Aquarius
Authors: Susanne M Hoffmann, Youla Azkarrula, Doris Vickers, David Hilder
One of the 88 IAU constellations. It is one of the 48 constellations handed down in the Almagest tradition, among them one of those that were taken over from Mesopotamian models.
Etymology and History
General History[1]
Eratosthenes writes that Aquarius probably got his name from the activity he is depicted performing: ‘He stands there with a wine jug in his hand and pours out a generous measure of liquid.’ What remains of Eratosthenes' text attests to a certain uncertainty about the nature of this liquid. If it is a wine jug, one might almost think that he is pouring fermented grape juice, but Eratosthenes does not mention this directly. He only reports that some of his contemporaries thought that this was Ganymede, the cupbearer of the gods. Ganymede was abducted by Zeus because of his beauty and, because of his good service, was deemed worthy by the gods to attain immortality. As cupbearer, he now pours out the nectar drunk by the gods in heaven.
According to Ovid's Fasti, the liquid that is poured out is a mixture of nectar and water, while Aratus leaves no doubt that it is water. He writes in verses 389 to 399 that faint stars ‘float’ in the middle between the monster (Cetus) and the Southern Fish (Piscis Austrinus), which are nameless but appear like a small splash of water here and there next to the right hand of the illustrious Aquarius. Aratos calls these numerous small stars in the space between the Ketos (Cetus), Pisces and Aquarius ‘the water’ (Hydor (ὕδωρ)). For many researchers, it is a mystery what the poet might have meant here, because the constellation of water is not documented anywhere else.
It suggests that this refers to the large space without constellations that connects the watery constellations. The poet mentions two bright stars in this area, Diphda (β Ceti) and Fomalhaut (α PsA). Between them splashes the spout of Aquarius, consisting of numerous groups of two and three faint stars that could indeed look like splashes of water. On the Farnese Atlas, the spout of Aquarius is depicted as a winding line. Together with the band of Pisces and the river Eridanus, it frames an area of faint stars, which are probably the Roman sculptor's interpretation of the mysterious constellation ‘the water’ mentioned only by Aratus.
In truth, the figure of Aquarius was already incomprehensible in Greece. The zodiac had been adopted from Babylon before the 4th century BC, and consequently all the figures in the zodiac are originally Babylonian.
In MUL.APIN, the constellation in this region of the sky is called ‘the Great One,’ referring to the greatest of the benevolent gods, Enki (Sumerian) or Ea (Akkadian). In the Babylonian pantheon, he is primarily a god of wisdom and magic, but thanks to his wisdom, he is also the god who often protects humans from the punishments and arbitrariness of other gods. He is a very benevolent godfather whose ‘children’ are symbolically humans.
In Mesopotamia, this wise god Ea has always been depicted with two streams of water flowing from his shoulders as a distinguishing feature. These are sometimes interpreted as the Euphrates and Tigris, but it does not matter whether they are real rivers. The only important thing is that they are fresh water, i.e. drinking water. The god of wisdom is said to live in the groundwater.
This image was, of course, incomprehensible to every other culture. For the Greeks, wisdom was a goddess, not a god. The image of two rivers flowing from a man's shoulders was not accessible to them; it had to be reinterpreted and a myth invented to explain it.
This not only clarifies the name of the figure as ‘Aquarius’, but also builds a bridge to the Greek Deucalion, for Deucalion is the Greek Noah and the Babylonian god Ea is responsible for his ‘inspiration’ to build an ark.
The extremely positive connotation of the god represented by Aquarius is probably also the explanation for the numerous positive star names in Arabic. Although the origin of these names can no longer be directly proven according to Arabist Paul Kunitzsch, it seems reasonable to attribute names such as ‘happiness of the king’ and ‘happiness of the happiest’ for α and β Aquarii (as well as many other combinations with the word ‘happiness’) to Babylonian interpretations of the figure.
Historical Sub-Constellations[2]
The Water
Ptolemy listed 20 stars as lying in the flow of water from the jar, almost as many stars as in the main figure of Aquarius itself – see, for example, Albrecht Dürer’s celestial chart of 1515. In fact, early writers such as Aratus, Eratosthenes, and Geminus regarded the Water (Hydor, Ὕδωρ) as either a separate constellation or a sub-constellation within Aquarius. The flow of water started at the star we know as Kappa Aquarii and ended at the first-magnitude star we call Fomalhaut, in the mouth of the southern fish, Piscis Austrinus. This is another example of stars being shared between constellations in the days before rigorous boundaries were established. Fomalhaut is now the exclusive property of the neighbouring Piscis Austrinus.
