Nehar Deah

Noah

Noah, Ziusudra, Atra-hasis and Ut-napishtim

The story of the flood (Bereishit 6-7) claims a central position in the first eleven chapters of the Book of Bereishit (Genesis), which deal with the history of the world up until the days of Abraham. The basic story is simple and well known: G-d decides, because of their sins, to wipe out all living beings from the face of the earth, and he reveals this to the righteous Noah. Noah creates the ark according to G-d's instructions and he accepts into it the members of his household and also pairs of each of the animal kingdom. The flood covers the earth and only the inhabitants of the ark remain alive. After the ark lands on Mount Ararat, Noah send birds out from the ark, in the tradition of ancient sailors. After he sends a raven (once) and a dove (three times), he realizes that the waters have subsided and he leaves the ark, builds an altar and raises up sacrifices on it. G-d smells the fragrant odour of the sacrifices, blesses Noah and his sons and promises them that he will never again bring a flood to the world. From then on man should expect that only tal u'matar (dew and rain) would descend from the heavens, bringing blessing to all of humanity.

Stories of a great flood are found in the traditions of many nations but only ancient Mesopotamian traditions have stories that are significantly similar to the biblical account. (The name Mesopotamia refers to the region between the Tigris and the Euphrates.) In Mesopotamian traditions, as in the biblical story, the flood is seen as a something that divides between two distinct periods in the history of the world: events that took place "before the flood" and events that took place "after the flood".

The Mesopotamian story, in its various forms, has reached us through a number of sources: the most famous being one of the most important Mesopotamian works: the "Gilgamesh Epic". Gilgamesh was a Sumerian king (circa 2600 B.C.) that became a legendary figure around whom arose many legends. Many years after his death, the "Gilgamesh Epic" was composed in Babylon that combined these stories into one consolidated epic. Towards the end of the epic, the reader is told of a meeting between Gilgamesh and Ut-napistim, the hero of the flood, who tells him the story of his life. The name Ut-napistim means "found life" and this is in keeping with his fate - after the flood the gods grant him eternal life. We also know an another Babylonian tradition about an alternative hero of the flood, Atra-hasis (Atra-hasis = "extra wise") and another abridged and more ancient Sumerian tradition of Ziusudra (meaning "master of long life", in accordance with his fate).

On the basis of these and other Mesopotamian sources the following picture is revealed: the expansion of the human race, which was created to perform menial labour instead of the gods, disturbed their peace and quiet. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to reduce the human population, the deity Enlil decides to bring a flood to the world. Ea, the god of wisdom, reveals this plan to his beloved Atra-hasis and commands him to build a boat and to tell the people of his city that he is building it in order to escape from Enlil, the god of dry land. Atra-hasis, his family and possessions, animals of all types and the artisans that built the boat all embark onto the boat. After the flood, which lasted seven days, Atra-hasis sacrifices to the gods. The god Ninti, creator of man, promises to remember the flood, but Enlil, who discovers that Atra-hasis has been saved, is very angry. After Enlil learns of other methods to control the human population - barrenness, stillbirths, and the use of especially dedicated women who do not fall pregnant - he promises to never again bring a flood to the world.

The biblical story is very similar to these stories in its format and also in many of its details. In all these stories, the flood destroys all of humanity, except for one man who is saved, by building an ark or boat, according to the exact instructions of a god, and he also rescues with him animals, thus ensuring the continuation of the world. After the flood the boat/ark lands on a mountain (Mount Nisir in the "Gilgamesh Epic", Mount Ararat in the biblical account), the hero sends out birds to check conditions on the outside: in the "Gilgamesh Epic" Ut-napistim sends a dove, a swallow, and a raven and after the last one does not return, he sends forth all the animals and offers sacrifices. In contrast Noah sends a raven and afterwards a dove and after it does not return he sends the animals forth from the ark and offers sacrifices. According to the story of Atra-hasis, the gods smelled his sacrifices and swooped down on him like hungry flies, and because of this Ninti vowed to remember the days of the flood. In the biblical account, after smelling Noah's sacrifice, G-d says"…neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done." (Bereishit 8:21)

The similarity between the stories teaches us about the historical connection between the story in Bereishit and the Mesopotamian tradition. The earlier Mesopotamian tradition probably influenced the later Jewish tradition: in contrast to the geographical conditions in the land of Israel, floods were a common occurrence in ancient Mesopotamia and the development of a tradition of a flood is natural to the geographical conditions there. The Mesopotamian origins of the biblical story are apparent even in the name of the mountain on which the ark landed: Mount Ararat.

