After a survey of the characteristic features of the genre of origin stories in biblical, Greek, and Phoenician sources, this chapter attempts to trace the history of the genre and the circumstances that led to its appearance in the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Mediterranean literature, from its sources of inspiration in the Near East until its establishment in the eastern Mediterranean in the second quarter of the first millennium bce.

The pattern of the settlement stories of the founding father found in the genealogical traditions of both cultures, ties the origin of an ethnic group or residents of a certain city to a forefather who at some point emigrated to the area. This pattern does not exist within the literatures of the ancient regional civilizations, such as Mesopotamia or Egypt, whose people did not regard themselves as immigrants, even though, throughout the centuries, many wanderers and immigrants from other places integrated within their societies and even held leadership positions. This chapter discusses the founding-father pattern and traces signs for the existence of similar literary traditions in other areas within the Mediterranean basin, such as in a series of Anatolian inscriptions that originated in the kingdom of Que in Cilicia, northwest of the Syrian coast. Following this, the chapter discusses the reasons for the growth of this literary pattern in the eastern Mediterranean.

This chapter discusses the Table of Nations pattern and the motif of the ethnic groups issuing from the offspring of the Flood hero in both biblical lists (Gen 10) and Greek genealogical traditions. In striking contrast to both biblical literature and Greek genealogical traditions, the Mesopotamian Flood hero is not the father of a new lineage, but rather leaves this world to live among the gods, and his descendants are not heard of again.

This chapter deals with the motif of the planting of the first vineyard after the Flood in Gen 9:20–27 and Greek genealogical traditions. Both place the story about the discovery of the vine within the genealogical sequence of the eponymous fathers and first inventors, whereas no parallel can be found in Mesopotamian literature.

The opening chapter provides the introductory setting of the book. It defines the genre of origin stories discussed in this study and describes the major ancient sources of genealogical writing in biblical, ancient Greek (seventh–fifth centuries bce), and other early eastern Mediterranean (Phoenician and Anatolian) sources, some of which have only been published in recent years. Following the history of research, the chapter briefly introduces the thesis propounded in this book.

In both Gen 6:1–4 and several texts from the Greek world, especially the Catalogue of Women, the mating of the gods with mortal women is followed by the decision of the head god to put an end to this coupling and bring vast destruction upon the generation of the heroes and all of humanity. This chapter analyzes these similarities and examines the relationship between this motif and flood stories that circulated in the eastern Mediterranean.

This chapter discusses stories describing pairs of brothers representing rival groups—such as two cities, two tribes, two families, two kingdoms, and so forth—that form a pattern characteristic of the origin story genre of the ancient eastern Mediterranean basin. In some of these stories, the siblings begin fighting at birth or even in the womb. A similar pattern can be found in the writings of Philo of Byblos, in the story of Samemroumos (Hypsouranios), who bears the same name as a quarter in Sidon, and his brother Ousoos, who represents Ushu, mainland Tyre.

This chapter is dedicated to the pattern of the “First Inventor,” characteristic of genealogical writing concerning the primeval era. While ancient Near Eastern literature reveals an interest in the beginning of human civilization, it does not contain the pattern of a genealogical lineage that includes first inventors. The chapter analyzes this pattern in biblical and Greek sources, as well as in the remnants of the composition of Philo of Byblos.

This chapter examines the similarities between biblical and Greek literature regarding the story of the first woman, found in the genealogical traditions of both cultures. Many ancient Near Eastern stories describe the process of the creation of the first humans from clay, and these may have disseminated and influenced the story of the creation of the woman in biblical literature, as well as the story of Pandora (especially the description of Hephaestus as a potter, in contrast to his usual portrayal as a blacksmith). However, Near Eastern literature does not include a comparable story about the creation of the first woman as distinct from the man or one that explains the origin of evil in connection to it. In addition to the unique parallel, it transpires that the Pandora tradition was integrated into the Catalogue of Women and other Greek genealogical traditions within the same sequence as the Flood hero Deucalion.