Translation of ''The Instructions of Shuruppak''</ref> refers to Ziusudra.<ref>Speculated by Samuel Noah Kramer as deriving from sources from as early as 2500 BC, Kramer concluded that "Ziusudra had become a venerable figure in literary tradition by the middle of the third millennium B.C." , (Samuel Noah Kramer "Reflections on the Mesopotamian Flood," ''Expedition'', 9, 4, (summer 1967), pp 12-18.)</ref> [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] '''[[Atrahasis]]''' ("extremely wise") and '''[[Utnapishtim]]''' ("he found life"), as well as [[Bible|biblical]] '''[[Noah]]''' ("rest") are similar heroes of [[Deluge myth|flood legends]] of the [[ancient Near East]].


Ziusudra is one of several mythic characters who are protagonists of [[Near East]]ern flood myths, including [[Atrahasis]], [[Utnapishtim]] and the biblical [[Noah]]. Although each story displays its own distinctive features, many key story elements are common to two, three, or all four versions.{{Citation needed|date=June 2019}}
Although each version of the flood myth has distinctive story elements, there are numerous story elements that are common to two, three, or four versions. The earliest version of the flood myth is preserved fragmentarily in the ''[[Sumerian creation myth|Eridu Genesis]]'', written in [[Sumerian language|Sumerian cuneiform]] and dating to the [[17th century BC]], during the [[First Babylonian Dynasty|1st Dynasty of Babylon]] when the language of writing and administration was still Sumerian. Strong parallels are notable with other [[Deluge myth#Ancient Near East|Near Eastern flood legends]], such as the biblical account of Noah.


==Literary and archaeological evidence==
==Ziusudra==
===Sumerian king list===
=== ===
{{Main|Sumerian king list}}
{{Main|Sumerian king list}}
In the WB-62 [[Sumerian king list]] recension, Ziusudra, or Zin-Suddu of [[Shuruppak]], is listed as son of the last king of Sumer before a great flood.{{sfn|Jacobsen|1939|pp=75 and 76; footnotes 32 and 34}} He is recorded as having reigned as both king and ''gudug'' priest for ten ''sars'' (periods of 3,600 years),{{sfn|Langdon|1923|pp=251–259}} although this figure is probably a [[scribal error|copyist error]] for ten years.{{sfn|Best|1999|pp=118–119}} In this version, Ziusudra inherited rulership from his father [[Ubara-Tutu]],{{sfn|Tablet XI, line 23}} who ruled for ten ''sars''.{{sfn|Langdon|1923|p=258, note 5}}
In the WB-62 [[Sumerian king list]] recension, Ziusudra, or Zin-Suddu of [[Shuruppak]] is recorded as having reigned as both king and ''gudug'' priest for 10 ''sars'', or periods of 3,600,<ref>S. Langdon, "The Chaldean Kings Before the Flood," ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' (1923), pp 251-259</ref> although this was probably a copy error for 10 years.<ref>R. M. Best, pages 118-119</ref> In this version, Ziusudra inherited [[government#Early examples|rulership]] from his father [[Instructions of Shuruppak|Šuruppak]] (written SU.KUR.LAM) who ruled for 10 ''sars''.<ref>Langdon, p. 258, note 5.</ref> The line following Ziusudra in WB-62 reads: ''Then the flood swept over''. The next line reads: ''After the flood swept over, kingship descended from heaven; the kingship was in Kish''. The city of [[Kish (Sumer)|Kish]] flourished in the [[History of Sumer#Early Dynastic period|Early Dynastic period]] soon after an archaeologically attested [[flood|river flood]] in Shuruppak (modern Tell Fara, Iraq) and various other Sumerian cities. This flood has been [[radiocarbon dating|radiocarbon dated]] to ca. 2900 BC.<ref>Harriet Crawford, ''Sumer and the Sumerians'', Cambridge Univ. Press, 1991), p. 19.</ref> [[Polychrome]] pottery from the [[Jemdet Nasr period]] (ca. [[30th century BC|3000–2900 BC]]) was discovered immediately below the Shuruppak flood stratum,<ref>{{cite book|last=Crawford|first=Harriet|title=Sumer and the Sumerians|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=1991|pages=19}}</ref> and the Jemdet Nasr period immediately preceded the [[History of Sumer#Periodization|Early Dynastic I period]].<ref>Erik Schmidt, ''Excavations at Fara'' (1931), University of Pennsylvania's ''Museum Journal'', 2:193–217.</ref>


