Anonymous (Akkadian) · a new plain-English translation from the Akkadian
Gilgamesh spoke to him, to Utnapishtim the distant: "I look at you, Utnapishtim, your form is no different — you are just like me. Nor are you different at all — you are just like me. My heart had resolved to fight with you, but now my arm lies useless over you. Tell me, how did you come to stand in the assembly of the gods and find life eternal?" Utnapishtim spoke to him, to Gilgamesh: "I will reveal to you, Gilgamesh, a hidden matter, and a secret of the gods I will tell you. Shuruppak — a city that you know, that on the bank of the Euphrates is set —
that city was old, and the gods within it, their hearts moved the great gods to make a flood. Their father Anu swore the oath, the warrior Enlil was their counselor, Ninurta their throne-bearer, Ennugi their canal-controller. Ea the clever one swore with them, but he repeated their word to a reed fence: 'Reed fence, reed fence! Wall, wall! Reed fence, listen, and wall, pay attention! Man of Shuruppak, son of Ubar-Tutu, tear down the house, build a boat!
Give up possessions, seek out life, spurn property and save life! Take up into the boat the seed of all living things. The boat that you shall build, let her measurements be measured out, let her width and her length be equal, roof her over like the Apsu.' I understood, and I said to Ea, my lord: 'I obey, my lord, what you have commanded thus, I will heed and I will do. But what shall I answer the city, the people, and the elders?' Ea opened his mouth to speak,
saying to me, his servant: 'You, you shall say to them thus: Surely Enlil hates me, so I can no longer live in your city, nor can I set my foot on Enlil's ground any longer. I will go down to the Apsu, to live with Ea my lord. But upon you he will shower down abundance — the choicest birds, the rarest fish — riches, a harvest. In the morning he will rain down cakes upon you, in the evening a downpour of wheat.'
At the first glow of dawn, the land gathered at the gate of Atra-hasis. The carpenter carried his axe, the reed-worker carried his stone, the shipwright carried his hatchet. The young men... the old men brought the rope. The rich man carried the pitch, the poor man brought what was needed. On the fifth day I laid out her hull; her floor plan was one acre, her sides were each ten times twelve cubits high, ten times twelve cubits each edge of her deck. I sketched out her shape and drew her design.
I gave her six decks, dividing her into seven parts. Her floor plan I divided into nine parts. I drove water-plugs into her middle. I saw to the punting-poles and laid in what was needed. Three shár of pitch I poured into the kiln. Three shár of bitumen I poured inside. Three shár of oil the men carrying baskets brought in, apart from one shár of oil that the offering consumed, and the two shár of oil that the boatman hid away. For the workmen I slaughtered bulls without number, and I killed sheep every day.
Beer, ale, oil, and wine I gave the workmen to drink, as though it were river water, so that they made a feast as if it were New Year's Day. ... I set my hand to the ointment when the sun rose. Before the sun set, the boat was finished. ... it was difficult, and we carried the launching-poles above and below ... until two-thirds of it had gone. Whatever I had, I loaded upon her: whatever I had of silver I loaded upon her, whatever I had of gold I loaded upon her,
whatever I had of the seed of all living things I loaded upon her. I put aboard the boat all my family and kin, the beasts of the field, the wild creatures of the field, and all the craftsmen I made go aboard. Shamash had set for me a fixed time: 'In the morning he will rain down cakes, in the evening a downpour of wheat — enter the boat, and seal your door!' That fixed time arrived: in the morning he rained down cakes, in the evening a downpour of wheat. I watched the appearance of the weather — the weather was frightful to behold. I went into the boat and sealed my door, entrusting the sealing of the boat to Puzur-Enlil the boatman.
The palace I gave, and all its goods. At the first glow of dawn, a black cloud rose up from the horizon of the sky. Adad thundered within it, while Shullat and Hanish went before, going as heralds over hill and land. Errakal tore out the mooring poles; Ninurta went on and made the dikes overflow. The Anunnaki lifted up their torches, setting the land ablaze with their brilliance. The stunned silence of Adad reached the heavens, and all that had been light turned into darkness.
It flattened the land like an ox, it smashed it […]. For one day the storm-wind blew, the flood-storm, blowing swiftly, going over the mountains, an onslaught upon the people like a battle surging over them. No brother could see his brother; no one could be recognized in the storm. The gods themselves grew afraid of the flood, and drew back, climbing up to the heaven of Anu. The gods cowered like dogs, crouched against the outer wall. Ishtar cried out like a woman in labor, the sweet-voiced Lady of the Gods wailed aloud: 'That former time has indeed turned into clay,'
'because I myself spoke evil in the assembly of the gods. How could I have spoken evil in the assembly of the gods, ordering battle for the destruction of my people, when it is I myself who gave birth to my people! Now like the spawn of fish they fill the sea!' The gods, the Anunnaki, wept with her; the gods sat bowed, weeping with her, their lips were parched, gripped with fever. Six days and seven nights the wind blew, the flood-storm flattened the land. When the seventh day arrived, the storm-wind [and flood] subsided,
and the sea grew calm, that had thrashed like a woman in labor. The storm grew still, the flood-storm ceased. I looked at the weather; stillness had set in, and all of humankind had turned to clay. The terrain was as flat as a rooftop. I opened a vent and light fell upon my face. I bent down and sat weeping, my tears flowing over my face, as I looked to the edges of the world, the limits of the sea. In fourteen places a landmass emerged. On Mount Nimush the boat came to rest. Mount Nimush held the boat fast and did not let it move.
One day, a second day, Mount Nimush held the boat fast and did not let it move. A third day, a fourth day, Mount Nimush held the boat fast and did not let it move. A fifth, a sixth day, Mount Nimush held the boat fast and did not let it move. When the seventh day arrived, I brought out a dove and set it free. The dove went off, but came back to me; no perch was available to it, so it turned back. I brought out a swallow and set it free. The swallow went off, but came back to me; no perch was available to it, so it turned back. I brought out a raven and set it free. The raven went off, and saw the waters receding.
It ate, it flew about, it cawed, and did not turn back. I brought out (an offering) and made a sacrifice to the four winds. I set out an incense (strewn) offering on the peak of the mountain. I set out seven and seven vessels, and into their bases I poured reeds, cedar, and myrtle. The gods smelled the fragrance, the gods smelled the sweet fragrance, and the gods gathered like flies over the one making the offering. As soon as the Lady of the Gods arrived, she lifted up the great flies that Anu had made for his enjoyment: 'Let these gods here be lapis lazuli around my neck, so that I may remember these days and never forget them.'
'Let the gods come to the offering, but let Enlil not come to the offering, since he did not deliberate before he brought on the flood, and consigned my people to destruction.' As soon as Enlil arrived, he saw the boat, and Enlil grew furious, filled with rage against the Igigi gods: 'Did any living soul escape? No man was to survive the destruction!' Ninurta opened his mouth to speak, saying to the warrior Enlil: 'Who but Ea could have devised this plan?
for Ea knows every craft.' Ea opened his mouth to speak, saying to the warrior Enlil: 'You, the wisest of the gods, the warrior — how could you, without reflection, have brought on the flood? Lay the sin on the sinner, lay the crime on the criminal, but be lenient, lest he be cut off; be forbearing, lest he be dislodged. Rather than your bringing on a flood, would that a lion had risen up to diminish the people! Rather than your bringing on a flood, would that a wolf had risen up to diminish the people!'
Instead of you imposing the flood, let a famine be set loose to smite the land! Instead of you imposing the flood, let Erra rise up and smite the land! I did not reveal the secret of the great gods. I made Atra-hasis see a dream, and so he heard the secret of the gods. Then his counsel was counsel indeed. Enlil went up into the boat and took my hand and lifted me up, he lifted me up and made me kneel down, my wife beside me, at my side; he touched our foreheads and stood between us to bless us. Before now Utnapishtim was a mortal man.
But now Utnapishtim and his wife shall become like the gods, like us; let Utnapishtim dwell far off, at the mouth of the rivers. So they took me and settled me far away, at the mouth of the rivers. Now then, for you, who will gather the gods together for you, so that you may find the life that you seek? Come now, do not sleep, for six days and seven nights. As he sat there upon his haunches, sleep breathed over him like a fog. Utnapishtim said to her, to his wife: Look at the young man who longed for life; sleep breathes over him like a fog. His wife said to him, to Utnapishtim the distant.
Touch him, that the man may wake; let him return safely by the road he came, let him go out by the gate and return to his land. Utnapishtim said to her, to his wife: Mankind is deceitful, and he will try to deceive you. Come, bake loaves of bread for him and set them at his head, and mark on the wall the days he has slept. She baked his loaves and set them at his head, and marked on the wall the days he had slept. The first loaf is dried hard, the second is leathery, the third is soggy, the crust of the fourth has turned white.
The fifth has grown moldy, the sixth is still fresh, and at the seventh, at that very moment he touched him and the man awoke. Gilgamesh said to him, to Utnapishtim the distant: The very moment sleep poured over me, you touched me swiftly and roused me. Utnapishtim said to him, to Gilgamesh: Go, Gilgamesh, count your loaves, that the days you slept may be known to you. The first loaf is dried hard, the second is leathery, the third is soggy, the crust of the fourth has turned white.
The fifth has grown moldy, the sixth is fresh, and at the seventh — at that very moment you woke. Gilgamesh said to him, to Utnapishtim the distant: What then shall I do, Utnapishtim, where shall I go, now that the Snatcher has seized my flesh? Death dwells in my bedchamber, and wherever I turn my face, there too is death. Utnapishtim said to him, to Urshanabi the boatman: Urshanabi, may the landing-place reject you, may the crossing spurn you; you who walk upon its shore, be barred from its shore. The man before whose face you have come.
His body is covered with matted hair, and skins have ruined the beauty of his flesh. Take him, Urshanabi, and bring him to the washing-place, and let him wash his matted hair clean in the water, white as snow. Let him cast off his skins, and let the sea carry them away, so that his body may show its beauty. Let the band on his head be renewed, let him be clothed in a garment worthy of him, until he reaches his city, until he completes his journey; let the garment show no wear, let it stay entirely new. Urshanabi took him and brought him to the washing-place, and he washed his matted hair clean in the water, white as snow.
He cast off his skins, and the sea carried them away, and his body showed its beauty once more. He renewed the band on his head, he put on a garment worthy of him, until he should reach his city, until he should complete his journey; the garment showed no wear, it stayed entirely new. Gilgamesh and Urshanabi boarded the boat, they cast off the magillu-boat and set out upon the water. His wife said to him, to Utnapishtim the distant: Gilgamesh came here worn out and exhausted; what will you give him, that he may return to his land?
And he, Gilgamesh, lifted the pole. The boat drew near to the shore. Utnapishtim said to him, to Gilgamesh: Gilgamesh, you came here worn out and exhausted; what shall I give you, that you may return to your land? Let me disclose to you, Gilgamesh, a hidden thing, and I will tell you a secret of the gods. There is a plant whose form is like a thornbush; its thorns, like a rose's, will prick your hands. If your hands can obtain this plant... When Gilgamesh heard this,
He opened the water-pipe, he bound heavy stones to his feet, they dragged him down toward the deep […]. He took the plant, it pricked his hand, he cut away the heavy stones from his feet, and the sea cast him back up onto its shore. Gilgamesh said to him, to Urshanabi the boatman: "Urshanabi, this plant is the plant of the heartbeat, by which a man may attain his life's breath. I will carry it to Uruk of the sheepfold, I will feed it to an old man and test the plant: if an old man grows young again,"
"then I myself will eat it and return to the state of my youth." At twenty leagues they broke bread, at thirty leagues they set up camp for the night. Gilgamesh saw a pool whose water was cool; he went down into it to bathe in the water. A serpent smelled the fragrance of the plant, it came up silently and carried the plant away, and as it turned back it shed its skin. Then Gilgamesh sat down and wept, his tears streaming down over the side of his nose. […] he said to Urshanabi the boatman: "For whom, Urshanabi, have my arms grown weary,"
"for whom has my heart's blood been spent? I have not secured any benefit for myself — I have secured the benefit for the 'lion of the ground'! Now, at twenty leagues' distance, the tide will already stir it far away. When I opened the water-pipe I let my tools fall in; I found a thing that was a sign set for me — would that I had turned back and left the boat on the shore!" At twenty leagues they broke bread, at thirty leagues they set up camp for the night, and they arrived at Uruk of the sheepfold. Gilgamesh said to him, to Urshanabi the boatman: "Go up, Urshanabi, walk on the wall of Uruk."
"Inspect the foundation terrace, examine the brickwork — is not its brickwork of fired brick, and did not the Seven Sages themselves lay its foundations? One square mile is city, one square mile is date-grove, one square mile is claypit, half a square mile is the temple of Ishtar: three and a half square miles is the measure of Uruk."