Mythology

Utnapishtim begins by telling Gilgamesh that the story which he is about to relate is ‘a hidden matter, a secret of the gods’. He describes himself as a man of Shuruppak, most ancient of the cities of Akkad. Ea reveals to him through the wall of his reed-but that the gods have decided to destroy all the seed of life by a flood, though the reason for their decision is not given. Ea instructs Utnapishtim to build a ship into which he is to bring ‘the seed of all living things’. The dimensions and shape of the ship are given, according to which it appears that the ship was to be a perfect cube. Utnapishtim asks Ea how he is to explain to the citizens of Shuruppak the reasons for his actions, and Ea tells him that he is to say that he has incurred the displeasure of Enlil and that he has been banished from Enlil’s territory. He tells them, ‘To the Deep I will therefore go down, to dwell with my lord Ea.’ He further tells them that Enlil is about to shower down abundance upon them; so that they are completely deceived as to the god’s real intentions. Then follows the account of the building of the ship and the loading of it: ‘(Whatever I had) I laded upon her; Whatever I had of silver I laded upon her; Whatever I (had) of gold I laded upon her; Whatever I had of all the living beings I (laded) upon her. All my family and kin I made go aboard the ship. The beasts of the field, the wild creatures of the field, All the craftsmen I made go aboard.’ [13] Then follows a vivid description of the storm. Adad thunders; Nergal tears down the doorposts of the gates that hold back the waters of the upper ocean; the Anunnaki lift up the torches, ’setting the land ablaze with their glare’. The gods themselves are alarmed and cower like dogs against the wall of heaven. Ishtar, who apparently had incited the gods to destroy mankind, lifts up her voice and bewails her action, while the rest of the gods weep with her. The storm rages for six days and nights. On the seventh day it subsides; Utnapishtim looks out and sees that the landscape is as level as a flat roof, and that ‘all of mankind had returned to clay’. The ship grounds on Mt Nisir. Utnapishtim waits seven days, and then sends out a dove which returns having found no resting place. He then sends out a swallow which also returns. Finally he sends out a raven which finds food and does not return. Then he lets out all that are in the ship and offers sacrifice. The gods smell the sweet savour and gather like flies to the sacrifice. Ishtar arrives, and lifts up her necklace of lapis-lazuli and swears by it never to forget what has happened. She upbraids Enlil for having caused the destruction of her people. Then Enlil arrives at the sacrifices and is furious that any one has been allowed to escape. Ninurta blames Ea for betraying the secret of the gods, and Ea expostulates with Enlil and intercedes for Utnapishtim. Enlil is appeased and blesses Utnapishtim and his wife and confers upon them immortality like the gods. He decrees that henceforth they shall dwell far away at the mouth of the rivers. There the account of the Flood ends, and the rest of the tablet, together with tablet twelve, belong to the Gilgamesh story, and will be dealt with later. While excavations at various Mesopotamian sites have shown evidence for severe floods at Ur, Kish, and Erech, there is no evidence for a flood covering the whole country; and the severity and date of the floods differ for each of the above-mentioned cities. Nevertheless the

Note: If you are looking for good and high quality web space to host and run your java application check Lunarwebhost java web hosting services