The lines following the mention of Ziusudra read:
The significance of Ziusudra's name appearing on the WB-62 king list is that it links the flood mentioned in the three surviving Babylonian deluge epics of Ziusudra (''[[Sumerian creation myth|Eridu Genesis]]''), Utnapishtim (''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]''), and Atrahasis (''[[Atra-Hasis|Epic of Atrahasis]]'') to river flood sediments in Shuruppak, Uruk, Kish et al. that have been radiocarbon dated to ca. 2900 BC. This has led some scholars to conclude that the flood hero was king of Shuruppak at the end of the Jemdet Nasr period (ca. 3000–2900) which ended with the river flood of 2900 BC.<ref>M.E.L. Mallowan, "Noah's Flood Reconsidered", ''Iraq'' (1964), 26:62–82.</ref>


{{Quote|Then the flood swept over. After the flood had swept over, and the kingship had descended from heaven, the kingship was in Kish.{{sfn|ETCSL: Sumerian king list|n.d.}}}}
Ziusudra being a king from Shuruppak is supported by the Gilgamesh XI tablet (see below) making reference to Utnapishtim (Akkadian translation of the Sumerian name Ziusudra) with the epithet "man of Shuruppak" at line 23.

The city of [[Kish (Sumer)|Kish]] flourished in the [[Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)|Early Dynastic period]] soon after a river flood archaeologically attested by sedimentary strata at Shuruppak (modern [[Shuruppak|Tell Fara]]), Uruk, Kish, and other sites, all of which have been [[radiocarbon dating|radiocarbon dated]] to ca. 2900&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Crawford|1991|p=19}} [[Polychrome]] pottery from the [[Jemdet Nasr period]] (ca. 30th century BC), which immediately preceded the Early Dynastic I period, was discovered directly below the Shuruppak flood stratum.{{sfn|Crawford|1991|p=19}}{{sfn|Schmidt|1931|pp=193–217}} [[Max Mallowan]] wrote that "we know from the Weld Blundell prism [i.e. WB-62] that at the time of the Flood, Ziusudra, the Sumerian Noah, was King of the city of Shuruppak where he received warning of the impending disaster. His role as a saviour agrees with that assigned to his counterpart Utnapishtim in the Gilgamesh Epic. ... both epigraphical and archaeological discovery give good grounds for believing that Ziusudra was a prehistoric ruler of a well-known historic city the site of which has been identified."{{sfn|Mallowan|1964|pp=62–82}}

That Ziusudra was a king from Shuruppak is supported by the Gilgamesh XI tablet, which makes reference to Utnapishtim (the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] translation of the Sumerian name Ziusudra) with the epithet "man of Shuruppak" at line 23.{{sfn|Tablet XI, line 23|p=110}}


===Sumerian flood myth===
===Sumerian flood myth===
{{main|Sumerian creation myth}}
{{main| }}
The tale of Ziusudra is known from a single fragmentary tablet written in Sumerian, datable by its script to the 17th century BC ([[Old Babylonian Empire]]), and published in 1914 by Arno Poebel.<ref>"The Sumerian Flood Story" in ''Atrahasis'', by Lambert and Millard, page 138</ref> The first part deals with the creation of man and the animals and the founding of the first cities [[Eridu]], [[Bad-tibira]], [[Larsa]], [[Sippar]], and [[Shuruppak]]. After a missing section in the tablet, we learn that the gods have decided to send a flood to destroy mankind. The god [[Enki]] (lord of the underworld sea of fresh water and Sumerian equivalent of Babylonian god Ea) warns Ziusudra, the ruler of Shuruppak, to build a large boat; the passage describing the directions for the boat is also lost. When the tablet resumes, it is describing the flood. A terrible storm raged for seven days, "the huge boat had been tossed about on the great waters," then [[Utu]] (Sun) appears and Ziusudra opens a window, prostrates himself, and sacrifices an ox and a sheep. After another break, the text resumes, the flood is apparently over, and Ziusudra is prostrating himself before [[An (mythology)|An]] (Sky) and [[Enlil]] (Lordbreath), who give him "breath eternal" and take him to dwell in [[Dilmun]]. The remainder of the poem is lost. [http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/sum/sum09.htm (text of Ziusudra epic)]
The tale of Ziusudra is known from a single fragmentary tablet written in Sumerian, datable by its script to the 17th century BC ([[Old Babylonian Empire]]), and published in 1914 by Arno Poebel.LambertMillard138 The first part deals with the creation of man and the animals and the founding of the first cities [[Eridu]], [[Bad-tibira]], [[]], [[Sippar]], and [[Shuruppak]]. After a missing section in the tablet, we learn that the gods have decided to send a flood to destroy mankind. The god [[Enki]] (lord of the underworld sea of fresh water and Sumerian equivalent of Babylonian god Ea) warns Ziusudra, the ruler of Shuruppak, to build a large boat; the passage describing the directions for the boat is also lost. When the tablet resumes, it is describing the flood. A terrible storm raged for seven days, "the huge boat had been tossed about on the great waters," then [[Utu]] (Sun) appears and Ziusudra opens a window, prostrates himself, and sacrifices an ox and a sheep. After another break, the text resumes, the flood is apparently over, and Ziusudra is prostrating himself before [[An (mythology)|An]] (Sky) and [[Enlil]] (Lordbreath), who give him "breath eternal" and take him to dwell in [[Dilmun]]. The remainder of the poem is lost.


