ATRAHASIS. Atrahasis, "the surpassingly wise," is the name of the Mesopotamian hero of the Flood in the myth of the same name (corresponding to the biblical Noah), recorded in Assyro-Babylonian literature from the Old Babylonian period up until the New Babylonian period. In Sumerian his name is Ziusudra (which becomes Xisuthros in Berossus), whereas in the Epic of Gilgamesh he is called Utanapishtim—meaning, respectively, the one who "has a long life" and the one who "has found life."

The Sumerian pantheon, which was accepted and assimilated by the Semitic Babylonians, had a pyramid structure, with the god An, the sky, at its head, sharing power with his two sons Enlil and Enki, all having clearly defined areas of responsibility. An controlled the sky, Enlil the earth, and Enki the ocean depths. In practice, whether because Enlil was god of the earth or because his priests at Nippur...