Adapa

A Mesopotamian literary work that recounts the exploits of Adapa, originally a Sumerian folk hero. Fragments of the tale have been found in the ruins of the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, and a fuller version was unearthed in Egypt on a tablet inscribed in Akkadian.

Adapa’s story begins in the city of Eridu, southeast of Uruk, where he serves as a priest in the local temple of Ea, god of freshwater. One of Adapa’s jobs is to keep the shrine stocked with fresh food to use in sacrifices. So one day he takes his boat out into the Persian Gulf in hopes of catching some fish. But he has barely gotten started when a storm blows up and the boat capsizes, tossing him into the water and causing him to utter a curse against the god of the south wind. The curse proves effective because it causes one of the deity’s wings to break.

The great sky god, Anu, soon finds out what has happened and angrily orders Ea to bring Adapa to Anu’s throne room in the sky. Adapa realizes that he might suffer some kind of punishment. Yet he also recognizes that this is his big chance to become a hero to humanity by bringing back from the gods’ abode the secret of immortality. The problem, Adapa tells Ea, is that, at the moment, Anu is upset and in no mood to give him any gifts. But Ea offers to help Adapa get on Anu’s good side. Ea tells Adapa to heap flattery on Dumuzi and Gizzida, the minor gods who guard the gate of Anu’s heavenly palace. After receiving this praise, they will gladly put in a good word with their superior, Anu, on Adapa’s behalf.

Just as Ea foretold, Dumuzi and Gizzida persuade Anu to forgive Adapa for cursing the god of the south wind. In fact, Anu seems ready to reward Adapa for his years of service to the temple of Ea. However, the man makes a serious mistake during his audience with the great god. Ea told Adapa not to accept any food or drink during the audience because these would cause him to die. Sure enough, Anu offers Adapa some refreshments, and the man remembers Ea’s warning and refuses to accept them. Later, however, after he has returned to Eridu, Adapa finds out that Anu has tricked him. The refreshments the god had offered had actually been the food and drink of life, the secret of immortality itself. For the ancient Mesopotamians, the story revealed two morals: First, the gods work in mysterious ways; and second, humans are not destined to know the secrets of eternal life.