The Epic of Ziusudra adds an element at lines 258–261 not found in other versions, that after the river flood<ref>Lambert & Millard, page 97</ref> "king Ziusudra ... they caused to dwell in the land of the country of Dilmun, the place where the sun rises". Dilmun is usually identified as [[Bahrain]], an island in the Persian Gulf on the east side of the Arabian peninsula. In this version of the story, Ziusudra's boat floats down the Euphrates river into the Persian Gulf (rather than up onto a mountain, or up-stream to Kish).<ref>R. M. Best, pages 30–31</ref> The Sumerian word ''KUR'' in line 140 of the [[Gilgamesh flood myth]] was interpreted to mean "mountain" in Akkadian, although in Sumerian, KUR did not mean "mountain" but rather "land", especially a foreign country.
The Epic of Ziusudra adds an element at lines 258–261 not found in other versions, that after the floodLambertMillard97 "king Ziusudra ... they caused to dwell in the Dilmun, the place where the sun rises". an the mountain , to mean in "mountain , .


A Sumerian document known as ''The Instructions of Shuruppak'' dated by Kramer to about 2500 BC, refers in a later version to Ziusudra. Kramer concluded that "Ziusudra had become a venerable figure in literary tradition by the middle of the third millennium B.C."<ref> Samuel Noah Kramer, "Reflections on the Mesopotamian Flood," ''Expedition'', 9, 4, (summer 1967), pp 12–18.</ref>
A Sumerian document known as ''Instructions of Shuruppak'' dated by Kramer to about BC, refers in a later version to Ziusudra. Kramer "Ziusudra had become a venerable figure in literary tradition by the middle of the third millennium B.C."Kramer1967, .


===Xisuthros===
===Xisuthros===
''Xisuthros'' (Ξισουθρος) is a [[Greek language|Hellenization]] of Sumerian Ziusudra, known from the writings of [[Berossus]], a priest of [[Marduk]] in Babylon, on whom Alexander relied heavily for information on Mesopotamia. Among the interesting features of this version of the flood myth, are the identification, through ''[[interpretatio graeca]]'', of the Sumerian god [[Enki]] with the Greek god [[Cronus]], the father of [[Zeus]]; and the assertion that the [[reed boat]] constructed by Xisuthros survived, at least until Berossus' day, in the "Corcyrean Mountains" of [[Armenia]]. Xisuthros was listed as a king, the son of one Ardates, and to have reigned 18 ''sari''. One saros (''shar'' in Akkadian) stands for 3600 and hence 18 ''sari'' was translated as 64,800 years. R. M. Best argued this was a mistranslation; the archaic U<sub>4</sub> sign meaning year was confused with the ''sar'' sign which both have a 4-sided diamond shape and that Xisuthros actually reigned 18 years.<ref>R. M. Best, page 118</ref>
''Xisuthros'' () is a [[Hellenization]] of Sumerian Ziusudra, known from the writings of [[Berossus]], a priest of [[]] in Babylon, on whom Alexander relied heavily for information on Mesopotamia. Among the interesting features of this version of the flood myth, are the identification, through ''[[interpretatio graeca]]'', of the Sumerian god [[Enki]] with the Greek god [[Cronus]], the father of [[Zeus]]; and the assertion that the [[reed boat]] constructed by Xisuthros survived, at least until Berossus' day, in the "Corcyrean Mountains" of [[Armenia]]. Xisuthros was listed as a king, the son of one Ardates, and to have reigned 18 ''''. One saros (''shar'' in Akkadian) stands for 3600 and hence 18 '''' was translated as 64,800 years.
years.

==Atrahasis==
{{main|Atrahasis}}

The [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] ''Atrahasis Epic'' tells how the god Enki warns the hero Atrahasis ("Extremely Wise") to build a boat to escape a flood. The ''Epic of Ziusudra'' does not make it absolutely clear whether the flood was a river flood or something else, although it does state that mankind, along with all of the antediluvian cities, will be destroyed. According to one scholar, the ''Epic of Atrahasis'' tablet III iv, lines 6–9 identifies the flood as a local river flood: "Like dragonflies they [dead bodies] have filled the river. Like a raft they have moved in to the edge [of the river]. Like a raft they have moved in to the riverbank."<ref>Tigay, Jeffrey H. (1982), The Evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, pages 220, 225</ref>

