What the Bible owes to the Levant and Mesopotamia

The Fertile Crescent

This geographical area (water-rich, fertile territories stretching from Mesopotamia to Egypt, including the area around the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, as well as the Levant) is the meeting place of the different cultures that gave rise to the biblical texts. The constant economic, intellectual and military contacts between the regions and countries that make up this area have greatly influenced biblical traditions and texts.

While Mesopotamia is very rich in archaeological evidence, the Levant does not provide comparable results, mainly due to the difference in writing media (papyrus and parchment in the Levant). This difference is also the result of the smaller administration of Levantine city-states compared with that of the great Assyrian, Babylonian or Persian civilizations. However, we can mention several noteworthy inscriptions found in the Levant : the Mesha stele, the Siloé tunnel inscription, the Aramaic stelae of Sefiré (^8th-7th c.), the royal statue of Tell Fekherye (^9th c. c.) with bilingual Aramaic-Akkadian inscriptions. These various inscriptions show many parallels with those of Mesopotamia: there is therefore a sort of common ground between the Levant and Mesopotamia.

Mythological texts from Ugarit and the Bible (Levant)

An archaeological exception in the Levant, the city-state of Ugarit has left us a large number of texts written on clay. A number of themes and a similar vocabulary have prompted researchers to postulate a direct takeover of Ugaritic texts by biblical authors. Such a hypothesis poses methodological problems. While Ugarit in the second half of the second millennium was a prosperous city-state with a royal court and administration, " Israel " as a political unit did not yet exist, let alone the structures that enabled the biblical texts to emerge. However, we can still study possible literary and conceptual comparisons, which must be reasoned and based on the idea of a conceptual universal that is part of a certain duration and unites a number of Levantine cultures in the ^2nd and ^1st millennium BC.

Baal and Yhwh

Research has revealed a number of parallels between the Ugaritic divinity Baal and Yhwh. They have many points in common : they share certain titles such as " cloud-rider " (KTU 1.3 II 40; Es 19,1; Ps 68,5; 104,3) ; the legitimacy of their kingship is at stake (KTU 1.10 III 12-15; 1.2 IV 30-35; Ps 47,1.6.9) ; they wage similar battles, as a result of which they attain a status of authority (Baal and Yhwh confront Yam and Môt). Following on from this last point, Yhwh, before becoming the one and only god from Persian times onwards, also possesses " limited skills " and has to contend with other deities, just like Baal, for example: representatives of aquatic chaos (Chaoskampf; KTU 1.3,32-42; Pss 74; 89; Isa 27,1); the personification of Death (Baal-Môtu; Yhwh has no power over Sheol; Isa 28,14-15; Ps 6,2-3.6). Later, with the transition to monotheism, this concept is abandoned and Yhwh becomes a god who also has power over death (1 Sam 2:5; Isa 25:8).

Gilgamesh and the human condition

This is a very ancient epic (its origins date back to the ^3rd millennium BC), fragments of which have been found throughout the ancient Near East, as far away as Anatolia. Possibly originally a historical king, Gilgamesh was soon deified or hero-ized.

The text

The epic's various textual witnesses are evidence of a long and rich redactional process. Originally, there was no single epic, but several independent stories recounting Gilgamesh's exploits and prodigies. It was not until around the ^7th century BC that a standardized version of the epic was fixed in the library of Assurbanipal. The epic is divided into two main parts : the meeting between Gilgamesh and Enkidu, their strong and eroticized friendship, their exploits until Enkidu's death, which the gods cause to punish Gilgamesh ; this death opens the second part of the epic, Gilgamesh's quest to find a cure for death, which leads him to Outnapishtim, the Babylonian Noah who escaped the Flood. The quest fails because, although Gilgamesh has found a plant that could give life, it is stolen and eaten by a snake.

It's clear from the epic's fame and circulation that it was known to Israelite and Judean scribes, and that they drew inspiration from it on several levels, not least in its reflection on the human condition.

Parallels with biblical traditions

(1) The creation of Enkidu and the discovery of his sexuality reveal numerous parallels with Gn 2-3 : the creation of a " vis-à-vis " for man ; sexuality as a means of distinguishing man from animals; this sexuality which makes the individual akin to the realm of the divine. (2) Gilgamesh and Enkidu's very intimate relationship may have inspired the presentation of the David-Jonathan couple in the Book of Samuel. (3) Gilgamesh's quest for immortality is rectified by a vision of " Carpe Diem ", close to that presented in Qo 9,7-10 and Qo 3 : death is part of man's destiny. (4) The failure of the quest certainly inspired the choice of the serpent as agent provocateur in Gen 3.

The legislative traditions of Mesopotamia and the legislative codes of the Pentateuch

There can be no doubt that the Covenant Code (Ex 20-23) and the Deuteronomic Code (Deut 12-26), which is an update of the Covenant Code, as well as the two versions of the Decalogue, are part of a legislative tradition in the Ancient Near East, expressed notably in the Code of Hammurabi (^18th c. BC), the Code of Eshnunna and the Assyrian laws (^14th-10th c. BC).

The Code of Hammurabi

According to D. Charpin, three sources can be identified at the origin of these " lois " : (1) older legal compendia, some of whose articles may have served as models for those in the new compendium ; (2) the judicial activity of the king and other Babylonian judges (accounts of judgments) ; (3) commentaries and applications of existing cases, which clarify and expand case possibilities. Most of the " lois " are formulated in casuistic terms : a case is presented, and the sanction or solution is then given.