Besides what we can learn from the similarity between the biblical and the Mesopotamian stories, we can also learn from the differences between them that show us the intentions of the biblical story. The Mesopotamian account is based on the contrast between the deities desire to destroy humanity and the opposition of this desire by a single deity. There is no place for this in the biblical account: the decision to destroy humanity but also to save a single righteous man are both attributed to G-d, and therefore there is no need to use treachery to reveal the upcoming flood to the hero of the story, as Ea does in the Mesopotamian story. G-d's mercies are displayed prominently in the biblical story: in contrast to the boat in the Mesopotamian story which is guided by a ship's captain, it is emphasized that Noah's ark is dependant only on G-d and in contrast to Ziusudra and Atra-hasis who have a person who helps them to seal up the door from the outside, in the biblical story this is performed by G-d himself (Bereishit 7:15). In the Mesopotamian story there is a blurring of the distinction between man and the gods: the gods themselves become frightened of the flood and the hero of these stories becomes a demigod himself in that he is granted eternal life. In contrast, the biblical account has no place for this: Noah continues to live on earth until his death and there is absolutely no hint of his becoming a deity or even being raised up to G-d.

A central difference between the biblical story and the Mesopotamian tradition lies in the reason for the flood: in contrast to the arbitrary reason given in the Mesopotamian story, the disturbing noise made by man, in the biblical story the reason given is a moral one: the sins of G-d's creatures brings destruction to the world, and Noah's righteousness is what saves it.

The emphasis on the moral aspect of the biblical story, proving that man's punishment was justified, is emphasized in post-biblical literature. According to this literature, G-d contained his anger for 120 years to allow man to repent (Midrash Tanchuma Noah - with reference to Bereishit 6:3).

According to another tradition (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 108a-b and also previous to this in the apocryphal "Sibylline Oracles" A 127-135, 147-199) Noah rebukes the evildoers over a long period of time, but they do not heed his words.

The comparison between the biblical story of Noah and its ancient counterparts, dealing with Ziusudra, Atra-hasis and Ut-napishtim, shows the common traditions on one and the uniqueness of the biblical account on the other hand. The ancient people of Israel where not a "nation which dwells alone" and when it claimed it's part of an ancient tradition, gave it it's own unique meaning which is characteristic of it's beliefs.

Second Temple Literature

The "Sibylline Oracles" is one of the books of the Apocrypha, books that were written mainly in Hebrew by Jews who lived in the time of the Second Temple and in the first few generations after it was destroyed (on the year 70 of the Common Era). These books were not found worthy of inclusion into the Biblical canon. (In Hebrew they are known as "sefarim chitzoni'im" meaning "external literature", for this reason.) In contrast to the books of the Bible that have been transmitted precisely, the apocryphal works have been slowly forgotten from Jewish literature, and have been preserved mainly by the various Christian churches. A few of these works found their place in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Bible and others were preserved separately by various churches in Greek, Latin, Syrian and other languages. The "Sibylline Oracles", which was preserved in Greek, has been retranslated in Hebrew in the last generations, and can be found, for example, in a compilation of Apocrypha under the name of Hartom (Tel Aviv, 5727).

In the Hellenistic world, a form of literature was commonly found, which contained collections of prophecies attributed to ancient seers, known as the Sibylline, who spoke in unfathomable riddles about that which would befall later generations. (The Sibyls took their name from Sibyl, an ancient Greek oracle, who probably lived in the sixth century before the Common Era.) These are "prophecies" after the fact, which sought to explain the present as a realization of fates that were determined in the misty reaches of the past. The widespread dispersion and acclaim of this type of literature, which was generally used for political and religious propaganda, meant that Greek-speaking Jews also made use of it, often as a means of dialogue with their Hellenistic surroundings and also to propagate the Jewish religion.