It should be noted, however, that most other authorities interpret the Atrahasis flood as universal. A. R. George, and Lambert and Millard make it clear that the gods' intention in Atrahasis is to "wipe out mankind".<ref>Andrew George, p. xliv.; Lambert and Millard p. 12</ref> The flood destroys "all of the earth".<ref>[[Tikva Frymer-Kensky|Frymer-Kensky, Tikva Simone]] (2006), ''Studies in Bible and feminist criticism'', Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society. p. 354</ref> In the context of the larger story, it is difficult to see how a local river flood could accomplish these purposes. The use of a comparable metaphor in the Gilgamesh epic suggests that the reference to "dragonflies [filling] the river" is simply an evocative image of death rather than a literal description of the flood<ref>George, Andrew (2003), ''The Babylonian Gilgamesh epic: introduction, critical edition and cuneiform texts'', New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 506, 875-876. Apparently, the appearance of large numbers of drowned dragonflies—or mayflies according to George—was a common phenomenon associated with Mesopotamian river floods.</ref> Moreover, the very preceding line in Atrahasis mentions "the sea", which in the context of "the river" could mean the Euphrates River and the Persian Gulf.<ref>R M Best, "Noah's Ark and the Ziusudra Epic", p 51-55.</ref>

The ''Epic of Atrahasis'' provides additional information on the flood and flood hero that is omitted in ''Gilgamesh XI'' and other versions of the Ancient Near East flood myth. Likewise, the ''Gilgamesh XI'' flood text provides additional information that is missing in damaged portions of the Atrahasis tablets.

At lines 6 and 7 of tablet RS 22.421 we are told "I am Atrahasis. I lived in the temple of Ea [Enki], my Lord." Prior to the Early Dynastic period, kings were subordinate to priests, and often lived in the same temple complex where the priests lived.

Tablet III,ii lines 55–56 of the ''Atrahasis Epic'' state that "He severed the mooring line and set the boat adrift." This is consistent with a river flood, specifically the Euphrates River. If Atrahasis severed the mooring line at Shuruppak when the rain storm began, the runaway boat could float down the Euphrates River into the Persian Gulf.

The Sumerian word kur for hill could also mean mountain or country or land, depending on context. The kur sign (shadu in Akkadian) also meant hill or mountain, and therefore the information in Gilgamesh that the craft came to rest upon a mountain, could alternatively mean it came to rest on a hill at the west end of the Persian Gulf. This hill or mound may have been underwater at high tide when the ark grounded there.<ref>R M Best pages 55-57.</ref>

==Utnapishtim==
{{Main|Gilgamesh flood myth}}
In the eleventh tablet of the Babylonian ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'', '''Utnapishtim''' "the faraway" is the wise king of the Sumerian [[city state]] of Shuruppak who, along with his unnamed wife, survived a flood sent by [[Enlil]] to drown every living thing on Earth. Utnapishtim was secretly warned by the water god [[Enki|Ea]] of Enlil's plan and constructed a great boat or ark to save himself, his family and representatives of each species of animal. When the flood waters subsided, the boat was grounded on the mountain of [[Nisir]]. When Utnapishtim's ark had been becalmed for seven days, he released a [[dove]], who found no resting place and returned. A [[Hirundinidae|swallow]] was then released who found no perch and also returned, but the [[raven]] which was released third did not return. Utnapishtim then made a sacrifice and poured out a libation to Ea on the top of mount [[Nisir]]. Utnapishtim and his wife were granted [[immortality]] after the flood. Afterwards, he is taken by the gods to live forever at "the mouth of the rivers" and given the [[epithet]] "faraway".

The Babylonian myth of Utnapishtim (meaning "He found life", presumably in reference to the gift of immortality given him by the gods) is matched by the earlier ''Epic of Atrahasis'', and by the Sumerian version, the ''Epic of Ziusudra''. In fact, we now know that Utnapishtim and Atrahasis are one and the same. Atrahasis' name was simply changed to Utnapishtim after he was granted immortality. This explains why the name Atrahasis occurs in the Gilgamesh flood story even though the character is introduced as Utnapishtim.

