Fragments of a Tablet with the Babylonian Flood Myth in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2010

Title: Cuneiform tablet: "Atra-hasis," Babylonian flood myth

Period: Neo-Babylonian or Achaemenid

Date: 7th–6th century B.C.

Geography: Mesopotamia

Medium: Ceramic

Dimensions: 2.5 x 2.25 x 1 in. (6.35 x 5.72 x 2.54 cm)

Classification: Ceramics-Tablets, Inscribed

Credit Line: Purchase, 1886

Accession Number: 86.11.378a

On View

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/collection_database/ancien...

and

The poem “Atrahasis,” named after its hero, is an ancient Near Eastern precursor to the biblical story of Noah’s ark. The text describes the creation of humankind and a great flood sent down by the god Enlil to destroy the people, who disturbed the gods with their noise. Atrahasis survived the flood by building a large boat.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.