Ptolemy listed three other ‘unformed’ stars that formed a triangle near the flow of water; these have since been transferred across the border into neighbouring Cetus and are now known as 2, 6, and 7 Ceti.
Norma Nilotica, a short-lived sub-constellation
On his Celestial Atlas of 1822 the Scottish schoolmaster Alexander Jamieson introduced a new sub-constellation, Norma Nilotica, a rod for measuring the depth of the Nile, held in the left hand of Aquarius. This reappeared on the set of constellation cards called Urania’s Mirror in 1825 and was adopted by the American astronomer Elijah Hinsdale Burritt (1794–1838) on his popular Atlas Designed to Illustrate The Geography of the Heavens (1835 and many subsequent editions), but was otherwise ignored.
Origin of Constellation
Babylonian
The Babylonian name of the constellation is mulGU.LA, in later times abbreviated GU.
Greco-Roman
Aratos
[282] The two Fishes range about the Horse as it prances among them. Beside the Horse’s head the right hand of the Water-pourer stretches out: he rises after Capricorn.
Other stars lying scattered below the Water-pourer [390] hang in the sky between the celestial Monster and the Fish, but they are faint and nameless. Close to them, like a light spray of water being sprinkled this way and that from the right hand of the illustrious Water-pourer, some pale and feeble stars go round. [395] Among them go two rather brighter stars, not so very far apart nor yet very close, one beautiful and bright star beneath the two feet of the Waterpourer, the other below the dark Monster’s tail. Men call them collectively the Water. But a few others [400] below the Archer, under his orefeet, are curved in a ring as they go circling round.
(Kidd 1997)
Eratosthenes
Pamias and Zucker (2013, 80):
Apparently, this character owes his name, Aquarius, to his activity. He stands upright, holding a wine jug in his hand and pouring a copious stream of liquid. Some argue that this is Ganymede, considering as decisive evidence the fact that the image represents a cupbearer serving wine. And they invoke the testimony of the Poet, arguing from the fact that he states that Ganymede was brought to Zeus, because of his supreme beauty, to take on the role of cupbearer, which the gods had deemed him worthy of performing, and that he obtained an immortality that remains unknown to men; the liquid it pours resembles nectar, which is precisely the drink of the gods, and those who see Ganymede in it consider this to be further evidence that it is indeed the drink of the gods that has just been mentioned.
Pamias and Zucker (2013, 81):
Aquarius has two dim stars on his head, one star on each shoulder, both large, one on each elbow, one bright star on his right hand, one on each nipple, one under each nipple, on both sides, one on his left hip, one on each knee, one on the right calf, and one on each foot. In total, there are seventeen. The Water Stream is composed of thirty-one stars, two of which are bright.
Hipparchus
Hyginus, Astronomica
Aquarius or Water Bearer. Many have said he is Ganymede, whom Jupiter is said to have made cupbearer of the gods, snatching him up from his parents because of his beauty. So he is shown as if pouring water from an urn. Hegesianax, however, says he is Deucalion, because during his reign such quantities of water poured from the sky that the great Flood resulted. Eubulus, again, points out that he is Cecrops, commemorating the antiquity of the race, and showing that men used water in the sacrificed of the gods before wine was given to them, and that Cecrops ruled before wine was discovered. (Mary Ward 1960)
