1. The Gilgamesh Epic. Tablet 11
1 Gilgamesh said to him, to Utnapishtim the Faraway:
2 "As I look upon you, Utnapishtim,
3 Your features are not strange; even as you are like unto me.
4 You are not strange at all; even as you are like unto me.
5 My heart had pictured you as one perfect for doing battle;
6 [But] you lie (idly) on (your) side, (or on your back.
7 [Tell me], how did you enter into the company of the gods and obtain life
8 (everlasting)?
9 Utnapishtim said to him, to Gilgamesh;
10 "Gilgamesh, I will reveal to you a hidden thing,
11 Namely, a secret of the gods will I tell you.
12 Surippak --- a city which you know,
13 [And which] is situated [on the bank of] the river Euphrates ---
14 that city was (already) old, and the gods were in its midst.
15 (Now) their heart prompted the great gods [to] bring a flood.
16 [There was(?)] Anu, their father;
17 Warlike Enlil, their counselor;
18 Ninurta, their representative;
19 Ennugi,1 their vizier:
20 Ningiku, (that is,) Ea, also sat with them
21 Their speech he repeated to a reed hut:
22 'Reed hut, reed hut! Wall, wall!
23 Reed hut, hearken! Wall, consider!
24 Man of Surippak, son if Ubara-Tutu!
25 Tear down (your) house, build a ship!(Genesis 6:14)
26 Abandon (your) possessions, seek (to save) life!
27 Disregard (your) goods, and save (your) life!
28 [Cause to} go up into the ship the seed of all living creatures.(Genesis 6:19-20)
29 The ship which you shall build,
30 Its measurements shall be (accurately) measured;
31 Its width and its length shall be equal.(Genesis 6:15)
32 Cover it [li]ke the subterranean waters.'
33 When I understood this, I said to Ea, my lord;
34 '[Behold], my lord, what have you commanded,
35 [I} will honor (and) carry out.
36 [But what] shall I answer the city, the people, and the elders?
37 Ea opened his mouth and said,
38 Speaking to his servant:
39 [I have le]arned that Enlil hates me,
40 That I may no (longer) dwell in yo[ur ci]ty,
41 Nor turn my face to the land of Enlil.
1 Inspector of Canals.

2. The Gilgamesh Epic
42 [I will therefore g]o down to the apsu and dwell with Ea, my [lor]d.
43 [On] you he will (then) rain down plenty;
44 [. . . .of b]irds (?), . . . . of fishes.
45 [. . . .[ harvest-wealth.
46 [In the evening the leader] of the storm (?)
47 Will cause a wheat-rain to rain down upon you.'
48 As soon as [the first shimmer of mor]ning beamed forth.
49 The land was gathered [about me].
. . . . . . . .
50 The child [brou]ght pitch,
51 (While) the strong brought [whatever else] was needful.
52 On the fifth day [I] laid its framework.(Genesis 6:15)
53 One iku was its floor space, one hundred and twenty cubits ach was the height of
its walls;
54 One hundred and twenty cubits measured each side of its deck.
55 I 'laid the shape' of the outside (and) fashioned it.
56 Six (lower) decks I built into it.(Genesis 6:16)
57 (Thus) dividing (it) into seven (stories).
58 Its ground plan I divided into nine (sections).
59 I drove water stoppers into it.
60 I provided punting-poles and stored up a supply.
61 Six shar of pitch I poured into the furnace,(Genesis 6:14)
62 (And) three shar of asphalt [I poured] into it.
63 Three shar of oil the basket-carriers brought:
64 Besides a shar of oil which the saturation(?) (of the water-stoppers) consumed.
65 Bullocks, I slaughtered for [the people]; (Genesis 6:21)
66 Sheep I killed every day.
67 Must, red wine, oil, and white wine.
68 [I gave] the workmen [to drink] as if it were river water,
69 (So that) they made a feast as on New Year's Day.
70 I [. . . .] ointment I put my hands.
71 [. . . .]. . the ship was completed.
72 Difficult was [the. . . .]
73 . . . . above and below.
74 [. . . .]. . its two-thirds.
75 [Whatever I had I] loaded aboard her.
76 Whatever I had of silver I loaded aboard her.
77 Whatever I [had] of gold I loaded aboard her;
78 Whatever I had of seed of all living creatures [I loaded] aboard her.(Genesis 7:7-
8)
79 After I had caused all my family and relations to go up into the ship,
80 I caused the game of the field, the beasts of the field, (and) all the craftsmen to go
(into it).(Genesis 7:13-16)
81 Shamash set for me a definite time;
82 'When the leader of the sto[rm(?)] causes a destructive rain to rain down in the
evening.
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3. The Gilgamesh Epic
83 Enter the ship and close your door.'
84 That definite time arrived:
85 In the evening the leader of the sto[rm(?)] caused a destructive rain to rain down.
86 I viewed the appearance of the weather;
87 The weather was frightful to behold.
88 I entered the ship and closed my door.
89 For the navigation(?) of the ship to the boatman Puzur-Amurri
90 I entrusted the mighty structure with its goods.
91 As son as the first shimmer of morning beamed forth,
92 A black cloud came up from out the horizon.(Genesis 7:11)
93 Adad thunders within it,
94 While Shullat and Hanish go before,
95 Coming as heralds over hill and plain;
96 Irragal pulls out the masts;
97 Ninurta comes along (and) causes the dikes to give way;
98 Lighting up the land with their brightness
99 The raging of Adad reached unto heaven
100 (And) turned into darkness all that was light.
