Page:The Babylonian conception of heaven and hell - Jeremias (1902).djvu/53

 cosmic originals (see page 24) is represented as a kind of Paradise. At the conclusion of a spell in which the god of fire calls to his help Ea, the wise son of Eridu, we read:

An epical fragment lately discovered shows this Sanctuary of Eridu to have been the scene of the creation of Adapa by the god Ea. The account of the very act of creation has unfortunately not been preserved, but from similar descriptions in other specimens of cuneiform literature we are justified in assuming that Ea, the divine "potter," moulded his creature out of clay. Our fragment tells us that the god granted Adapa "divine authority, great discernment to order the laws of the land"; that he gave him wisdom—but did not give him everlasting life— and that he made him "the mighty one, the child of Eridu, to be the shepherd (?) of man." Further we learn that he was entrusted with various priestly functions and that he acted as baker and