Geminos
Almagest Ὕδρος
| id | Greek
(Heiberg 1898) |
English
(Toomer 1984) |
ident. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ὕδρου ἀστερισμός. | Constellation of Aquarius | ||
| 1 | ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς τοῦ Ὑδροχόου | The star on the head of Aquarius | 25 Aqr |
| 2 | τῶν ἐν τῷ δεξιῷ ὤμῳ β ὁ λαμπρότερος | The brighter of the 2 stars in the right shoulder | alf Aqr |
| 3 | ὁ ὑπ’ αὐτὸν ἀμαυρότερος | The fainter one, under it | omi Aqr |
| 4 | ὁ ἐν τῷ ἀριστερῷ ὤμῳ. | The star in the left shouldcr | bet Aqr |
| 5 | ὁ ὑπ’ αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ νώτῳ ὡς ὑπὸ τὴν μασχάλην | The one under that, in the back, approximately under the armpit | xi Aqr |
| 6 | ὁ τῶν ἐν τῇ ἀριστερᾷ χειρὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἱματίου ἢ’ ὁ ἐπόμενοςἡ | The rearmost of the three stars in the left arm, on the coat | nu Aqr |
| ὁ μέσος αὐτῶν | The middle one of these | mu Aqr | |
| ὁ προηγούμευος τῶν τριῶν. | The most advanced of the three | eps Aqr | |
| ὁ ἐν τῷ δεξιῷ πήχει | The star in the right forearm | gam Aqr | |
| τῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ ἀκροχείρου γ’ ὁ βόρειος. | The northernmost of the 3 stars an the right hand | pi Aqr | |
| Τὸ τῶν λοιπῶν καὶ βορείωυ β ὁ προηγούμενος | The more advanced of the other 2 to the south | zet Aqr | |
| ὁ ἐπόμενος αὐτῶν | The rearmost of them | eta Aqr | |
| τῶν ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ κοτύλη συνεχῶν β ὁ προηγούμενος. | The more advanced of the 2 stars close tagether in the hollow of the right [hip] | tet Aqr | |
| ὁ ἐπόμενος αὐτῶν | The rearmost of them | rho Aqr | |
| ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ γλουτοῦ | The star on the right buttock | sig Aqr | |
| τῶν ἐν τῷ ἀριστερῷ γλουτῷ Κ’ ὁ νότιος | The southernmost of the 2 stars in the left buttock | iot Aqr | |
| ὁ βορειότερος αὐτῶν | The northernmost of them | 38 Aqr | |
| τῶν ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ κνήμῃ β’ ὁ νοτιώτερος | The southernmost of the 2 stars in the right lower leg | del Aqr | |
| ὁ βορειότερος αὐτῶν καὶ ὑπὸ τὴν ἀγκύλην | The northernmost of the·m, under the knee-bend | tau Aqr | |
| ὁ ἐο τῷ ἀριστερῷ ὀπισθομήρῳ. | The star in the back of the left thigh | 53 Aqr | |
| τῶν ἐν τῇ ἀριστερᾷ κνήμῃ β ὁ νοτιώτερος. | The southernmost of the 2 stars in the left lower leg | 68 Aqr | |
| ὁ βορειότερος αὐτῶν ὑπὸ τὸ γόνυ. | The northernmost of these, under the knee | 66 Aqr | |
| τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς ῥύσεως τοῦ ὕδατος ἀπὸ τῆς χειρὸς ὁ προηγούμενος. | The stars on the flow of water: the most advanced [in the section] beginning at the hand | kap Aqr | |
| ὁ ἐχόμενος ἐκ φότου τοῦ προειρημένου | the one next to the latter towards the south | lam Aqr | |
| ὁ τούτουυ ἐχόμενος μετὰ τὴν καμπήη | the one next to this, aftcr [the beginning of] the bend | 83 Aqr | |
| ὁ ἔτι τούτῳ ἑπόμενος | the onc to the rear again of this | phi Aqr | |
| ὁ τούτου ἐν καμπῇ ἀπὸ μεσημβρίας… | the one in the bend to the south of this | chi Aqr | |
| τῶν ἀπὸ μεσημβρίας αὐτοῦ β’ ὁ βορειότερος. | the northcrnmost of the 2 stars to the south of this | psi1 Aqr | |
| ὁ νοτιώτερος τῶν δύο. | the southcrnmost of the two | psi3 Aqr | |
