Mythology

hundred items which constitute the elements of Sumerian civilization. Inanna receives the gifts with joy, and loads them on her bark, ‘the boat of heaven’, and sets sail for Erech. When Enki recovers from his orgy he realizes that the me are missing from their accustomed place. The mention of a place in which the me are kept suggests that they are in the form of tablets. On discovering his loss Enki sends his messenger Isimud with instructions to recover them. Seven times he attempts to do so, but each time he is foiled by Ninshubur, Inanna’s vizier, of whom we have already heard. So the goddess brings to Erech the blessings of civilization. It will be noted that the various myths to which we have referred reflect the rivalry which existed between the various city-states of Sumer. The first items on the list of the me which Inanna obtained from Enki are those referring to lordship the crown, throne, and sceptre are mentioned, from which we may infer that the struggle for the hegemony of Sumer is one of the motives underlying these myths of the organization of the universe. The Creation of Man. We have already seen that the myth of Lahar and Ashnan ended up with the creation of man for the service of the gods. Another myth, the text of which is difficult and broken, describes the way in which man was created. Although the Sumerian myth differs considerably from the account given in the Babylonian Epic of Creation, both versions agree in the object for which man was created, namely, for the service of the gods, to till the ground and free the gods from having to work for their living. In the Sumerian myth the gods complain that they cannot get their food. Enki, the god of wisdom, to whom the gods generally resort in time of need, is asleep; but Nammu, the primeval ocean, the mother of the gods, arouses him from sleep. By Enki’s instructions Nammu and Ninmah, the goddess of birth, assisted by deities, whom Kramer’s rendering describes as ‘good and princely fashioners’, mix clay which is ‘over the abyss’ and bring man into existence. The tablet is broken and the text is difficult and obscure, but some curious details emerge. Enki gives a banquet to the gods to celebrate the creation of man. Enki and Ninmah drink much wine and become drunk. Ninmah takes some of the clay which is ‘over the abyss’ and creates six different kinds of human beings whose nature is obscure, except in the case of the last two, which are the barren woman and the eunuch. Enki decrees the fate of the eunuch as destined to stand before the king. The myth goes on to describe a further act of creation by Enki. He creates a human being who is feeble in mind and body, and then asks Ninmah to do something to improve the condition of the miserable creature, but she is unable to do anything and curses Enki for making such a creature. One of the Hebrew words for man is enosh, a root one meaning of which is ‘weak’ or ’sick’. This aspect of humanity is often emphasized in Hebrew poetry, and this curious element in the Sumerian myth may possibly underlie the Hebrew representation of man as failing to measure up to the place in the universe which the divine purpose had intended for him. We shall see later that important differences appear in the Babylonian myth of Creation which are not without significance in their influence on the Hebrew account of how man was created. The Myth of the Flood

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