What the ancient Sumerians wrote about the creation of the world pt. 1

According to one of the texts about the supreme god Enlil, he divided heaven and earth, grew the seed of the fields, invented a hoe and gave it to people. According to another myth, the supreme god also created all grains and trees.

The Sumerian gods created humans to rid themselves of the need to work. This was the proposal made by the wise Enki when the goddess Ninmah created the first man. The gods decided to celebrate the appearance of man. During the feast, the goddess created different versions of flawed human beings, and Enki found a use for each of them. Finally, Ninmah created a creature that could not move, eat or drink - a baby. Enki suggested that Ninmah should find a use for this creature, and she could not think of anything.

Another plot is preserved in the Akkadian epic Atrahasis. At first, Enki entrusted the field work and the maintenance of the canals to the lesser gods. After 40 years, they rebelled, and the wise god decided to create people. The basis for them was the clay, flesh and blood of the deceased god, as well as the saliva of other deities.

According to the epic, people began to multiply very quickly, and their noise began to annoy the gods, who preferred to destroy their creations with a flood. Enki warned a man named Atrahasis who built an ark for his family. After the disappearance of people, the gods realized that they were left without their offerings. Repented, they vowed not to resort to such drastic measures again. Instead, the gods decided to keep the human population under control through difficult childbirth, infant mortality, and taboos.

The origin of the world was also evidenced by the dialogue "Dispute between Sheep and Grain". It began with a depiction of antiquity, when the gods and people did not know agriculture and cattle breeding. The gods at that time lived on a sacred hill, and people - at its foot. At some point, the deities created sheep and grain. Having tasted the "bounty of sheep and grain" in their banquet hall, the gods decided to give them to people as well.