SCR 5131 Hebrew Bible Dr. Andrew Wilson
Fall 2009 (212) 563‐6647 x112
Atrahasis (Utnapishtim) and the Flood
Old Babylonian Atrahasis
When gods instead of humans carried out work
and endured toil,
the toil of the gods was great, the work was heavy,
the hardship severe.
The seven great Anunnaki divinities were making
the Igigi deities carry out the work.
Anu their father was the king; their governor was
the stalwart Enlil;
their chamberlain was Ninurta; and their
commissioner was Ennugi.
The gods had clasped hands together, cast lots,
and allotted departments:
Anu had gone up to heaven; [Enlil took] the earth
to rule over;
the bolt and bar of the sea they had given
to Enki the artful.
After Anu had ascended to the heavens and Enki
had descended to the watery abyss (Apsu),
They dug the Tigris and Euphrates rivers,
They raised up all the mountains. . . .
For forty long years they toiled night and day.
They were complaining, making accusations,
grumbling over the excavating:
Let us confront our [overseer] the chamberlain, to
get relief from our heavy work;
and Enlil the stalwart, the governor of the gods,
let us go and shake him up in his residence.
[One of them (the god who is sacrificed later?)]
spoke up and addressed the gods, his brothers:
The governor of the gods, the stalwart, let us go
and shake him up in his residence,
Enlil, the governor of the gods, the stalwart, let us
go and shake him up in his residence.
So then, let us declare war (go on strike) and stir up
struggle and strife.
The gods paid heed to his words and set their tools
on fire;
they set fire to their spades and ignited their hods.
They grasped them as they wended their way to
the temple-gate of stalwart Enlil...
Enlil opened his mouth and addressed the great
gods:
“Is it to me this is happening? Must I be in
conflict [with my own kin]?
What do I see with my own eyes? Strife has come
right to my gate...
Who is the instigator of strife? Who is the
provoker of conflict?
Who was it that declared war?” ...
“Every single one of us gods has declared war.
Excessive toil is killing us, our work is heavy and
the hardship is severe...”
When Enlil heard the message, tears ran from his
eyes.
Anu opened his mouth and addressed the gods his
brothers:
What are we accusing them of? Their work was
heavy, their hardship was severe...
The complaining was heavy, we could hear the
noise of it...
So bring in Belet-ili, the birth goddess;
let the birth-goddess create Lullu, a human;
let humankind carry out the toil of the gods. . . .
On the first, seventh, and fifteenth day of the
month Enki made a purifying bath.
Then Geshtu-e, who had spirit (personality,
intelligence),
was slaughtered in their assembly.
From his flesh and blood the goddess Nintu mixed
clay.
For evermore they would hear the drum,
from the flesh of the god there was a spirit;
it proclaimed the living one (man) as its sign,
and so that this would not be forgotten, there was
a spirit.
After she had mixed that clay, she summoned
the Anunnaki, the great gods;
the great gods put spittle on the clay.
Mami opened her mouth and spoke to the great
gods:
The task you commanded, I have completed;
you have slaughtered a god with his spirit,
your heavy work I have now removed, your toil I

SCR 5131 Hebrew Bible Dr. Andrew Wilson
Fall 2009 (212) 563‐6647 x112
have now imposed on humans.
You made a noise about wanting humankind,
and so I have untied the yoke and set you free.
They listened to this speech of hers, then ran
together and kissed her feet:
Formerly we called you Mami, now let your name
be Belet-kala-ili (Mistress-of-all-the-gods).
[There follows instructions about midwifery
and childbirth]
Twelve hundred years had not gone by; the land
had expanded and the people had multiplied.
The land was bellowing like wild oxen, and the
god was disturbed by their uproar.
Enlil heard their noise and addressed the great
gods:
The noise of humankind is too loud for me; with
all their uproar I cannot go to sleep.
Command that there be a plague,
let Namtar lessen their noise.
Let sickness and disease, plague and pestilence,
blast them like a tornado...
The man Atrahasis, a person of discernment, was
in communication with his god Ea (Enki),
he conversed with his god, and his god conversed
with him,
Atrahasis opened his mouth and addressed Ea his
lord:
“Ea, Lord, humanity is groaning; the disease from
the gods is consuming the land.