| ὁ διεστὼς αὐτῶν πρὸς μεσημβρύαν μουαχός- | the lone star at some distance from thcsc [two] towards the south | HR 8958 | |
| τῶν μετ’ αὐτὸν β συνεχῶν ὁ προηγούμενος | the morc advanccd of the 2 stars dose tagether after the latter | ome1 Aqr | |
| ὁ ἐπόμενος αὐτῶν | the rearmost of them | ome2 Aqr | |
| τῶν ἐν τῇ ἐχομένῃ συστροφῇ ἢ’ ὁ βόρειος. | the northernmost of the 3 stars in the next group | 103 + 104 Aqr | |
| ὁ μέσος τῶν τριῶν | the middlc one of the three | 106 Aqr | |
| ὁ ἐπόμενος αὐτῶν | the rearmost of them | 108 Aqr | |
| ὁμοίως τῶν ἐφεξῆς γ' ὁ βόρειος. | thc northernmost of thc nexl 3 [arranged] likewise | 98 Aqr | |
| ὁ νότιος τῶν τριῶν | the southernmost of the thrcc | 101 Aqr | |
| ὁ μέσος αὐτῶν | thc middle one of thc three | 99 Aqr | |
| τῶν ἐν τῇ λοιπῇ συστροφῇ ’ ὁ ἠγούμενος | the most advanced of thc 3 stars in the rcmaining group | 86 Aqr | |
| τῶν λοιπῶν β’ ὁ νοτιώτερος | the southcrnmost of the other 2 | 89 Aqr | |
| ὁ βορειότερος αὐτῶν | the not·thcrnmost of them | 88 Aqr | |
| ὁ ἔσχατος τοῦ ὕδατος καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ στόματος τοῦ νοτίου Ἰχθύος | the star at the end of thc water and on the mouth of Piscis Austrinus | alf PsA | |
| all | ἀστέρερ μβ, ὥν αἱ μεγέθους ἂ, γ’ 3, δ’ ἢ, εἴ φ, ς’ ἄ. | 42 stars, I of the first magnitude, 9 of the third, 18 of the fourth, 13 of the fifth, I of the sixth | |
| Οἱ περὶ τὸν Ὕδρου ἀμόρφωτοι | Stars round Aquarius outside the constelfation | ||
| ὁ τῶν ἐπομένων τῇ καμπῇ τοῦ ὕδατος φ’ ὁ ἠγούμενος | The most advanced of the 3 stars to the rear of the bend in the water | 2 Cet | |
| τῶν λοιπῶν β’ ὁ βορειότερος | The northernmost of the other 2 | 6 Cet | |
| ὁ νοτιώτερος αὐτῶν. | The southernmost of them | 7 Cet | |
| ἀστέρες γ μεγέθους δ’ μ. | {3 stars of magnitude greater than the fourth} |
Stars within the Constellation Area
| id | Label | IAU design. | description | Vmag |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sadalsuud | HIP 106278 | Constellation lines | 2.89 |
| 2 | Sadalmelik | HIP 109074 | Constellation lines | 2.94 |
| 3 | Skat | HIP 113136 | Constellation lines | 3.28 |
| 4 | Safina | HIP 114341 | Constellation lines (Vertex) | 3.64 |
| 5 | ζ 1 Aquarii | HIP 110960 | Inside the hull | 3.65 |
| 6 | Albali | HIP 102618 | Constellation lines (Vertex) | 3.77 |
| 7 | Shatabhisha | HIP 112961 | Constellation lines | 3.79 |
| 8 | Sadachbia | HIP 110395 | Constellation lines | 3.834 |
| 9 | τ 2 Aquarii | HIP 112716 | Constellation lines | 3.98 |
| 10 | 98 Aqr | HIP 115438 | Constellation lines (Vertex) | 3.98 |
| 11 | η Aquarii | HIP 111497 | Constellation lines (Vertex) | 4.03 |
| 12 | Ancha | HIP 110003 | Constellation lines | 4.16 |
| 13 | ψ 1 Aquarii | HIP 114855 | Constellation lines (Vertex) | 4.25 |
| 14 | ι Aquarii | HIP 109139 | Constellation lines | 4.27 |
| 15 | * zet01 Aqr | HIP 110960 | Inside the hull | 4.49 |
| 16 | ν Aquarii | HIP 104459 | Constellation lines (Vertex) | 4.52 |
| 17 | π Aquarii | HIP 110672 | Constellation lines (Vertex) | 4.64 |
| 18 | 66 Aqr | HIP 112211 | Constellation lines | 4.69 |
| 19 | Bunda | HIP 106786 | Inside the hull | 4.69 |
| 20 | ο Aquarii | HIP 108874 | Inside the hull | 4.69 |
| 21 | μ Aquarii | HIP 103045 | Inside the hull | 4.72 |
| 22 | σ Aquarii | HIP 111123 | Constellation lines | 4.81 |
| 23 | Situla | HIP 111710 | Inside the hull | 5.03 |
| 24 | 46 Cap | HIP 107382 | Inside the hull | 5.079 |
| 25 | μ Capricorni | HIP 108036 | Inside the hull | 5.08 |
| 26 | 25 Aqr | HIP 106944 | Constellation lines (Vertex) | 5.1 |
