This myth 51
is the closest extant Sumerian parallel to the Biblical Cain-Abel
story, although it ends with a reconciliation rather than a murder.
It consists of over three hundred lines, only about half of which
are complete; because of the numerous breaks, the meaning of the
text is therefore often difficult to penetrate. Tentatively the
contents of the poem may be reconstructed as follows:
Enlil, the air-god, has set his mind to bring forth trees and
grain and to establish abundance and prosperity in the land. For
this purpose two cultural beings, the brothers Emesh and
Enten, are created, and Enlil assigns to each specific
duties. The text is so badly damaged at this point that it is
impossible to make out the exact nature of these duties; the
following very brief intelligible passages will at least indicate
their general direction:
Enten caused the ewe
to give birth to the lamb, the goat to give birth to the kid,
Cow and calf he caused to multiply, much fat and milk he caused
to be produced,
In the plain, the heart of the wild goat, the sheep, and the
donkey he made to rejoice,
The birds of the heaven, in the wide earth he had them set up
their nests.
The fish of the sea, in the swampland he had them lay their
eggs,
In the palm-grove and vineyard he made to abound honey and wine,
The trees, wherever planted, he caused to bear fruit,
The furrows . . .,
Grain and crops he caused to multiply,
Like Ashnan (the grain goddess), the kindly maid, he caused
strength to appear.
Emesh brought into existence the trees and the fields, he made
wide the stables and sheepfolds,
In the farms he multiplied the produce,
The . . . he caused to cover the earth,
The abundant harvest he caused to be brought into the houses, he
caused the granaries to be heaped high.
But whatever the nature
of their original duties, a violent quarrel breaks out between the
two brothers. Several arguments ensue, and finally Emesh
challenges Enten’s claim to the position of "farmer of the
gods." And so they betake themselves to Nippur where each
states his case before Enlil.
Thus Enten
complains to Enlil:
PLATE XII. GODS
OF VEGETATION
Three of the designs depict a deity in close relation with a
plow. In the upper design two gods are guiding a plow, which is
perhaps drawn by a lion and a wormlike dragon. In the second, a
seated god is holding a plow in front of him. Behind him is a
mountain from which sprouts a plant and on which an ibex is
ascending; in front of him a deity leads a worshipper carrying a
gazelle in his arms. In the lower design an unidentified deity
holding a plow is travelling in a boat whose stern ends in a
snake and whose prow ends in the body of a god who is propelling
the boat.
The third design seems to depict an offering scene to the right
of the inscription. A worshipper carrying a gazelle is followed
by a goddess holding a vase, from which flow two streams of
water. The worshipper stands before another goddess who may
perhaps be identified as Inannain the role of the
goddess of war. But it is the two deities to the left of the
inscriptions which interest us here mostly. Both seem to have
ears of grain sprouting from their shoulders, but the male god
is equipped with club and bow, while a ram frolics at his feet.
He may perhaps be identified as Lahar, the cattle-god,
while the goddess facing him may be Ashnan, the grain
goddess.
(Reproduced, by
permission of the Macmillan Company,
from Henri
Frankfort, Cylinder Seals, plates XXa, d, e, and XIXe.)
PLATE XII
GODS OF VEGETATION
"O father Enlil, knowledge thou hast given me, I brought the water
of abundance,
Farm I made touch farm, I heaped high the granaries,
Like Ashnan, the kindly maid, I caused strength to appear;
Now Emesh, the . . . . the irreverent, who knows not the heart of
the fields,
On my first strength, on my first power, is encroaching;
At the palace of the king . . ."
Emesh’s version of
the quarrel, which begins with several flattering phrases
cunningly directed to win Enlil’s favor, is brief but as yet
unintelligible. Then:
Enlil answers Emesh and
Enten:
"The life-producing water of all the lands, Enten is its ’knower,’
As farmer of the gods he has produced everything,
Emesh, my son, how dost thou compare thyself with Eaten, thy
brother?"
The exalted word of Enlil whose meaning is profound,
The decision taken, is unalterable, who dares transgress it!
Emesh bent the knees before Enten,
Into his house he brought . . ., the wine of the grape and the date,
Emesh presents Enten with gold, silver, and lapis lazuli,
In brotherhood and friendship, happily, they pour out libations,
Together to act wisely and well they determined.
In the struggle between Emesh and Enten,
Enten, the steadfast farmer of the gods, having proved greater than
Emesh,
. . . O father Enlil, praise!
51.
The poem consists of approximately 308 lines of text
reconstructed from the following tablets and fragments: BBI 7;
CBS 3167, 10431, 13857, 29.13.464, 29.16.142, 29.16.232, 29.
16.417, 29.16.427, 29.16.446, 29.16.448; Ni 2705, 3167, 4004;
SEM 46; SRT 41; STVC 125. The following groups form "joins": BBI
7 + 29.16.142; 13857 + 29.16.427 +29.16.446 + 29.16.448.