It was you who created us, will you stop the
sickness and disease, the plague and pestilence?”
Enki opened his mouth and addressed his slave: ...
“Seek out the gate of Namtara and set down a
cake before it.
The sesame-seed offering may please him; he will
be abashed at the gift and lift his hand.” ...
The elders paid heed to his words, and built a
temple for Namtara in the city.
They visited the gate of Namtara and offered a
cake before it.
The sesame-meal offering pleased him; he was
abashed at the gift and lifted his hand.
The plague left them...
[Enlil then commands Adad to cause a
drought, but again the god Enki (Ea) sends
word to Atrahasis, and the god is propitiated.]
Enlil opened his mouth to speak and addressed the
assembly of all the gods:
Come now, let us all take an oath to bring a flood.
Anu swore first, Enlil swore, his sons swore with
him...
Enki opened his mouth and addressed the gods his
brothers:
Why will you bind me with an oath? Am I to lay
hands on my own people? ...
[Enki is required also to bind himself by oath,
and so he must find some subterfuge to get
around it. Therefore instead of speaking to
Atrahasis directly, he speaks to the wall of his
house]
Enki opened his mouth and addressed his servant:
You say, “What am I to seek?” Heed then the
message I will speak to you:
Reed wall, listen now to me,
reed wall, heed all my words:
Demolish the house, build a boat;
spurn property and save life.
The boat that you are to build... shall be roofed
with sturdy covering like the Apsu;
to prevent Shamash (the sun) seeing inside it,
have it roofed both over and under.
The tackle must be very strong, and the pitch
tough to impart strength.
Soon I will rain down upon you an abundance of
fowl, a profusion of fish.
Observe the appointed time that I tell you;
enter the boat and close the door of the boat.
Send up into it your grain, goods and chattels,
your wife and family, your kinsfolk, and the
master-craftsmen.
Creatures of the plains, all the wild creatures that
eat grass,
I will send to you and they will wait at your door.
He opened the clock and filled it (with water or
sand?);
he told him that the coming of the flood would be
on the seventh night.
Atrahasis, having received the command,
assembled his elders to his gate.
Atrahasis opened his mouth and addressed the
elders:
“My god does not agree with your god;
Enki and Enlil are angry with each other.

SCR 5131 Hebrew Bible Dr. Andrew Wilson
Fall 2009 (212) 563‐6647 x112
They have cast me out of [my house].
Since I am a worshipper of Enki, he told me of
this matter.
I cannot live in [your country any more]; I cannot
set my foot on the land of Enlil now...”
The people helped him build his boat.
The wood-worker carried his ax; the reed-worker
carried his flattener made of stone;
the child carried the bitumen, the poor man
brought what was needed. . . .
Gilgamesh Tablet XI
It was a field in area,
its walls were each 10 times 12 cubits in height,
the sides of its top were of equal length, 10 times
It cubits each.
I laid out its (interior) structure and drew a picture
of it (?).
I provided it with six decks,
thus dividing it into seven (levels).
The inside of it I divided into nine compartments.
I drove plugs [to keep out] water in its middle.
I saw to the punting poles and laid in what was
necessary.
Three times 3,600 (units) of raw bitumen I poured
into the bitumen kiln,
three times 3,600 of pitch... into it,
there were three times 3,600 porters of casks who
carried (vegetable) oil,
apart from the 3,600 of oil which they consumed.
Old Babylonian Atrahasis
Lean animals and fat animals he stowed in it.
He caught and put on board the winged birds of
the heavens...
He invited his people... to a banquet.
He sent his family on board;
they ate and they drank;
but he himself kept going in and out, he could
neither sit nor squat, because his heart was broken
and he was spewing bile.
The aspect of the weather altered,
as Adad roared in the clouds.
When he heard the noise,
pitch was brought for him to caulk his door.
After he had barred his door,
Adad was roaring in the clouds;
the winds became ferocious as he rose to sever the
hawser and set the boat adrift.
The chariot of the gods... was ravaging,
slaughtering, threshing.
Ninurta caused the dikes to overflow,
Errakal tore up the posts.
Anzu with his talons rent the heavens apart,
shattering the land noisily like a pot.
The flood set in... its force came upon the people
like an army.
