IF THE ANCIENT Sumerian epic of Atrahasis and the flood, composed more than four thousand years ago, sounds familiar, it should. Tales of a world-ending deluge that destroys all of humanity save for a fortunate few are among the oldest and most widely spread in human history. The myth is, in some ways, the quintessential “folk memory,” as most scholars believe it is based on an actual catastrophic flood that took place some time in the distant past.
