Weld-Blundell Prism: The Sumerian King-List

Weld-Blundell Prism: The Sumerian King-List
(Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; number: AN1923.444)

Why should "the Flood" theme be so central to Babylonian literature?

The Tigris and Euphrates Valley

• The rivers Tigris and Euphrates run southwards from the mountains of Turkey through Iraq into the Gulf.
• They are prone to flooding between February and May.
• This is capable of overwhelming the flat alluvial plain of southern Iraq (ancient Sumer) at harvest time.
• It is not surprising therefore that from an early date catastrophic flooding was a powerful image for the destructive power of supernatural beings in Sumerian literature.

• What does the prism say about "the Flood"?
• Question list