| 27 | 32 Aqr | HIP 108991 | Inside the hull | 5.271 |
| 28 | 42 Aqr | HIP 110000 | Inside the hull | 5.333 |
| 29 | ρ Aquarii | HIP 110273 | Inside the hull | 5.339 |
| 30 | 38 Aqr | HIP 109472 | Inside the hull | 5.422 |
| 31 | 21 Aqr | HIP 105767 | Inside the hull | 5.469 |
| 32 | 83 Aqr | HIP 113996 | Inside the hull | 5.47 |
| 33 | 7 Aqr | HIP 103401 | Inside the hull | 5.48 |
| 34 | 30 Aqr | HIP 108868 | Inside the hull | 5.543 |
| 35 | 77 Aqr | HIP 113148 | Inside the hull | 5.56 |
| 36 | λ Capricorni | HIP 107517 | Inside the hull | 5.567 |
| 37 | 28 Aqr | HIP 108691 | Inside the hull | 5.597 |
| 38 | 26 Aqr | HIP 107144 | Inside the hull | 5.641 |
| 39 | τ 1 Aquarii | HIP 112542 | Inside the hull | 5.681 |
| 40 | 94 G. Aqr | HIP 108102 | Inside the hull | 5.704 |
| 41 | 19 Aqr | HIP 105761 | Inside the hull | 5.713 |
| 42 | 44 Aqr | HIP 110023 | Inside the hull | 5.751 |
| 43 | 50 Aqr | HIP 110602 | Inside the hull | 5.752 |
| 44 | - | HIP 113184 | Inside the hull | 5.757 |
| 45 | 80 G. Aqr | HIP 106592 | Inside the hull | 5.778 |
| 46 | 51 Aqr | HIP 110578 | Inside the hull | 5.779 |
| 47 | 74 Aqr | HIP 113031 | Inside the hull | 5.78 |
| 48 | - | HIP 110009 | Inside the hull | 5.791 |
| 49 | * 12 Aqr A | HIP 103981 | Inside the hull | 5.8 |
| 50 | 15 Aqr | HIP 105164 | Inside the hull | 5.812 |
| 51 | 16 Aqr | HIP 105412 | Inside the hull | 5.848 |
| 52 | 60 Aqr | HIP 111394 | Inside the hull | 5.875 |
| 53 | 138 G. Aqr | HIP 110532 | Inside the hull | 5.907 |
| 54 | - | HR 8716 | Inside the hull | 5.92 |
| 55 | 225 G. Aqr | HIP 115144 | Inside the hull | 5.94 |
| 56 | 45 Aqr | HIP 110179 | Inside the hull | 5.959 |
| 57 | 17 Aqr | HIP 105574 | Inside the hull | 5.965 |
| 58 | - | HIP 109466 | Inside the hull | 5.98 |
| 59 | 47 Cap | HIP 107487 | Inside the hull | 6 |
| 60 | 39 Aqr | HIP 109624 | Inside the hull | 6.043 |
| 61 | - | HIP 106938 | Inside the hull | 6.07 |
| 62 | 198 G. Aqr | HIP 113531 | Inside the hull | 6.1 |
| 63 | - | HIP 114750 | Inside the hull | 6.12 |
| 64 | 155 G. Aqr | HIP 111171 | Inside the hull | 6.139 |
| 65 | 128 G. Aqr | HIP 109984 | Inside the hull | 6.143 |
| 66 | - | HIP 113998 | Inside the hull | 6.143 |
| 67 | - | HIP 111170 | Inside the hull | 6.16 |
| 68 | 89 G. Aqr | HIP 107596 | Inside the hull | 6.168 |
| 69 | 70 Aqr | HIP 112615 | Inside the hull | 6.18 |
| 70 | 78 Aqr | HIP 113127 | Inside the hull | 6.181 |
| 71 | 82 Aqr | HIP 113781 | Inside the hull | 6.2 |
| 72 | - | HIP 106758 | Inside the hull | 6.214 |
| 73 | 81 Aqr | HIP 113674 | Inside the hull | 6.215 |
| 74 | - | HIP 110778 | Constellation lines | 6.22 |
| 75 | 98 G. Aqr | HIP 108506 | Inside the hull | 6.22 |
| 76 | - | HIP 110778A | Inside the hull | 6.22 |
| 77 | - | HIP 108144 | Inside the hull | 6.23 |
| 78 | - | HIP 111761 | Inside the hull | 6.244 |
| 79 | M 2 | M 2 | Inside the hull | 6.25 |
| 80 | 49 G. Aqr | HIP 104557 | Inside the hull | 6.267 |
| 81 | 115 G. Aqr | HIP 109442 | Inside the hull | 6.282 |
| 82 | - | HIP 107750 | Inside the hull | 6.298 |
| 83 | - | HIP 111965 | Inside the hull | 6.31 |
| 84 | - | HIP 110778B | Inside the hull | 6.32 |
| 85 | 96 G. Aqr | HIP 108453 | Inside the hull | 6.331 |
| 86 | 56 Aqr | HIP 111086 | Inside the hull | 6.347 |
| 87 | 61 Aqr | HIP 111539 | Inside the hull | 6.37 |
| 88 | 20 Aqr | HIP 105729 | Inside the hull | 6.375 |
| 89 | - | HIP 110091 | Inside the hull | 6.379 |
| 90 | 189 G. Aqr | HIP 113080 | Inside the hull | 6.38 |
