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by Joshua J. Mark
published on 23 February 2011
The Myth of Adapa (also known as Adapa and the Food of Life) is the Mesopotamian story
of the Fall of Man in that it explains why human beings are mortal. The god of wisdom,
Ea, creates the first man, Adapa, and endows him with great intelligence and wisdom
but not with immortality, and when immortality is offered Adapa by the great
god Anu, Ea tricks Adapa into refusing the gift.
Though it is not expressed directly in the myth, Ea's reasoning in this seems similar
to Yahweh's in the Genesis story from the Biblewhere, after Adam and Eve are cursed
for eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Yahweh casts them out before
they can also eat of the Tree of Life:
Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put
forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever; Therefore the
Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden(Genesis 3:22-23)
If Adam and Eve were immortal they would be on par with Yahweh and there would
be a loss of status for the god; and this is Eas same reasoning in the Adapa myth. In the
Genesis myth, man takes knowledge for himself by eating of the tree; in the
Mesopotamian myth, the god Ea grants man knowledge in the process of creation.
Knowing that Adapa is already wise, Ea (like Yahweh in the later story from Genesis)
needs to keep the man in his place.
Adapa was the king of the city of Eridu and, the myth tells us, went fishing one day in
the Persian Gulf when the south wind suddenly capsized his boat and hurled him into
the sea. Furious at this, Adapa broke the wing of the south wind and for seven days the
wind could not blow. The sky god Anu is angered by this and sends for Adapa to
explain himself. Adapa receives counsel from Ea on how he should behave in the court
of the gods. As Ea is Adapa's father-god and creator, Adapa trusts him to tell him the
truth. But Ea fears that Anu is apt to offer Adapa the food and drink of eternal life and
Ea is intent on making sure that Adapa does not accept the offer.
First Ea tells him that he should flatter the guardians of the gates, Tammuz and Gishida
(two dying and reviving deities) by making it known that he remembers them, that he
knows who they are. If Adapa does this then the guardians will let him pass without
difficulty and will speak favorably of him to Anu. Once Adapa is in the presence of
Anu, Ea further tells him, he should refuse any food or drink offered because it will be
the food of death and the drink of death which will be offered as punishment for Adapa
breaking the wing of the south wind. However, Ea says, Adapa may accept oil to anoint
himself and accept whatever clothing is offered.
Adapa does exactly as Ea suggests, respectfully honoring Tammuz and Gishida and
refusing the food and drink offered by Anu (though anointing himself and accepting a
robe). Anu, puzzled that the man should refuse the food and drink of life and the gift of
immortality, sends Adapa back to earth where he must live out his life as a mortal. The
tale would seem to conclude with Anu punishing Ea for deceiving Adapa, but as the
third tablet is fragmentary, it is difficult to say with certainty.
An alternative interpretation of the myth claims that Ea is sincerely acting in the best
interests of Adapa when he warns him against accepting food or drink from Anu
because Ea earnestly believes that Anu will punish Adapa with death for breaking the
wing of the south wind. This interpretation claims that Eas punishment at the end of
the poem is not for deceiving Adapa but for warning him against Anus plans.
Nowhere in the poem, however, does it state that Anu planned to kill Adapa, only that
he was upset that the south wind was not blowing (that life on earth was not
functioning as it should) and wanted Adapa to explain himself.
The poem makes more sense when understood as Ea deceiving Adapa to keep
immortality from human beings and Anu punishing Ea for this deception. Anu, upon
hearing Adapas explanation for his action, asks, "Why has Ea revealed to impure
mankind/The heart of heaven and earth? This response seems to indicate that Anu
respects Adapas answer and is impressed by it but wonders why Ea should have made
Adapa so intelligent yet denied him eternal life. It is directly after Anu asks this
question and What can we do with him? that he orders the food and water of eternal
life be brought to Adapa. Anu wishes to correct Eas mistake and grant Adapa eternal
life and seems genuinely puzzled when Adapa refuses his hospitality. Anu is
attempting to pre-empt the fundamental question which human beings have asked
through the ages, Why should I be born to die and, knowing I will die, what is the
point of living?, by granting immortality; but this is not to be.
The myth comes from the Babylonian Kassite period of the 14th century BCE (when the
Kassite tribe ruled in Babylon). The 3rd century BCE writer Berossus called Adapa
"Oannes" and described him as a fish-man who lived in the Persian Gulf and taught
wisdom and civilization to human beings. Berossus was following the tradition of
Adapa as one of the Abgal (or Apkallu) the seven sage demi-gods who gave civilization
to human beings in the ancient days before the Great Flood. In The Myth of Adapa,
however, the central character is depicted as a wise king who is duped by a god, not as
a demi-god himself.
The following translation of the myth is by Robert W. Rogers from his 1912
work, Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament: