Genesis: History of the Semitic Peoples or Not?

I don’t think it’s condescending to understand that genesis 1-11 was wrote as a hyperbolic mythological story. It’s wrote similarly to the apocalyptic mythology of revelation.

If Genesis 2-11 was written as an abbreviated, legitimate history of the Semitic peoples, and I will show that it is, then to understand it as something else is simply wrong. I get it that all we need for our faith is the New Testament, but to write off parts of Scripture as untrustworthy as written makes our sharing of the gospel message that much harder. Why would anyone take up the cross when they think the book we use is full of unsubstantiated myths. Notwithstanding some do, but many end up in cults, and if we are in a battle for souls then it is a battle we are losing as our numbers are declining.

Well I’m not in a cult and the majority here , or so I’m under the impression, does not believe that genesis 1-11 is literal.

As translated in English I can agree with you. But hopefully you have an open mind and can be persuaded when you see enough evidence. I’m just getting started and I am not trying to make a case for Genesis being literal. I am making a case for Genesis 2-11 as written is an abbreviated but valid account of the early history of the Semitic peoples corroborated by the parallel history of the ancient Near East.

I guess I would have to see you flesh it all out to understand what you believe and how it’s separate from a non literal understanding of 2-11.

The Legend of Adapa

According to the legend, Ea created Adapa an exemplary man, endowed with “superhuman wisdom,” but not eternal life. A fishing accident angered Adapa, who broke the wing of the south wind, and was summoned to heaven to appear before father-god, Anu. Ea had warned Adapa not to eat a certain food or drink any water that would be offered to him. A cautious Adapa shuns the food and water of life, whereby he would have acquired eternal life, and he is sent back to earth to live out his days.

According to the legend, Ea created Adapa an exemplary man, endowed with “superhuman wisdom,” but not eternal life. A fishing accident angered Adapa, who broke the wing of the south wind, and was summoned to heaven to appear before father-god, Anu. Ea had warned Adapa not to eat a certain food or drink any water that would be offered to him. A cautious Adapa shuns the food and water of life, whereby he would have acquired eternal life, and he is sent back to earth to live out his days.

Adam of the Bible and Adapa were “created” human sons of God (god). According to the legend, Adapa was a sage, a profoundly wise man, in Eridu. Adapa prepared the altar table. Daily while Ea (his creator) slept in his chamber, Adapa guarded the sanctuary. Regarded as a prophet or seer, Adapa had been priest of the temple of Ea at Eridu. He was described as “blameless,” “clean of hands,” “anointer and observer of laws.” Could that also describe Adam, the first type of Christ? Also, Adam was taken from the ground; in Hebrew: 'adam from 'adamah . How close phonetically is 'adamah to Adapa?

Could it be only coincidence that Adam was told “by the sweat of his face” he would eat “bread,” and Adapa was a baker by trade; or that Adapa was deprived of eternal life by not eating or drinking the “food and water of life,” while Adam was cut off from eating the fruit of the “tree of life”? In one version, Adapa was given vast understanding “that he might give names to all ‘concepts’ in the earth.” And Adam was tasked to name the “creatures” of the earth. Adapa was offered new garments, and Adam was clothed by God. Adapa was returned to the earth and Adam was told he would return to dust.

Here is a list of commonalities between Adapa and Adam.

  1. Adapa placed at Eridu (SKL), Babylonian tradition places the
    Garden of Eden near Eridu.
  2. Adapa was neither god nor king, but a priest, this is unique
    in Mesopotamian literature.
  3. Adapa broke the wing of the “South Wind;” Adam given “dominion”
    over the animals (Gen. 1:26,28).
  4. Adapa created by Ea (god), Adam created “in the image” of God (Gen. 1:27).
  5. Adapa described as “blameless, clean of hands, anointer,
    observer of laws” - descriptive of Adam.
  6. Adapa spoke with Anu, the father-god, and Adam talked with God (Gen. 3:9-12).
  7. Adapa and Adam both called to account for bad behavior (Gen. 3:17-19).
  8. Adapa was a “baker;” Adam told he would “eat bread” (Gen. 3:19)
  9. Adapa told to return to earth; Adam told he would return to dust (Gen. 3:19).
  10. Adapa was clothed by his father god; Adam clothed by God (Gen. 3:21).
  11. Adapa offered “food and water of life;” Adam denied the “tree of life” (Gen. 3:24).
  12. Adapa was “son of Ea” (god); Adam was “the son of God” (Luke 3:38)
  13. Adapa brought “ill” upon mankind; through one man “sin” entered the world
    (Rom. 5:12).