People could not see one another;
they could not be recognized in the disaster.
The flood bellowed like a wild ox,
while the wind howled like a whinnying wild ass.
The darkness was thick, the sun was gone. ..
Gilgamesh Tablet XI
The gods were frightened by the Flood,
and retreated, ascending to the heaven of Anu.
The gods were cowering like dogs, crouching by
the outer wall.
Ishtar shrieked like a woman in childbirth,
the sweet-voiced Mistress of the Gods wailed:
“The olden days have alas turned to clay, because
I said evil things in the Assembly of the Gods!
How could I say evil things in the Assembly of
the Gods, ordering a catastrophe to destroy my
people!!
No sooner have I given birth to my dear people
than they fill the sea like so many fish!”
The gods--those of the Anunnaki--were weeping
with her,
the gods humbly sat weeping, sobbing with grief,
their lips burning, parched with thirst.
Six days and seven nights came the wind and
flood, the storm flattening the land.
When the seventh day arrived, the storm was
pounding, the flood was a war--struggling with
itself like a woman writhing (in labor).
The sea calmed, fell still, the whirlwind (and)
flood stopped up.
I looked around all day long--quiet had set in and
all the human beings had turned to clay!
The terrain was as flat as a roof.
I opened a vent and fresh air (daylight!) fell upon
the side of my nose.
I fell to my knees and sat weeping, tears streaming
down the side of my nose.
I looked around for coastlines in the expanse of
the sea, and at twelve leagues there emerged a

SCR 5131 Hebrew Bible Dr. Andrew Wilson
Fall 2009 (212) 563‐6647 x112
region (of land).
On Mt. Nimush the boat lodged firm,
Mt. Nimush held the boat, allowing no sway.
One day and a second Mt. Nimush held the boat,
allowing no sway.
A third day, a fourth, Mt. Nimush held the boat,
allowing no sway.
A fifth day, a sixth, Mt. Nimush held the boat,
allowing no sway.
When a seventh day arrived
I sent forth a dove and released it.
The dove went off, but came back to me;
no perch was visible so it circled back to me.
I sent forth a swallow and released it.
The swallow went off, but came back to me;
no perch was visible so it circled back to me.
I sent forth a raven and released it.
The raven went off, and saw the waters slither
back.
It eats, it scratches, it bobs, but does not circle
back to me.
Then I sent out everything in all directions and
sacrificed a sheep.
I offered incense in front of the mountain-
ziggurat.
Seven and seven cult vessels I put in place,
and (into the fire) underneath (or: into their bowls)
I poured reeds, cedar, and myrtle.
The gods smelled the savor,
the gods smelled the sweet savor,
and collected like flies over a (sheep) sacrifice.
Just then Beletili arrived.
She lifted up the large flies (beads) which Anu
had made for his enjoyment:
'You gods, as surely as I shall not forget this lapis
lazuli around my neck,
may I be mindful of these days, and never forget
them!
The gods may come to the incense offering,
but Enlil may not come to the incense offering,
because without considering he brought about the
Flood and consigned my people to annihilation.'
Old Babylonian Atrahasis
The stalwart Enlil saw the ship and was filled with
anger against the Igigi:
“All we great divinities decided on an oath
together.
Where did life make its escape?
How did any human survive the destruction?”
Anu opened his mouth and addressed the stalwart
Enlil:
“Who but Enki could have done this?” . . .
Enki opened his mouth and addressed the great
gods:
“Indeed I did it in front of you, to preserve life.”...
Then Enlil opened his mouth and addressed Enki
the artful:
Come then, summon Nintu, the birth-goddess, you
and she shall confer in the assembly.
Enki opened his mouth and addressed Nintu, the
birth-goddess:
You, the birth-goddess, creatress of destinies…
[Enki's utterance is damaged, but
apparently he is announcing a divine
program of birth control]
Let only a third of the people come into being.
Let there be women who bear and women who do
not bear.
Let there be among the people the pashittu-
demon, to snatch the infant from the knees of the
woman who gives birth.
Establish women in certain religious orders, and
let it be taboo for them to bear children . . . .
For your praise let the Igigi deities hear this song
and extol your greatness together.
To all peoples I sing of the flood. Listen now.