Adapa was a
BabylonBabylon was a city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
ian mythical figure who accidentally rejected the gift of
immortalityImmortality is the concept of living in a physical or spiritual form for an infinite or inconceivably vast length of time....
. The story is first attested in the
KassiteThe Kassites were an ancient Near Eastern tribe who gained control of Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire after ca. 1531 BC to ca. 1155 BC . Their language is classified as an isolate.-History:...
period (14th century BC).
Adapa was a mortal from a godly lineage, a son of Ea (
EnkiEnki was a god in Sumerian mythology, later known as Ea in Akkadian and Babylonian mythology. He was originally patron god of the city of Eridu, but later the influence of his cult spread throughout Mesopotamia and to the Hittites and Hurrians...
in Sumerian), the god of wisdom and of the ancient city of
EriduEridu is an ancient city in what is now Tell Abu Shahrain, in Iraq. Eridu was the earliest city in southern Mesopotamia, founded c. 5400 BCE. Located 12 km southwest of Ur, Eridu was the southernmost of a conglomeration of Sumerian cities that grew about temples, almost in sight of one another...
, who brought the arts of civilization to that city (from
DilmunDilmun is a land mentioned by Mesopotamian Civilizations as a trade partner, source of raw material, copper, and entrepot of the Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley Civilization trade route...
, according to some versions). He broke the wings of
NinlilIn Sumerian mythology, Ninlil , first called Sud, in Assyrian called Mullitu, is the consort goddess of Enlil. Her parentage is variously described. Most commonly she is called the daughter of Haia and Nunbarsegunu...
the South Wind, who had overturned his fishing boat, and was called to account before
AnuIn Sumerian mythology and later for Assyrians and Babylonians, Anu was a sky-god, the god of heaven, lord of constellations, king of gods, spirits and demons, and dwelt in the highest heavenly regions...
.
Adapa was a
BabylonBabylon was a city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
ian mythical figure who accidentally rejected the gift of
immortalityImmortality is the concept of living in a physical or spiritual form for an infinite or inconceivably vast length of time....
. The story is first attested in the
KassiteThe Kassites were an ancient Near Eastern tribe who gained control of Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire after ca. 1531 BC to ca. 1155 BC . Their language is classified as an isolate.-History:...
period (14th century BC).
Roles
Adapa was a mortal from a godly lineage, a son of Ea (
EnkiEnki was a god in Sumerian mythology, later known as Ea in Akkadian and Babylonian mythology. He was originally patron god of the city of Eridu, but later the influence of his cult spread throughout Mesopotamia and to the Hittites and Hurrians...
in Sumerian), the god of wisdom and of the ancient city of
EriduEridu is an ancient city in what is now Tell Abu Shahrain, in Iraq. Eridu was the earliest city in southern Mesopotamia, founded c. 5400 BCE. Located 12 km southwest of Ur, Eridu was the southernmost of a conglomeration of Sumerian cities that grew about temples, almost in sight of one another...
, who brought the arts of civilization to that city (from
DilmunDilmun is a land mentioned by Mesopotamian Civilizations as a trade partner, source of raw material, copper, and entrepot of the Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley Civilization trade route...
, according to some versions). He broke the wings of
NinlilIn Sumerian mythology, Ninlil , first called Sud, in Assyrian called Mullitu, is the consort goddess of Enlil. Her parentage is variously described. Most commonly she is called the daughter of Haia and Nunbarsegunu...
the South Wind, who had overturned his fishing boat, and was called to account before
AnuIn Sumerian mythology and later for Assyrians and Babylonians, Anu was a sky-god, the god of heaven, lord of constellations, king of gods, spirits and demons, and dwelt in the highest heavenly regions...
. Ea, his patron god, warned him to apologise humbly for his actions, but not to partake of food or drink while he was in heaven, as it would be the food of death. Anu, impressed by Adapa's sincerity, offered instead the food of immortality, but Adapa heeded Ea's advice, refused, and thus missed the chance for immortality that would have been his.
Adapa is often identified as advisor to the mythical first (antediluvian) king of
EriduEridu is an ancient city in what is now Tell Abu Shahrain, in Iraq. Eridu was the earliest city in southern Mesopotamia, founded c. 5400 BCE. Located 12 km southwest of Ur, Eridu was the southernmost of a conglomeration of Sumerian cities that grew about temples, almost in sight of one another...
,
AlulimAlulim was the first king of Eridu and the first king of Sumer according to the Sumerian king list, making him the first king in the world. Enki, the god of Eridu, or his mortal son Adapa, are said to have brought civilization to Sumer....
. In addition to his advisory duties, he served as a
priestA priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities. Their office or position is the priesthood, a term which may also apply to such persons collectively.Priests and priestesses...
and
exorcistIn some religions an exorcist is a person who is believed to be able to cast out the devil or other demon. A priest, a monk, a healer, a shaman or other specially prepared or instructed person can be an exorcist...
, and upon his death took his place among the Seven Sages or
Apkallū. (
Apkal, "sage", comes from
SumerianSumerian was the language of ancient Sumer, spoken in Southern Mesopotamia since at least the 4th millennium BCE . It was gradually replaced by Akkadian as a spoken language somewhere around the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BCE , but continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary...
Abgallu (Ab=water, Gal=Great, Lu=man) a reference to Adapa, the first sage's association with water.)
Some scholars suggest the Abgallu were seafarers aboard a ship from the Indus River Valley/Mohenjo Daro civilization comparable in age to ancient Sumer and has some identified parallels to the Sumerian knowledge base (like Base-5 mathematics, irrigation systems/water management engineering and mud-brick cities) .
As Oannes
Oannes was the name given by the
BabylonBabylon was a city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
ian writer
BerossusBerossus was a Hellenistic-era Babylonian writer, a priest of Bel and astronomer writing in Greek, who was active at the beginning of the 3rd century BC...
in the
3rd century BCThe 3rd century BC started the first day of 300 BC and ended the last day of 201 BC. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period.-Overview:...
to a mythical being who taught mankind wisdom. Berossus describes Oannes as having the body of a fish but underneath the figure of a man. He is described as dwelling in the
Persian GulfThe Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes controversially referred to as the Arabian Gulf by most Arab states or simply The...
, and rising out of the waters in the daytime and furnishing mankind instruction in writing, the arts and the various sciences.
The name "Oannes" was once conjectured to be derived from that of the ancient Babylonian god Ea , but it is now known that the name is the Greek form of the Babylonian
Uanna (or
Uan) a name used for Adapa in texts from the
Library of AshurbanipalThe Royal Library of Ashurbanipal, named after Ashurbanipal, the last great king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, is a collection of thousands of clay tablets and fragments containing texts of all kinds from the 7th century BC...
. . The Assyrian texts attempt to connect the word to the Akkadian for a craftsman
ummanu but this is a merely a pun . Scholars have long speculated that the name might ultimately be derived from that of the 8th century figure of
JonahJonah is the name given in the Hebrew Bible to a prophet of the northern kingdom of Israel in about the 8th century BC, the central character in the Book of Jonah famous for being swallowed by a fish...
(Hebrew
Yonah). Bible critics have made the reverse claim although the Hebrew name has the known meaning of "dove".
Oannes was portrayed as a man wearing the skin of a fish.