Ancient Near East as a cosmic freshwater ocean that surrounds our planet (created in its midst) above and below, so the sketch shows the same as
Babylon's map, now in sideview. A bubble of breathable air clings to Earth, with the Abzu's boundary layer as a roof like on Athrahasis-Noah's lifeboat. Further details, such as Noah’s island Dilmun and the tunnel (through it, the sun god Shamash traveled dry-footed from west to east during night), are taken from the
Epic of Gilgamesh. An important technical detail are also the
sluices built into sky. Through them, the gods, skilled in construction of irrigation systems, supplied their Garden of Eden with rain, but also unleashed the Flood. The
Epic of Gilgamesh (c. 2100–1800 BCE) tells the
story of a massive flood from which only a single human family survives – a narrative that, according to current research, was largely borrowed from the
Atra-Hasis epic . In it, a cross-group organisation of Sumerian gods begins to transform Mesopotamian's steppe '
Eden' into a fertile garden landscape, introducing agriculture on Earth, which is one of the hallmarks of the
Neolithic Revolution. The hard labour provokes a revolt among the 'lower' gods. To end this strife, first humans were created in pairs to do the work in place of the gods and to reproduce themself. After a few thousand years, however, humans have multiplied to such an extent that they disturb the 'upper gods' with their noise, so
Enlil, the highest of all gods, decides to unleash a mighty flood to wipe out humanity. The rebellious god
Enki secretly warns his priest Atrahasis of the impending catastrophe. Giving him detailed instructions for building a boat, the Atrahasis-family survive, ensuring the continued existence of humanity. The similar
Eridu Genesis (), known from tablets found in the ruins of
Nippur in the late 1890s, was translated by
assyriologist Arno Poebel., who discovered and translated the
Epic of Gilgamesh Academic Yi Samuel Chen analyzed various texts from the
Early Dynastic III Period through to the Old Babylonian Period, and argues that the flood narrative was only added in texts written during the
Old Babylonian Period. With regard to the
Sumerian King List, expert observations have consistently indicated that the portion of the Sumerian King List discussing events before the flood differs stylistically from the King List Proper. Old Babylonian copies tend to represent a tradition of 'before the flood' apart from the actual King List, whereas the
Ur III copy of the King List and the duplicate from the Brockmon collection indicate that the King List Proper once existed independent of mention of the flood and the tradition of before the flood. Chen provides evidence that the section preceding the flood and the flood references in the Sumerian King List were later additions from the Old Babylonian Period, as the Sumerian King List underwent updates and edits. The flood as a watershed in the early history of the world was probably a new historiographical concept emerging in the Mesopotamian literary traditions during the Old Babylonian Period, as evident by the fact that the flood motif did not show up in the Ur III copy and that earliest chronographical sources related to the flood show up in the Old Babylonian Period. Chen also concludes that the name of
Ziusudra as a flood hero and the idea of the flood hinted at by that name in the Old Babylonian Version of "
Instructions of Shuruppak" are only developments during that Old Babylonian Period, when also the didactic text was updated with information from the burgeoning Antediluvian Tradition. In the
Genesis flood narrative in the
Hebrew Bible (
9th century BCE or
5th century BCE), the god
Yahweh, who had created man out of the dust of the ground, decides to flood the earth because of the corrupted state of mankind. Yahweh then gives the protagonist,
Noah, instructions to build
an ark in order to preserve human and animal life. When the ark is completed, Noah, his family, and representatives of all the animals of the earth are called upon to enter the ark. When the destructive flood begins, all life outside of the ark perishes. After the waters recede, all those aboard the ark disembark and have Yahweh's promise that he will never again judge the earth with a flood. Yahweh made the
rainbow the sign of this promise.
South Asia In
Hinduism, texts such as the
Satapatha Brahmana ( 6th century BCE) and the
Puranas contain the story of a great flood,
manvantara-sandhya, wherein the
Matsya avatar of
Vishnu warns the first man,
Manu, of the impending flood, and also advises him to build a giant boat. In
Zoroastrianism,
Ahriman tries to destroy the world with a drought that
Mithra ends by shooting an arrow into a rock from which a flood springs; one man survives in an ark with his cattle. German academic Norbert Oettinger argues that the story of
Yima and the Vara was originally a flood myth, and the harsh winter was added in due to the dry nature of Eastern Iran, as flood myths did not have as much of an effect as harsh winters. He has argued that the mention of melted water flowing in
Videvdad 2.24 is a remnant of the flood myth, and notes that Indian flood myths originally had Yama as the protagonist, but this was later changed to Manu.
Ancient Greece In
Plato's
Timaeus, written ,
Timaeus describes a flood myth similar to the earlier versions. In it, the
Bronze race of humans angers the high god
Zeus with their constant warring. Zeus decides to punish humanity with a flood. The
Titan Prometheus, who had created humans from clay, tells the secret plan to his son
Deucalion, advising him to build an ark in order to be saved. After nine nights and days, the water starts receding, and the ark lands on a mountain.
North America The
Cheyenne, a North American
Great Plains tribe, has a tradition where a flood altered the course of their history, perhaps occurring in the
Missouri River Valley. The
Blackfeet, another Great Plains tribe, have a story called "
Language on a Mountain". In this story, the deity Napi, referred to as Old Man, recounts a great flood that swept through the land. After the flood, Old Man made the water different colours. He gathered the people on top of a large mountain, where he gave them water of different colours. Old Man then told the people to drink the water, then speak, and so they did. The
Hopi, southwestern United States, have a tradition of a flood that nearly reached the tops of the mountains, and other
Puebloans have similar legends. == Historicity ==