101 [. . . .] the land he broke(?) like a po[t(?)].
102 (For) one day the tem[pest blew].
103 Fast it blew and [. . . .].(Genesis 7:20-22)
104 Like a battle [it ca]me over the p[eople].
105 No man could see his fellow.
106 The people could not be recognized from heaven.
107 (Even) the gods were terror-stricken at the deluge.
108 They fled (and) ascended to the heaven of Anu;
109 The gods cowered like dogs (and) crouched in distress(?).
110 Ishtar cried out like a woman in travail;
111 The lovely-voiced Lady of the g[ods] lamented:
112 'In truth, the olden time was turned to clay,(Genesis 7:23)
113 Because I commanded evil in the assembly of the gods!
114 How could I command (such) evil in the assembly of the gods!
115 (How) could I command war to destroy my people,(Genesis 8:21)
116 (for) it is I who bring forth (these) my people!
117 Like the spawn of fish they (now) fill the sea!'
118 The Anunnaki-gods wept with her;
119 The gods sat bowed (and) weeping.
120 Cover were their lips . . . .
121 Six days and [six] nights
122 The wind blew, the downpour, the tempest, (and) the flo[od] overwhelmed the
land.
123 When the seventh day arrived, the tempest, the flood,
124 Which had fought like an army, subsided in (its) onslaught.
125 The sea grew quiet, the storm abated, the flood ceased.(Genesis 8:1-2)
126 I opened a widow, and light fell upon my face.(Genesis 8:6)
127 I looked upon thesea, (all) was silence,
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4. The Gilgamesh Epic
128 And all mankind had turned to clay;
129 The . . . . was as level as a (flat) roof.
130 I bowed, sat down, and wept,
131 My tears running down over my face.
132 I looked in (all) directions for the boundaries of the sea.
133 As a distance of (twelve double-hours) there emerged a stretch of land.
134 OnMount Nisir the ship landed. (Genesis 8:4)
135 Mount Nisir held the ship fast and did not let (it) move.
136 One day, a second day, Mount Nisir held the ship fast and did not let (it) move.
137 A third day, a fourth day Mount Nisir held the ship fast and did not let (it) move.
138 A fifth day, a sixth day Mount Nisir held the ship fast and did not let (it) mover.
139 When the seventh day arrived,
140 I sent forth a dove and let (her) go.
141 The dove went away and came back to me;(Genesis 8:8-10)
142 There was no resting-place, and so she returned.
143 (Then) I sent forth a swallow and let (her) go.
144 The swallow went away and came back to me;
145 There was no resting-place, and so she returned.
146 (Then) I sent forth a raven and let (her) go.(Genesis 8:7)
147 The raven went away, and when she saw that the waters had abated,
148 She ate, she flew about, she cawed, (and) did not return.
149 (Then) I sent forth (everything) to the four winds and offered a sacrifice.
150 I poured out a libation on the peak of the mountain.(Genesis 8:19-20)
151 Seven and (yet) seven kettles I set up.
152 Under them I heaped up (sweet) cane, cedar, and myrtle.
153 The gods smelled the savor, (Genesis 8:21)
154 The gods smelled the sweet savor,
155 The gods gathered like flies over the sacrificer.
156 As soon as the great goddess2 arrived,
157 she lifted up the great jewels which Anu had made according to her wish:
158 'O ye gods here present, as surely as I shall not forget the lapis lazuli on my
neck,
159 I shall remember these days and shall not forget (them) ever!
160 Let the gods come near to the offering,
161 Because without reflection he brought on the deluge
162 And consigned my people to destruction!'
163 As soon as Enlil arrived
164 And saw the ship, Enlil was wroth;
165 He was filled the anger against the gods, the Igigi:
166 'Has any of the mortals escaped No man was to live through the destruction!'
167 Ninurta opened his mouth and said, speaking to warrior Enl[il]:
168 'Who can do things without Ea?
169 For Ea alone understands every matter.'
170 Ea opened his mouth and said speaking to warrior Enlil:
2 Ishtar
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5. The Gilgamesh Epic
171 'O warrior, you wisest among the gods!
172 How, O how could you without reflection bring on (this) deluge?
173 On the sinner lay his sin; on the transgressor lay his transgression!
174 Let loose, that he shall not be cut off; pull tight, that he may not ge[t (too) loose]
175 Instead of your sending a deluge, would that a wolf had come and dim[inished]
mankind!
176 (Or) instead of your sending a deluge, would that a famine had occurred and
[destroyed] the land!
177 (Or) instead of your sending a deluge, would that Irra had come and smitten
mankind!
178 (Moreover,) it was not I who revealed the secret of the great gods;
179 (But) to Arahasis I showed a dream, and so he learned the secret of the gods.
180 And now take counsel concerning him.'
181 Then Enlil went up into the ship.
182 He took my hand ad caused me to go aboard.
183 He caused my wife to go aboard (and) to kneel down at my side.
184 Standing between us, he touched our foreheads and blessed us;
185 'Hitherto Utnapishtim has been but a man;
186 But now Utnapishtim and his wife shall be like unto us gods.
187 In the distance, at the mouth of the rivers Utnapishtim shall dwell!"
188 So they took me and caused me to dwell in the distance, at the mouth of the
rivers.
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