Genesis 2

[dreamer_easy]

Note to self for later exploration:

- Is the river Hiddekel the Tigris?

As a child, I misread a book about Adam and Eve and thought God had given them "shawls" rather than "souls", which made sense to me, given they must have been freezing.

Clay seems to be a popular material for creating human beings. Fed up with having to do all the work, the Mesopotamian gods get the wise but alcoholic god, Enki, to make them some human servants. However, he and his wife Ninmah get tipsy and make a series of disabled people; but Enki finds a job for each of them. (I think this is a remarkably gentle and compassionate explanation for disability - it's not a judgement or even a tragedy, but only a divine blunder, with a straightforward solution.) Finally, they make the first baby, who's completely useless, and the human race is born. Here's a translation, which takes a bit of effort to follow: Enki and Ninmah. (The Biblical God is far more dignified, if perhaps not quite as much fun.)

Comments

Re: Shawls, Hiddekel

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

Here we google - the Hiddekel is indeed the Tigris. I'll bet the other two rivers are real too - so where was Eden?

Re: Shawls, Hiddekel

[jblum.livejournal.com]

Wasn't there an article a little while ago about how Saddam's regime had drained a good chunk of the marshlands believed to be Eden?

Re: Shawls, Hiddekel

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

Yup. It would add up, as it's Sumer. Saddam's attitude to Iraq's history was always paradoxical - he shot archaeological looters, and turned Babylon into a theme park - part restoration, part desecration. For political leaders, the past is only valuable if it's useful to you - for Saddam, it meant legitimation via connection to the great rulers of Ancient Mesopotamia (Cf the Aztecs and their claimed descent from the Toltecs). For Bush and co, the squandering of Iraq's treasures meant fuck-all.

Re: Shawls, Hiddekel

[(Anonymous)]

Again from my 1970 "New English" bible - one of the named rivers is the Euphrates.