Myths and Legends of the Ancient Near East

<p>Mesopotamia the land between the rivers lies cradled by the Tigris and Euphrates. In the modern world this area encompasses Iraq northeastern Syria southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran. To the ancient mind it was a liminal place where the forces of life and death were ever in tension. Fertile soil gave birth to the first great urban civilizations but it was bordered by deserts mountains and marshes that represented the dangerous and unknown.</p><p>The Tigris River with its fast-flowing volatile currents was feared and revered as a force of divine energy. The Euphrates broader and gentler was a lifeline for irrigation and agriculture. Together they deposited the silt that fed barley and wheat creating the agricultural surplus that allowed cities like Uruk Ur Eridu and Lagash to flourish as early as 4000 BCE. Yet both rivers could turn catastrophic flooding with little warning destroying fields homes and lives. These unpredictable floods found their echo in the Flood Myth-the story of Ziusudra later Utnapishtim surviving the deluge decreed by angry gods.</p>