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Ziusudra (Old Babylonian Akkadian: 𒍣𒌓𒋤𒁺, romanized Ṣíusudrá; Neo-Assyrian Akkadian: 𒍣𒋤𒁕, romanized Ṣísudda; Ancient Greek: Ξίσουθρος, Xísouthros) of Shuruppak is named in the WB-62 recension of the Sumerian King List as the final king of Sumer before the Great Flood. He later appears as the hero of the Eridu Genesis and is identified in the writings of Berossus under the name Xisuthros.
Ziusudra is one of several legendary flood heroes in Near Eastern traditions, alongside Atrahasis, Utnapishtim, and the biblical Noah. While each narrative contains unique elements, they share many core themes and motifs.
Literary and Archaeological Evidence
In the WB-62 version of the Sumerian King List, Ziusudra (also called Zin-Suddu) of Shuruppak is described as the son of Ubara-Tutu, the last king before the Flood. He is said to have ruled as both king and gudug priest for ten sars (each sar equaling 3,600 years), though scholars generally consider this figure to be a scribal exaggeration or error, possibly intended to represent ten years.
After mentioning Ziusudra, the text states:
Then the flood swept over. After the flood had swept over, and kingship had descended from heaven, the kingship was in Kish.
Archaeological evidence supports the existence of a major flood in southern Mesopotamia around 2900 BC. Sedimentary flood layers have been discovered at Shuruppak (modern Tell Fara), Uruk, Kish, and other sites. Pottery from the Jemdet Nasr period, which predates the Early Dynastic I period, was found directly beneath the flood stratum at Shuruppak. Archaeologist Max Mallowan observed that both textual and archaeological evidence provide strong grounds for believing Ziusudra was a prehistoric ruler of a historically identifiable city.
The Epic of Gilgamesh (Tablet XI) refers to Utnapishtim—considered the Akkadian equivalent of Ziusudra—as “the man of Shuruppak,” further supporting this association.
The Sumerian Flood Myth
The story of Ziusudra survives in a fragmentary Sumerian tablet dated to the 17th century BC and first published by Arno Poebel in 1914. The preserved portion describes the creation of humankind and animals and the founding of the first cities—Eridu, Bad-tibira, Larak, Sippar, and Shuruppak.
Although parts of the text are missing, it reveals that the gods resolved to destroy humanity with a flood. The god Enki warns Ziusudra, ruler of Shuruppak, to build a large boat. The instructions for building the vessel are lost in the damaged text.
The flood rages for seven days and nights, tossing the great boat upon the waters. When the storm subsides, the sun god Utu appears. Ziusudra opens a window, prostrates himself, and offers sacrifices of an ox and a sheep. After another gap in the text, the flood is over, and Ziusudra kneels before the gods An and Enlil. They grant him eternal life and take him to dwell in Dilmun.
The epic includes a distinctive element absent from other flood accounts: Ziusudra is said to dwell in “KUR Dilmun, the place where the sun rises.” The Sumerian word KUR is ambiguous, often meaning “mountain,” “foreign land,” or simply “land.” Some scholars translate the phrase as “the mountain of crossing, the mountain of Dilmun, the place where the sun rises.”
A separate Sumerian text, The Instructions of Shuruppak (dated to about 2600 BC), also mentions Ziusudra, indicating that he had already become a revered figure in literary tradition by the mid-third millennium BC.
Xisuthros in Greek Tradition
The name Xisuthros (Ξίσουθρος) is the Greek form of Ziusudra, preserved in the writings of Berossus, a Babylonian priest whose works were later cited by Alexander Polyhistor.
In Berossus’ account, the Sumerian god Enki is identified with the Greek god Cronus through interpretatio graeca. Xisuthros is described as a king, son of Ardates, who ruled for 18 saroi. Since one sar equals 3,600 years, this total was calculated as 64,800 years—though the term saros also has an astronomical meaning, referring to a cycle of 222 lunar months (approximately 18.5 years).
Berossus further claimed that the reed vessel built by Xisuthros survived into his own time in the “Corcyrean Mountains” of Armenia.
If you would like, I can also provide a more condensed academic-style rewrite, a simplified version for general readers, or a version formatted for publication.
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