| 91 | 58 Aqr | HIP 111200 | Inside the hull | 6.381 |
| 92 | 121 G. Aqr | HIP 109647 | Inside the hull | 6.4 |
| 93 | 152 G. Aqr | HIP 111066 | Inside the hull | 6.4 |
| 94 | 67 Aqr | HIP 112179 | Inside the hull | 6.405 |
| 95 | 213 G. Aqr | HIP 114371 | Inside the hull | 6.43 |
| 96 | - | HIP 112168 | Inside the hull | 6.45 |
| 97 | 14 Aqr | HIP 105019 | Inside the hull | 6.46 |
| 98 | - | HR 8629 | Inside the hull | 6.46 |
Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation
Mythology
Greek
Ganymede was the son of King Tros, who gave Troy its name. He was considered the most beautiful youth in the world, which did not go unnoticed by the gods. According to one version of the myth, Zeus either transformed himself into an eagle and carried Ganymede up to heaven or sent an eagle to do the job. According to another version, the goddess of dawn, Eos, desired the beautiful man and therefore abducted him, whereupon Zeus stole him away from her. Regardless of which deity of the Greek pantheon snatched the mortal man first, he was the favourite of all the gods, served as their cupbearer, and they granted him immortality.
This myth was very popular in Greece and Rome, as the young man sooner or later ends up with Zeus, thereby legitimising or at least approving of pederasty. This form of homosexuality refers exclusively to young men: it was considered an honour for a young man to be the passive partner in homosexual intercourse with an older man, especially a teacher or patron. Same-sex love among young men was also tolerated, whereas among older men it was considered rather indecent.
The cupbearer of the gods had been made immortal as a young man, was often seen as frivolous, and was desired by men and women alike.
Roman
Nevertheless, there is an alternative myth: in the 1st century, Germanicus created a Roman adaptation of Aratus, approximately 400 years after the original work and at the time of Augustus' moral laws. He does not identify Aquarius as a sex icon, but with Deucalion, the mythological man who survived the flood and from whom modern humanity is descended.
Deucalion was commissioned by the gods to build a ship to save the species from the flood. When he and his wife Pyrrha went ashore after the flood, there were no other humans left. As they descended from the mountain, they threw stones behind them, and the stones they threw turned into men and women. Thus, the earth was repopulated.
Babylonian
The Babylonian water deity, the god Ea, was the god who indirectly saved humanity from the Flood: the Flood stories all go back to a Sumerian original and therefore always have the same basic pattern: the gods or a god plan to destroy humanity, whereby a selected human couple can save themselves and many animal couples in a specially built giant ship. In Babylonian mythology, the man who builds the ark is called Utnapishtim. He was secretly warned by Ea. Ea does not want to oppose the alliance of the gods, but he also does not want humanity to be wiped out forever. So he tells Utnapishtim's household about the gods' plans for the flood and prays that an ark will be built. Of course, the god of wisdom knows that Utnapishtim is at home and can hear him, but he did not tell him directly and thus did not break his pact with the gods.
Weblinks
References
- ↑ Hoffmann, Susanne M. Wie der Löwe an den Himmel kam. Franckh Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart 2021
- ↑ Ian Ridpath, Star Tales, Online Edition