The Sybil is generally described as an elderly woman, sometimes extremely aged, of over 2000 years of age. As time passed, the Sibyls were associated with various cities and countries and lists were even compiled according to countries of origin. The introduction to the Jewish work, "the Sibylline Oracles", presents the Sibyl, in Hebrew, as the daughter or daughter-in-law of Noah, and in contrast to the pagan Sibyls who prophesized in the name of Apollo, the Sybil in this work prophesized in the name of G-d. In this way the Sibyl, a concept of pagan inception, became legitimized and entered the Jewish-Hellenist conceptual framework.

The words of the Hebrew Sibyls have reached us in collections of very varied material: "prophecies" of events in peoples and countries, moral teachings and more. Only a small part of these collections are of Jewish origin. One part is of Christian origin, another part is of Jewish origin but underwent adaptation by the Christian church. The earliest passages come from the second century before the Common Era, the latest passages, from the 7th century of the Common Era. These prophesies where composed in various countries, all under Hellenistic control.

A central part of the Oracles deals with a description of "the end of days", but one can also find in them many other topics. Thus, for example, we find in the "Sibylline Oracles", a 'prophecy" probably directed at the well-known 70CE explosion of the volcano Vesuvius, in the region of Naples in Italy. This explosion is seen, as a punishment for the Roman destruction of the temple a few years previous to it. These many facts, together with this unique form of folklore, give us an insight into a facet of Jewish life in the ancient Hellenist world.

Law and Language - "Tal", "Matar" and "Otiot shel Tal U'Matar"
("Dew", "Rain" and "the letters of Tal and Matar")

In a central prayer of the siddur ("prayer book"), the "Shemoneh Esrei" ("eighteen", an allusion to the fact that when it was originally composed it contained 18 blessings), the ninth blessing deals with issues of (financial) income and especially with requests for success in agricultural endeavors. Its opening words are "bless, on our behalf, Hashem our G-d, this year and all it's kinds of crops for the best". Immediately after this comes a request for precipitation in the correct time, but of note is that this request changes from summer to winter. In summer the blessing reads, "give blessing on the face of the earth", whereas in winter the wording is "give dew and rain on the face of the earth".

When exactly does summer end and winter start, with respect to this change? The Halacha (Jewish law) determines (Mishna Taanit 1:3), that in Israel, in the evening prayer of the 6th of Marcheshvan "we ask for rain" and we do so until the morning prayer of the first day of Pessach (Passover). This usually occurs in the week after the Torah portion of Noah, the story of the opening of the "windows of the heavens" (Bereishit 7:12) and the rainfall on the face of the earth for "forty days and forty nights" until the destruction of "every living substance on the face of the earth" (excluding, of course, Noah and the others in the ark).

Why was the 6th of Marcheshvan (note: this is the correct name of the month!) as the day on which the change takes place? It turns out that this day is exactly 2 weeks after the end of Succot (the Festival of Tabernacles). On Succot a special prayer is said which contains a request for rain, but the continual daily request is started only later, "so that the last of Israel can reach the river Euphrates" (Mishna, ibid). The last of the pilgrims who came from Babylon to Jerusalem for Succot, needed approximately two weeks to return home, and the rain would obviously have made this journey difficult to complete comfortably, and therefore we wait a period of two weeks before beginning our direct and constant requests for rain.

The juxtaposition of "dew and rain" is taken from the Bible. It appears, for example, in the story of Elijah the Prophet, who tells Achav about an upcoming period of drought and famine: "there shall not be dew or rain these years, but according to my word" (Kings I 17:1). "Rain and dew", according to this, is a general name for all types of precipitation. This is also apparent from the curse David places on the Gilboa Mountains: "let there be no dew, neither let there be rain, upon you" (Samuel II 1:21).

In the siddur we find, next to each other, the formula for summer ("give blessing") and for winter ("give dew and rain for blessing") and many printers would print them next to each other in smaller letters, sometimes even in tiny letters. From this, the phrase "letters of tal umatar" was born, meaning extremely small letters. In contrast is the phrase "letters of kiddush levana" (sanctification of the new moon), meaning extremely large letters, which comes from the religious ceremony of the sanctification of the new moon which is said outside, often in an ill lit place, and the words of the ceremony are therefore printed in very large letters to aid the readers.