The 'Noise' of Humanity & Divine Displeasure

In the Atra-hasis epic, the reason the gods turn against humankind is striking: people have multiplied and their 'noise' — their clamor and restless disturbance — has grown so great that the chief god Enlil cannot sleep. He responds with plague, then drought and famine, and finally the Flood, each time trying to thin the human population. After the Flood, the gods institute death, stillbirth, and celibate women so that humanity will never again overwhelm the world. This is a remarkable early reflection on overpopulation, the limits of the earth, and a divine order that requires human numbers to be checked.