==Noah==
{{main|Noah}}

The similarities between the story of Noah's Ark, the Sumerian story of Ziusudra, and the Babylonian stories of Atrahasis and Utnapishtim are shown by corresponding lines in various versions:

<blockquote>"the storm had swept...for seven days and seven nights" — Ziusudra 203
"For seven days and seven nights came the storm" — Atrahasis III,iv, 24

"rain days and seven nights the wind and storm" — Gilgamesh XI, 127
"rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights" — Genesis 7:12</blockquote>

<blockquote>"Ziusudra made an opening in the large boat" — Ziusudra vi, 207
"I opened the window" — Gilgamesh XI, 135
"Noah opened the window of the ark" — Genesis 8:6
"he pried open a portion of the boat" — Berossus.</blockquote>

<blockquote>"He offered a sacrifice" — Atrahasis III,v, 31
"And offered a sacrifice" — Gilgamesh XI, 155
"offered burnt offerings on the altar" — Genesis 8:20
"built an altar and sacrificed to the gods" — Berossus.</blockquote>

<blockquote>"The gods smelled the savor" — Atrahasis III,v,34
"The gods smelled the sweet savor" — Gilgamesh XI, 160
"And the Lord smelled the sweet savor..." — Genesis 8:21</blockquote>

The [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] flood story of [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 6–9 dates to at least the 5th century BC. According to the [[documentary hypothesis]], it is a composite of two literary sources [[Jahwist|J]] and [[Priestly source|P]] that were combined by a post-exilic editor, 539–400 BC.


===Other sources===
Swiss scholar [[Hans Heinrich Schmid]] believes both the J material and the P material were products of the [[Babylonian exile]] period (6th century BC) and were directly derived from Babylonian sources (see also [[Panbabylonism]]).<ref>Hans Heinrich Schmid, ''The So-Called Yahwist'' (1976) discussed in Antony F. Campbell and Mark A. O'Brien, ''Sources of the Pentateuch'' (1993) pp 2–11, note 24.</ref>
Ziusudra is also mentioned in other ancient literature, including ''The Death of Gilgamesh''{{sfn|ETCSL: t.1.8.1.3}} and ''The Poem of Early Rulers'',{{sfn|ETCSL: t.5.2.5}} and a late version of ''[[Instructions of Shuruppak|The Instructions of Shuruppak]]''.{{sfn|ETCSL: t.5.6.1}}


==See also==
==See also==
*[[History of Sumer]]
*[[History of Sumer]]
*[[Sumerian king list]]
*[[Manu (Hinduism)]]


==Notes==
==Notes==
<!-- See [[Wikipedia:Footnotes]] for instructions. -->
<!-- See [[Wikipedia:Footnotes]] for instructions. -->
{{reflist|2}}
{{|}}


==References==
====
{{refbegin|35em}}
* W. G. Lambert and [[Alan Millard|A. R. Millard]], ''Atrahasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood'', Eisenbrauns, 1999, ISBN 1-57506-039-6.
* R. M. Best, ''Noah's Ark and the Ziusudra Epic'', Eisenbrauns, 1999, ISBN 0-9667840-1-4.
* Noah's Ark and the Ziusudra Epic
| last = Best | first = R. M. | year = 1999
| publisher = Eisenbrauns
| isbn = 0-9667840-1-4
}}
*{{citation| title = Sumer and the Sumerians
| last = Crawford | first = Harriet | author-link=Harriet Crawford |year = 1991
| publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]]
| isbn = 978-052138175-8
}}
*{{citation| title = Myths from Mesopotamia
| last = Dalley | first = Stephanie | year = 2008
| page = 110
| ref = {{harvid|Tablet XI, line 23}}
}}
*{{citation| title = ETCSLtranslation: t.1.8.1.3 The death of Gilgameš
| website = The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature
| publisher = Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford
| year = 2006
| url = http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.8.1.3
| ref = {{harvid|ETCSL: t.1.8.1.3}}
}}
*{{citation| title = ETCSLtranslation: t.5.2.5 The poem of early rulers
| website = The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature
| publisher = Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford
| year = 2006
| url = http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.5.2.5
| ref = {{harvid|ETCSL: t.5.2.5}}
}}
*{{citation| title = ETCSLtranslation: t.5.6.1 The instructions of Šuruppag
| website = The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature
| publisher = Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford
| year = 2006
| url = http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.5.6.1
| ref = {{harvid|ETCSL: t.5.6.1}}
}}
*{{citation| title = The Sumerian King List
| last = Jacobsen | first = Thorkild | year = 1939
| author-link = Thorkild Jacobsen
| pages = 75 and 76; footnotes 32 and 34
| publisher = University of Chicago Press
}}
*{{citation| title = Sumerian Mythology: Miscellaneous Myths
| last = Kramer | first = Samuel Noah | year = 1961
| website = Internet Sacred Text Archive
| publisher = University of Pennsylvania Press
| url = http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/sum/sum09.htm
}}
*{{citation
| title = Reflections on the Mesopotamian Flood
| last = Kramer
| first = Samuel Noah
| year = 1967
| magazine = Expedition Magazine
| volume = 9
| issue = 4
| publisher = Penn Museum
| at = p.16, col.2
| url = https://www.penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/PDFs/9-4/Reflections.pdf
| access-date = 28 May 2018
| archive-date = 19 June 2021
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210619071900/https://www.penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/PDFs/9-4/Reflections.pdf
| url-status = dead
}}
*{{citation| title = Atrahasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood
| last1 = Lambert | first1 = W. G.
| last2 = Millard | first2 = A. R.
| author1-link = Wilfred G. Lambert
| author2-link = Alan Millard
| year = 1999
| publisher = Eisenbrauns
| isbn = 1-57506-039-6
}}
*{{citation| title = The Chaldean Kings Before the Flood
| last = Langdon | first = S. | year = 1923
| journal = Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
}}
*{{citation| title = Noah's Flood Reconsidered
| last = Mallowan | first = M.E.L. | year = 1964
| journal = Iraq
| volume = 26 | issue = 2 | pages = 62–82
| doi = 10.2307/4199766 | jstor = 4199766
| s2cid = 128633634 }}
*{{citation| title = Excavations at Fara
| last = Schmidt | first = Erik | year = 1931
| journal = The Museum Journal | via = [[Internet Archive]]
| volume = 22 | issue = 2 | pages = 193–217
| url = https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.530864
}}
*{{citation| title = The Sumerian king list: translation
| website = The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature
| publisher = Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford
| url = http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section2/tr211.htm | url-status = live
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080508061030/http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section2/tr211.htm
| date = n.d. | archive-date = 8 May 2008
| ref = {{harvid|ETCSL: Sumerian king list|n.d.}}
}}
*{{citation| title = Ziusudra
| website = Oracc: The Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus
| url = http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/epsd2/cbd/sux/o0048582.html
| ref = {{harvid|Oracc}}
}}
{{refend}}


