Babylonian Fall of Man

The Babylonians had a myth about the man Adapa. He is sometimes called the "Babylonian Adam". His tale is also considered a "Fall of Man" story by many scholars and critics. I will now show that this is incorrect.

Adapa was created by Ea (Enki) to be a leader of man and was given the knowledge of the gods:

"Wisdom he possessed [line damaged]
His command was like the command of Ea [line damaged]
With wide understanding he [Ea] had perfected him to expound the decrees of the land.
He had given him wisdom, but he had not given him eternal life.
At that time, in those years, of the wise son of Eridu,
Ea had created him as a leader of mankind,
Of the wise one [Adapa], no one treated his command lightly.
The skillful, the exceedingly wise among the Anunnaki [gods] was he [Adapa]¹ "

Then when Adapa was out on the Persian Gulf fishing for the temple of Ea he was caught up in a storm. He cursed the south wind and caused it to stop blowing:

"The south wind blew and submerged him,
Plunging him into the home of the fish.
'South wind [line damaged] me all my venom
Your wing will I break!'"

Anu, the father of the gods, is furious that a man would have the knowledge and power of a god and demands that Adapa comes up to heaven in order to explain himself. Ea instruct Adapa on how to act. He tells him to wear his hair unkept and to wear mourning clothes. He also warns him not to eat or drink anything offered by the gods because it will be the food and drink of death. When the gods Tammuz and Gizzida, the guardians of the gate of heaven, question him on why he is in mourning he tells them it is because they (Tammuz and Gizzida) are no longer on the earth and mankind misses them. This of course makes the two gods favorably disposed to Adapa and they let him pass.
Anu then demands of Adapa why he cursed the south wind. After he explains to Anu, Tammuz and Gizzida enter and say "kind words" to Anu. Anu's heart "becomes calm and he becomes silent". The Anu asked:

"'Why has Ea revealed to a worthless human
The heart of heaven and earth?
He has made him strong and has made him a name.
As for us, what shall we do with him?"

Finally Anu decides to reward him. Adapa already has the knowledge of a god so he shall make him immortal also. They bring the food of life and the drink of life to Adapa but he refuses, remembering Ea's command. Anu asked him why he refuses and he replies that his lord has commanded him not to eat or drink. Anu laughs at this and shows Adapa creation:

"As Adapa from the horizon of heaven to the zenith of heaven
[line damaged] looked and beheld its awe-inspiring grandeur.
Then Anu imposed on Adapa [i.e. mankind] [line damaged]
[blessings on Eridu, Ea's city]
And whatsoever of ill he has brought upon men,
And the diseases which he has brought upon the bodies of men,
These the goddess Ninkarrak [goddess of healing] shall allay.
Let the illness arise and depart, let the disease turn aside!
Upon this [line damaged] may horror fall!
Let him in sweet sleep he shall not sleep!
[line damaged] joy of the heart of the people.
[rest of the tablet destroyed]

So mankind, through Adapa, was cursed with disease. Anu did allow mankind some reprieve from illness through Ninkarrak. This was probably so that mankind would not die out.

Why this is not a "Fall" story:

Adapa's crime, the cursing of the south wind, was not the first offense of man. Remember that Adapa is not Adam so man was already on the earth at this time.

Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan to commit their sin. There is little or no temptation in Adapa's tale. It is possible to say that Anu tempted him, but it would have not been a sin do as Anu wished. In fact it would have been a blessing.

Adapa failed to gain immortality not by disobedience to God but because of his obedience to his god. Adam and Eve disobeyed God, Adapa obeyed his Ea.

Man was cursed for different reasons. Adam and Eve were cursed because of their disobedience to God. Adapa was cursed because he refused to accept a gift. Genesis' version has a moral reason, Adapa's is amoral.

Genesis' tale is one of the origin of sin and man's fall from moral perfection. Adapa failed not because of sin but because he refused a gift. The origin of sin is not even considered. As the myth "Man and his God" states: "Never has a sinless child been born to it's mother.² " Man has always been sinful.

There has never been found a story about a "first sin" anywhere in Sumerian or Assyro-Babylonian literature. And I would go so far as to say that there never will be. That goes against Mesopotamian philosophy. The gods were themselves at times petty, amoral, lustful, viscious, murderous and committed rape. In otherwords, sinful. Man was made from evil and he was doomed from the beginning, so there was no need for a "Fall". Remember that man was fashioned from the blood of an evil god and his lot in life was to be the slave of the gods. How could he fall from such a state?

1)The Babylonian Genesis, Alexander Heidel (Chicago, 1963) pgs. 148-153. All of the following Adapa quotes come from the Heidel book.
2)The Ancient Near East Volume II, James B. Pritchard, editor (Princeton, 1975) pg. 140. Translation by Samuel N. Kramer.

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