The Sumerian Flood Story: The Nippur Tablet Cover Image

Шумерският мит за Потока. Таблицата от Нипур
The Sumerian Flood Story: The Nippur Tablet

Author(s): Yoanna Dyulgerska
Subject(s): History, Anthropology, Social Sciences, Archaeology, Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Ancient World, Culture and social structure
Published by: Великотърновски университет „Св. св. Кирил и Методий”
Keywords: Flood myth; Sumer; first cities; gods; Ziusudra
Summary/Abstract: The Great Flood is a legendary story known from many ancient civilizations. The general idea is that the gods or god decide to destroy sinful humanity, but in the end they spare it by leaving a representative to repopulate the earth. Hardly anyone has not heard of the biblical Noah, God’s chosen one who survived the flood, but few know that long before history was recorded in the Bible, there was Ziusudra – the chosen one of the Sumerian gods who decided to destroy humanity as they unleash the waters and flood the earth. This paper presents a historical, geographical and substantive description of the cuneiform tablet revealing the history of the flood. Examples of other Sumerian cultural artifacts related to the myth are presented, as well as analogies with civilizations far and close to the Sumer, which in turn brings information about international relations in antiquity and the significance of a history present in human global civilization over the millennia.

  • Page Range: 320-330
  • Page Count: 11
  • Publication Year: 2021
  • Language: English, Bulgarian