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.noahs-ark-flood.com/parallels.htm A comparison of equivalent lines in six ancient versions of the flood story]
* [http://www.noahs-ark-flood.com/parallels.htm A comparison of equivalent lines in six ancient versions of the flood story]
* [http://www.livius.org/fa-fn/flood/flood1.html Ancient Near East flood myths] All texts: ([http://www.livius.org/fa-fn/flood/flood2-t.html Ziusudra], [http://www.livius.org/fa-fn/flood/flood3-t-atrahasis.html Atrahasis], [http://www.livius.org/fa-fn/flood/flood3-t-gilgamesh.html Gilgamesh], [http://www.livius.org/fa-fn/flood/flood1-t-bible1.html Genesis], [http://www.livius.org/fa-fn/flood/flood3-t-berossus.html Berossus]), commentary, and a [http://www.livius.org/fa-fn/flood/flood6-parallels.html table with parallels]
* [://www.livius.org/-flood Ancient Near East flood myths] All texts: ([://www.livius.org//flood/flood2-t ], [://www.livius.org///-- Atrahasis], [://www.livius.org//flood/-gilgamesh Gilgamesh], [://www.livius.org//flood/flood1-t-. ], [://www.livius.org/-/flood/-t- ]), commentary, and a [://www.livius.org//flood/flood6-parallels table with parallels]
*[http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.7.4# ETCSL - Text and translation of the Sumerian flood story] ([http://www-etcsl.orient.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr174.htm alternate site])
*[http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.7.4# ETCSL Text and translation of the Sumerian flood story] ([http://www-etcsl.orient.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr174.htm alternate site])


{{s-start}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-bef| rows = 2 | before = [[Ubara-Tutu]] or [[Shuruppak]] }}
{{s-bef| rows = 2 | before = [[Ubara-Tutu]] [[Shuruppak]]}}
{{s-ttl| title = [[King of Sumer]]
{{s-ttl| title = [[King of Sumer]]
| years = c. legendary or 2900 BC }}
| years = c. legendary or 2900 BC
}}
{{s-aft| after = [[Jushur]] of [[Kish (Sumer)|Kish]] }}
{{s-aft|after=[[Jushur]] of [[Kish (Sumer)|Kish]]}}
{{s-ttl| title = [[ENSI|Ensi]] of [[Shuruppak]]
{{s-ttl| title = [[|Ensi]] of [[Shuruppak]]
| years = c. legendary or 2900 BC }}
| years = c. legendary or 2900 BC
}}
{{s-non| reason = City flooded according to legend }}
{{s-non|reason=City flooded according to legend}}
{{s-end}}
{{s-end}}


{{Notable Rulers of Sumer}}
{{ }}
{{Ancient Near East}}
{{Ancient Near East}}
{{Sumerian mythology}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziusudra}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziusudra}}
[[Category:Characters in Mesopotamian mythology]]
[[Category:Epic of Gilgamesh]]
[[Category:Flood myths]]
[[Category:Flood myths]]
[[Category:Mesopotamian mythology]]
[[Category:]]
[[Category:Sumerian rulers]]
[[Category:Sumerian ]]
[[Category:Heroes in mythology and legend]]