Numerous laws can be paralleled with the Code of the Covenant and the Deuteronomic Code, although the Pentateuch seems to be stricter overall : on slaves, damages following a brawl, talion, giving birth to a pregnant woman as a result of beatings, laws on adultery, the gored ox, cattle theft, breaking and entering, illegal grazing, depositing property, etc. Unlike the Code of Hammurab, the Pentateuch does not contain any laws on slavery. Unlike the Code of Hammurabi, where the king mediates the law he has received from the gods and transmits it to mankind, ensuring that it is respected, in the Pentateuch Moses is the sole mediator, without even being king ; this decouples the texts of laws from royal power (cf. exile and disappearance of royal institutions).

Assyrian influence

Assyrian texts and ideology strongly influenced a number of texts from the Deuteronomistic milieu : the birth of Moses (taken from the birth of Sargon) ; Deuteronomy as a treaty between Yhwh and Israel (taken from the loyalty oath of 672) ; the conquest narrative in Joshua (taken from Assyrian texts and military ideology) ; the books of Samuel and Kings ; etc.

Creation and Flood myths

Mesopotamia is home to two great creation epics : Enuma Elish and Athra-Hasis, which are fairly comparable in structure to the Creation and Flood myths found in the Hebrew Bible. It seems quite plausible that Judean priests and intellectuals (in exile in Babylon) were aware of these stories and drew inspiration from them to compose the priestly and non-priestly origin stories (abbreviated P and non-P).

Enuma Elish and Genesis 1

The Enuma Elish epic (dating from the end of the ^2nd millennium, known versions from the Babylonian and Persian eras) begins with the story of the chaotic primordial state and the birth of several generations of gods through the mixing of fresh (Apsou) and salt (Tiamat) waters. Following a battle between Tiamat and the deity Marduk, the latter uses his remains to create the universe. Thus, the world is born following a battle with a water monster, a concept also found in Baal's battle with Yam. The representation of chaos by an aquatic serpent or dragon is also widespread in many cultures.

As in Enuma Elish, Gn 1 tells the story of Creation, which is the result of a transformation of a chaotic state (tohu-wa-bohu). Gn 1 also relates the Creation as a " victory " of the creator god over aquatic chaos, but unlike the Babylonian myth, there is no longer any trace of combat (Pss 74 and 89 do, however, retain the idea of combat).

The creation of man

In Enuma Elish, men are created to nourish and revere the gods, following Marduk's decision. Similarly, Athra-Hasis relates that man was created by Enki/Ea following a strike by the lesser gods, who were tired of performing various chores for the greater gods: thus, man was created for the purpose of working.

In Gen 1, man (as male and female) is not created to serve 'elohim, but has two main functions : procreation and the government, the management, of the earth. Man is said to have been created " in the image of God ". In the context of the Ancient Near East, this expression is also applied to royal figures (Pharaoh, Assyrian king). Although Gen 1 dates from a recent, post-exilic era, the idea that man is " image of God " can also be understood as a substitution strategy following the demise of Judean kingship.

The creation of the human being in Gen 2 is even closer to the stories of Enuma Elish and Athra-Hasis : man is created for the purpose of working in the garden of 'elohim ; he is created from a mixture of divine substances (blood in the Mesopotamian stories ; divine breath in Gen 2) and earthly substances (clay, dust).

The Flood

Several texts have come down to us from Mesopotamia, recounting the gods' decision to destroy mankind with the waters, and the way in which a hero nonetheless survived the cataclysm (Ziousoudra, the epic of Athra-Hasis, the epic of Gilgamesh, a Greek version in Berossus [^3rd c. BC]) All have the same structure : (a) decision by certain gods to unleash a flood ; (b) warning to the hero by another deity ; (c) construction of a boat ; (d) decision by the gods after some time to stop the Flood ; (e) sacrifice offered to the gods by the hero: redefinition of the relationship between gods and men (etiology of sacrifice) ; (f) immortality of Mesopotamian heroes.

Gn 6-9 shows a similar pattern, and there can be no doubt that the biblical authors were familiar with these texts (at least those of Athra-Hasis and the Gilgamesh version). Two differences can be highlighted, however : Yhwh plays the role of trigger and warner ; the cause of the flood is not human overpopulation. In the Athra-Hasis text, the deities devise several stratagems to limit the expansion of mankind (diseases, miscarriages, famines, etc.) before arriving at the solution of the flood. The Gilgamesh text presents a similar version. It must be seen as an attempt to explain the existence of the difficult conditions of human life (disease, droughts, high mortality rate among newborns, etc.). The two biblical versions of the Flood (P and non-P) in Gn 6-9 do not share this concern : the call to multiply is renewed to Noah and his family (the idea of man's domination of the earth is not, however, repeated). It is probable that the text of Gn 6-9 seeks to redefine the narratives of the Babylonian myths. These differences between Athra-Hasis and the priestly account undoubtedly reflect economic, political and ideological changes. If the priestly author welcomed the integration of Judea into the Persian Empire, he must have been at pains to show that a numerous humanity living under the gaze of one god ('elohim) corresponds to the whole of the peoples united in the Persian Empire under the great Achaemenid king.