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Adapa was a Babylonian mythical figure first attested in the Kassite period (14th century BCE). He is said to have rejected the gift of immortality.
Roles
Adapa is often identified as advisor to the mythical first (antediluvian) king of Eridu, Alulim. He is also merged with the Kassite-period apkal ("sage", from Sumerian abgal) U-an, who is most familiar though Berossus' recounting of the myth of Oannes. It is possible he was also called Atrahasis "Exceedingly Wise", a Noah-like figure who built an ark to survive a flood who was rewarded with immortality.
Adapa was also considered to be a son of Ea, god of wisdom and of the ancient city of Eridug, who brought the arts of civilisation to that city from Dilmun. He was portrayed as a man wearing the skin of a fish. On top of his advisory duties, he served as a priest and an exorcist and upon his death took his place among the Seven Sages (Apkallū).
According to myth, Adapa was a mortal from a godly lineage, like many liminal Greek heroes, who stood on the threshold between the two worlds. When Adapa broke the wings of Ninlil, the South Wind that had overturned his fishing boat, Adapa was called to account before Anu. Ea, his patron god, warned him to suitably apologise 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, remembering Enki's advice, refused, and thus Adapa was cheated from the immortality that would have been his.
Bibliography
- Black, Jeremy, Andrew George & A|nicholas Postgate, eds. 1999: A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, SANTAG, 5 (ISBN 3447042257)
- Miller, Douglas & R Mark Shipp 1993: An Akkadian Handbook (ISBN 0931464862)
- Verbrugghe Gerald & John Wickersham 2000: Berossos & Manetho Introduced & Translated; Native Traditions in Mesopotamia & Egypt (ISBN 0472086871)
"Adapa"