ception of his
own gentle river is reflected in the form he gave the Nile-god, for Hapi
is represented as no fierce warrior or monster. He is given a woman's
breasts as a sign of his fecundity. The nearest Egyptian parallel to
the Deluge story is the "Legend of the Destruction of Mankind", which
is engraved on the walls of a chamber in the tomb of Seti I.(1) The late
Sir Gaston Maspero indeed called it "a dry deluge myth", but his paradox
was intended to emphasize the difference as much as the parallelism
presented. It is true that in the Egyptian myth the Sun-god causes
mankind to be slain because of their impiety, and he eventually pardons
the survivors. The narrative thus betrays undoubted parallelism to
the Babylonian and Hebrew stories, so far as concerns the attempted
annihilation of mankind by the offended god, but there the resemblance
ends. For water has no part in man's destruction, and the essential
element of a Deluge story is thus absent.(2) Our new Sumerian document,
on the other hand, contains what is by far the earliest example yet
recovered of a genuine Deluge tale; and we may thus use it incidentally
to test this theory of Egyptian influence, and also to ascertain whether
it furnishes any positive evidence on the origin of Deluge stories in
general.

(1) It was first published by Monsieur Naville, _Tranc. Soc.
Bibl. Arch._, IV (1874), pp. 1 ff. The myth may be most
conveniently studied in Dr. Budge's edition in _Egyptian
Literature_, Vol. I, "Legends of the Gods" (1912), pp. 14
ff., where the hieroglyphic text and translation are printed
on opposite pages; cf. the summary, op. cit., pp. xxiii ff.,
where the principal literature is also cited. See also his
_Gods of the Egyptians_, Vol. I, chap. xii, pp. 388 ff.

(2) The undoubted points of resemblance, as well as the
equally striking points of divergence, presented by the
Egyptian myth when compared with the Babylonian and Hebrew
stories of a Deluge may be briefly indicated. The impiety of
men in complaining of the age of Ra finds a parallel in the
wickedness of man upon the earth (J) and the corruption of
all flesh (P) of the Hebrew Versions. The summoning by Ra of
the great Heliopolitan cosmic gods in council, including his
personified Eye, the primaeval pair Shu and Tefnut, Keb the
god of the earth and his consort Nut the sky-goddess, and Nu
the primaeva