Latest revision as of 14:49, 1 July 2024

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Ziusudra
𒍣𒌓𒋤𒁺
King of Shuruppak
King of Sumer
Sumerian King List, 1800 BC, Larsa, Iraq
Antediluvian king
Reignc. 2900 BCE
PredecessorUbara-tutu
SuccessorDeluge
Jushur of Kish
DiedImmortal
DynastyAntediluvian
FatherUbara-tutu (Akkadian tradition)

Ziusudra (Old Babylonian Akkadian: 𒍣𒌓𒋤𒁺, romanized: Ṣíusudrá [ṣi₂-u₄-sud-ra₂], Neo-Assyrian Akkadian: 𒍣𒋤𒁕, romanized: Ṣísudda,[1] Ancient Greek: Ξίσουθρος, romanized: Xísouthros) of Shuruppak (c. 2900 BC) is listed in the WB-62 Sumerian King List recension as the last king of Sumer prior to the Great Flood. He is subsequently recorded as the hero of the Eridu Genesis and appears in the writings of Berossus as Xisuthros.[citation needed]

Ziusudra is one of several mythic characters who are protagonists of Near Eastern flood myths, including Atrahasis, Utnapishtim and the biblical Noah. Although each story displays its own distinctive features, many key story elements are common to two, three, or all four versions.[citation needed]

Literary and archaeological evidence

[edit]

King Ziusudra of Shuruppak

[edit]
Main article: Sumerian king list

In the WB-62 Sumerian king list recension, Ziusudra, or Zin-Suddu of Shuruppak, is listed as son of the last king of Sumer before a great flood.[2] He is recorded as having reigned as both king and gudug priest for ten sars (periods of 3,600 years),[3] although this figure is probably a copyist error for ten years.[4] In this version, Ziusudra inherited rulership from his father Ubara-Tutu,[5] who ruled for ten sars.[6]

The lines following the mention of Ziusudra read:

Then the flood swept over. After the flood had swept over, and the kingship had descended from heaven, the kingship was in Kish.[7]

The city of Kish flourished in the Early Dynastic period soon after a river flood archaeologically attested by sedimentary strata at Shuruppak (modern Tell Fara), Uruk, Kish, and other sites, all of which have been radiocarbon dated to ca. 2900 BC.[8] Polychrome pottery from the Jemdet Nasr period (ca. 30th century BC), which immediately preceded the Early Dynastic I period, was discovered directly below the Shuruppak flood stratum.[8][9] Max Mallowan wrote that "we know from the Weld Blundell prism [i.e. WB-62] that at the time of the Flood, Ziusudra, the Sumerian Noah, was King of the city of Shuruppak where he received warning of the impending disaster. His role as a saviour agrees with that assigned to his counterpart Utnapishtim in the Gilgamesh Epic. ... both epigraphical and archaeological discovery give good grounds for believing that Ziusudra was a prehistoric ruler of a well-known historic city the site of which has been identified."[10]

That Ziusudra was a king from Shuruppak is supported by the Gilgamesh XI tablet, which makes reference to Utnapishtim (the Akkadian translation of the Sumerian name Ziusudra) with the epithet "man of Shuruppak" at line 23.[11]

Sumerian flood myth

[edit]
Main article: Eridu Genesis

The tale of Ziusudra is known from a single fragmentary tablet written in Sumerian, datable by its script to the 17th century BC (Old Babylonian Empire), and published in 1914 by Arno Poebel.[12] The first part deals with the creation of man and the animals and the founding of the first cities Eridu, Bad-tibira, Larak, Sippar, and Shuruppak. After a missing section in the tablet, we learn that the gods have decided to send a flood to destroy mankind. The god Enki (lord of the underworld sea of fresh water and Sumerian equivalent of Babylonian god Ea) warns Ziusudra, the ruler of Shuruppak, to build a large boat; the passage describing the directions for the boat is also lost. When the tablet resumes, it is describing the flood. A terrible storm raged for seven days, "the huge boat had been tossed about on the great waters," then Utu (Sun) appears and Ziusudra opens a window, prostrates himself, and sacrifices an ox and a sheep. After another break, the text resumes, the flood is apparently over, and Ziusudra is prostrating himself before An (Sky) and Enlil (Lordbreath), who give him "breath eternal" and take him to dwell in Dilmun. The remainder of the poem is lost.[13][failed verification]

The Epic of Ziusudra adds an element at lines 258–261 not found in other versions, that after the flood[14] "king Ziusudra ... they caused to dwell in the KUR Dilmun, the place where the sun rises". The Sumerian word "KUR" is an ambiguous word. Samuel Noah Kramer states that "its primary meanings is 'mountain' is attested by the fact that the sign used for it is actually a pictograph representing a mountain. From the meaning 'mountain' developed that of 'foreign land', since the mountainous countries bordering Sumer were a constant menace to its people. Kur also came to mean 'land' in general".[13] The last sentence can be translated as "In the mountain of crossing, the mountain of Dilmun, the place where the sun rises".[13]