Some Observations on the Legend of Adapa

• The Sumerians had over 3,000 invented gods and goddesses with stories, legends and epic tales about them in circulation. Initially, the Akkadians had only three gods, but over time they accepted many of the Sumerian gods which is one of the reasons that brought on the judgment of the flood.

• Kings and an occasional queen were also popular subjects. Stories about them were freely embellished but also included historical elements that were commonly known that would also appear in other stories.

• The Adapa legend is unique in that he was neither god nor king, but someone well known judging from the sheer volume of related stories that were in circulation.

• In a footnote one of the original translators mentioned that the name could have been translated “Adamu” which is Akkadian for “Adam.”

Enjoying your work. If a brief written history, who do you think wrote it and when? I certainly would agree that it is a very Israel-centric account, written from the viewpoint of Israel and pretty much ignores the rest of the earth.

I’ll give you educated guesses. Hope that will do. I’ll be showing some evidence that pyramids were carved in Egypt before Abraham that show some knowledge of the Genesis story. My hunch is that it came from Noah’s grandson Mizraim or his sons who would have had knowledge of Genesis 2-10 and could have left a proto-Genesis in the library Josephus. wrote: “Now all the sons of Mizraim, being eight in number, occupied the country from Gaza to Egypt …”

The Hebrews adopted Misraim to mean “Egyptian.” All of Mizraim’s sons have been traced to parts of Egypt. Perhaps as Egyptian conscripts or members of an elite population, the descendants of Mizraim may have left a brief history that was incorporated into Egyptian mythology. A proto-Genesis could have been stored in an Egyptian library at Memphis for the benefit of Moses who was educated in pharaoh’s court. This might explain the remarkable similarity between Genesis and the Book of Jubilees coming from a common source.

Archibald Sayce (1845-1933) was a famous British Assyriologist and linguist, who held a chair as Professor of Assyriology at the University of Oxford from 1891 to 1919. He spent countless hours in the British Museum transcribing ancient texts from the Near East. In his Lectures on the Growth of Religion (1880), he stated: “Babylonian tradition places the Garden of Eden near Eridu.”

The Sumerian King List begins, “When kingship was lowered from heaven it was in Eridu …” Eridu, modern Abu Shahrein, the oldest city in southern Mesopotamia, lies eight miles west of Ur, Abraham’s hometown, both of which were located on the Persian Gulf at that time. Excavated in 1941-42 by the Iraqi government, Eridu was dated by archaeologists at 4800 BC.

Fresh water was supplied to Eridu by diverting water from the Euphrates down an ancient dry river bed where the Euphrates once flowed in the distant past. Genesis 2:10 states: “And a river went out of Eden 1 to water the garden.”

Notes

  1. The Akkadian/Sumerian word edin refers to a plain, prairie or desert.

With goat grass, emmer, wheat, and barley growing in abundance, date palms and fig trees yielding their fruit, and fish from the Persian Gulf, the addition of fresh water completed the picture of a flourishing small settlement suitable for a newly arrived couple who reputedly were removed from a beautiful garden.

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Interesting, all.

Excavation at Eridu

In addition to numerous pottery shards, excavators uncovered a rudimentary shrine on virgin soil after digging through sixteen layers of temples. Atop the altar were found traces of burnt offerings. In the words of Seton Lloyd, chief advisor to the Eridu excavation:

At level XIV, a smaller temple reappeared in the centre of our sounding, and at Level XVI. There was a perfect little miniature shrine, about 4 metres square, already incorporating all the principle features of the later temples, such as an altar in a niche-recess, with a door facing it, and a central offering-table showing traces of burnt offerings.

Notes

Seton Lloyd, “The Oldest City of Sumeria: Establishing the Origins of Eridu,” Illustrated London News , 11 Sept 1948, 303.

This is a picture of the excavation that appeared in the Illustrated London News in 1946. After digging through 16 layers of temples down to virgin soil this tiny shrine was discovered with an altar in the middle, and on top of the altar were found traces of “burnt offerings.”