| Site Map | Contacts | Links | Newsletter | |
Old Testament:
Akkadian
Another important language is Akkadian. It is also written in cuneiform. Henry Rawlinson went to work for the East India Company in 1827 where he learned Persian. He then went to Persia as a military advisor. In 1835 he copied the cuneiform from the cliffs at the Rock of Behistun. In 1837 he sent his first translation to London (Millard 1985, 28-31). There were three different languages on the Rock of Behistun, Old Persian (Akkadian), Elamite, and Sumerian.
There are very important similar stories to Genesis 1-11 written in Akkadian. There is Enuna Elish which is about Marduk assuming the supreme position in the pantheon. The 7th tablet tells how Marduk created the world. Atra-Hasis is a cosmological epic that tells of the creation of the world, early human history, and a great flood. The Gilgamesh Epic is about the adventures of Gilgamesh, ruler of Uruk He meets Utnapishtim the only survivor of the great flood.