A Sumerian document known as the Instructions of Shuruppak dated by Kramer to about 2600 BC, refers in a later version to Ziusudra. Kramer stated "Ziusudra had become a venerable figure in literary tradition by the middle of the third millennium B.C."[15]

Xisuthros

[edit]

Xisuthros (Ξίσουθρος) is a Hellenization of the Sumerian Ziusudra, known from the writings of Berossus, a priest of Bel in Babylon, on whom Alexander Polyhistor relied heavily for information on Mesopotamia. Among the interesting features of this version of the flood myth, are the identification, through interpretatio graeca, of the Sumerian god Enki with the Greek god Cronus, the father of Zeus; and the assertion that the reed boat constructed by Xisuthros survived, at least until Berossus' day, in the "Corcyrean Mountains" of Armenia. Xisuthros was listed as a king, the son of one Ardates, and to have reigned 18 saroi. One saros (shar in Akkadian) stands for 3600 and hence 18 saroi was translated as 64,800 years. A saroi or saros is an astrologolical term defined as 222 lunar months of 29.5 days or 18.5 lunar years equal to 17.93 solar years.

Other sources

[edit]

Ziusudra is also mentioned in other ancient literature, including The Death of Gilgamesh[16] and The Poem of Early Rulers,[17] and a late version of The Instructions of Shuruppak.[18]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Oracc.
  2. ^ Jacobsen 1939, pp. 75 and 76, footnotes 32 and 34.
  3. ^ Langdon 1923, pp. 251–259.
  4. ^ Best 1999, pp. 118–119.
  5. ^ Tablet XI, line 23.
  6. ^ Langdon 1923, p. 258, note 5.
  7. ^ ETCSL: Sumerian king list n.d.
  8. ^ a b Crawford 1991, p. 19.
  9. ^ Schmidt 1931, pp. 193–217.
  10. ^ Mallowan 1964, pp. 62–82.
  11. ^ Tablet XI, line 23, p. 110.
  12. ^ Lambert & Millard 1999, p. 138.
  13. ^ a b c Kramer 1961.
  14. ^ Lambert & Millard 1999, p. 97.
  15. ^ Kramer 1967, p. 16, col.2.
  16. ^ ETCSL: t.1.8.1.3.
  17. ^ ETCSL: t.5.2.5.
  18. ^ ETCSL: t.5.6.1.

Sources

[edit]
  • Best, R. M. (1999), Noah's Ark and the Ziusudra Epic, Eisenbrauns, ISBN 0-9667840-1-4
  • Crawford, Harriet (1991), Sumer and the Sumerians, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-052138175-8
  • Dalley, Stephanie (2008), Myths from Mesopotamia, p. 110
  • "ETCSLtranslation: t.1.8.1.3 The death of Gilgameš", The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford, 2006
  • "ETCSLtranslation: t.5.2.5 The poem of early rulers", The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford, 2006
  • "ETCSLtranslation: t.5.6.1 The instructions of Šuruppag", The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford, 2006
  • Jacobsen, Thorkild (1939), The Sumerian King List, University of Chicago Press, pp. 75 and 76, footnotes 32 and 34
  • Kramer, Samuel Noah (1961), "Sumerian Mythology: Miscellaneous Myths", Internet Sacred Text Archive, University of Pennsylvania Press
  • Kramer, Samuel Noah (1967), "Reflections on the Mesopotamian Flood" (PDF), Expedition Magazine, vol. 9, no. 4, Penn Museum, p.16, col.2, archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2021, retrieved 28 May 2018
  • Lambert, W. G.; Millard, A. R. (1999), Atrahasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood, Eisenbrauns, ISBN 1-57506-039-6
  • Langdon, S. (1923), "The Chaldean Kings Before the Flood", Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
  • Mallowan, M.E.L. (1964), "Noah's Flood Reconsidered", Iraq, 26 (2): 62–82, doi:10.2307/4199766, JSTOR 4199766, S2CID 128633634
  • Schmidt, Erik (1931), "Excavations at Fara", The Museum Journal, 22 (2): 193–217 – via Internet Archive
  • "The Sumerian king list: translation", The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford, n.d., archived from the original on 8 May 2008
  • "Ziusudra", Oracc: The Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus
[edit]
Preceded by King of Sumer
c. legendary or 2900 BC 		Succeeded by
Ensi of Shuruppak
c. legendary or 2900 BC 		City flooded according to legend
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