“‘I will reveal to thee, O Izdhubar, the history of my preservation-and tell to thee the decision of the gods.
“‘The town of Shurippak, a town which thou knowest, is situated on the Euphrates—it was ancient, and in it [men did not honor] the gods. [I alone, I was] their servant, to the great gods—[The gods took counsel on the appeal of] Ann—[a deluge was proposed by] Bel—[and approved by Nabon, Nergal and] Adar.
“‘And the god [Ea], the immutable lord, repeated this command in a dream.—I listened to the decree of fate that he announced, and he said to me:—” Man of Shurippak, son of Ubaratutu—thou, build a vessel and finish it [quickly].—[By a deluge] I will destroy substance and life.—Cause thou to go up into the vessel the substance of all that has life.—The vessel thou shall build-600 cubits shall be the measure of its length—and 60 cubits the amount of its breadth and of its height.
[Launch it] thus on the ocean, and cover it with a roof.”—I understood, and I said to Ea, my lord:—”[The vessel] that thou commandest me to build thus—[when] I shall do it,—young and old [shall laugh at me.]”—[Ea opened his mouth and] spoke.—He said to me, his servant:—”[If they laugh at thee] thou shalt say to them:—[shall be punished] he who has insulted me, [for the protection of the gods] is over me.— . . . like to caverns . . . — . . . I will exercise my judgment on that which is on high and that which is below . . . .—. . .
Close the vessel . . . — . . . At a given moment that I shall cause thee to know,—enter into it, and draw the door of the ship toward thee.—Within it, thy grains, thy furniture, thy provisions, thy riches, thy men-servants, and thy maid-servants, and thy young people—the cattle of the field, and the wild beasts of the plain that I will assemble-and that I will send thee, shall be kept behind thy door.”—Khasisatra opened his mouth and spoke;—he said to Ea, his lord:—”No one has made [such a] ship.—On the prow I will fix . . . —I shall see . . . and the vessel . . . —the vessel thou commandest me to build [thus] which in . . .”
“‘On the fifth day [the two sides of the bark] were raised.—In its covering fourteen in all were its rafters— fourteen in all did it count above.—I placed its roof, and I covered it.—I embarked in it on the sixth day; I divided its floors on the seventh;—I divided the interior compartments on the eighth. I stopped up the chinks through which the water entered in;—I visited the chinks, and added what was wanting.—I poured on the exterior three times 3600 measures of asphalte,—and three times 3600 measures of asphalte within.—Three times 3600 men, porters, brought on their beads the chests of provisions.—I kept 3600 chests for the nourishment of my family,—and the mariners divided among themselves twice 3600 chests.—For [provisioning] I had oxen slain;—I instituted [rations] for each day.—In [anticipation of the need of] drinks, of barrels, and of wine—[I collected in quantity] like to the waters of a river, [of provisions] in quantity like to the dust of the earth.
the vessel was completed.— . . . strong and—I had carried above and below the furniture of the ship.—[This lading filled the two-thirds.]
“‘All that I possessed I gathered together; all I possessed of silver I gathered together; all that I possessed of gold I gathered—all that I possessed of the substance of life of every kind I gathered together.—I made all ascend into the vessel; my servants, male and female,—the cattle of the fields, the wild beasts of the plains, and the sons of the people, I made them all ascend.
“‘Shamash (the sun) made the moment determined, and he announced it in these terms:—”In the evening I will cause it to rain abundantly from heaven; enter into the vessel and close the door.”—The fixed Moment had arrived, which he announced in these terms:—”In the evening I will cause it to rain abundantly from heaven.”—When the evening of that day arrived, I was afraid,—I entered into the vessel and shut my door.—In shutting the vessel, to Buzur-shadi-rabi, the pilot,—I confided this dwelling, with all that it contained.
“‘Mu-sheri-ina-namari—rose from the foundations of heaven in a black cloud;—Ramman thundered in the midst of the cloud,—and Nabon and Sharru marched before;—they marched, devastating the mountain and the plain;— Nergal the powerful dragged chastisements after him;—Adar advanced, overthrowing;—before him;—the archangels of the abyss brought destruction,—in their terrors they agitated the earth.—The inundation of Ramman swelled up to the sky,—and [the earth] became without lustre, was changed into a desert.
“‘They broke . . . of the surface of the earth like . . . ;—[they destroyed] the living beings of the surface of the earth.—The terrible [Deluge] on men swelled up to [heaven].The brother no longer saw his brother; men no longer knew each other. In heaven—the gods became afraid of the water-spout, and—sought a refuge; they mounted up to the heaven of Anu.—The gods were stretched out motionless, pressing one against another like dogs.—Ishtar wailed like a child, the great goddess pronounced her discourse:—”Here is humanity returned into mud, and—this is the misfortune that I have announced in the presence of the gods.—So I announced the misfortune in the presence of the gods,—for the evil I announced the terrible [chastisement] of men who are mine.—I am the mother who gave birth to men, and—like to the race of fishes, there they are filling the sea;—and the gods, by reason of that—which the archangels of the abyss are doing, weep with me.”—The gods on their seats were seated in tears,—and they held their lips closed, [revolving] future things.
“‘Six days and as many nights passed; the wind, the water-spout, and the diluvian rain were in all their strength. At the approach of the seventh day the diluvian rain grew weaker, the terrible water-spout-which had assailed after the fashion of an earthquake—grew calm, the sea inclined to dry up, and the wind and the water- spout came to an end. I looked at the sea, attentively observing—and the whole of humanity had returned to mud; like unto sea-weeds the corpses floated. I opened the window, and the light smote on my face. I was seized with sadness; I sat down and I wept;-and my tears came over my face.
“‘I looked at the regions bounding the sea: toward the twelve points of the horizon; not any continent.—The vessel was borne above the land of Nizir,—the mountain of Nizir arrested the vessel, and did not permit it to pass over.—A day and a second day the mountain of Nizir arrested the vessel, and did not permit it to pass over;—the third and fourth day the mountain of Nizir arrested the vessel, and did not permit it to pass over;—the fifth and sixth day the mountain of Nizir arrested the vessel, and did not permit it to pass over. At the approach of the seventh day, I sent out and loosed a dove. The dove went, turned, and—found no place to light on, and it came back. I sent out and loosed a swallow; the swallow went, turned, and—found no place to light on, and it came back. I sent out and loosed a raven; the raven went and saw the corpses on the waters; it ate, rested, turned, and came not back.
“‘I then sent out (what was in the vessel) toward the four winds, and I offered a sacrifice. I raised the pile of my burnt-offering on the peak of the mountain; seven by seven I disposed the measured vases,—and beneath I spread rushes, cedar, and juniper-wood. The gods were seized with the desire of it—the gods were seized with a benevolent desire of it;—and the gods assembled like flies above the master of the sacrifice. From afar, in approaching, the great goddess raised the great zones that Anu has made for their glory (the gods). These gods, luminous crystal before me, I will never leave them; in that day I prayed that I might never leave them. “Let the gods come to my sacrificial pile!—but never may Bel come to my sacrificial pile! for he did not master himself, and he has made the water-spout for the Deluge, and he has numbered my men for the pit.”
“‘From far, in drawing near, Bel—saw the vessel, and Bel stopped;—he was filled with anger against the gods and the celestial archangels:
