Chaldaean Account of The Deluge

Gilgamesh spake to him, even to Pernapishtim the remote;
"I look up to thee (with amazement), Pernapishtim;
Thy appearance has not changed, like unto me art thou.
And thou thyself art not changed, like unto me art thou,
Although thou didst depart from this life. But my heart has still to struggle
against all that no longer lies upon thee.
Tell me how thou didst come to dwell (here) and obtain life in the assembly of the gods."
Pernapishtim, then, spake to him, even to Gilgamesh:
"I will disclose unto thee, Gilgamesh, the hidden story,
and the oracle of the gods I will tell thee.
The city of Shurippak, a city which, as thou knowest, is situated on the bank of the river Euphrates,
This city was ancient (already), when the gods within
set their hearts to bring a deluge (literally, a cyclone), even the great gods,
as many as] there were: their father Anu, their counsellor, the war-like Bel
their leader Adar, their champion the god En-nu-gi.

But god Ea, the lord of the unfathomable wisdom, argued with them,
Their plan he announced to the forest (calling), "Forest, forest, town, town;
Forest hear, and town pay attention:
O man of Shurippak, son of Ubara-Tutu
Build a house, construct a vessel; leave thy possessions, save thy life (literally: lives),
Leave thy property, but save (thy) life;
Bid the seed of life of every kind to mount into the ship.
The ship, that thou shalt build, let her proportions be measured (i.e., have a design made);
Her width and her length be equal. Into the sea then launch her."
(These words Atrachasis heard in a dream-oracle).

When I perceived them, I said to Ea, my lord:
"I will build, my lord, as thou didst command, I will observe it, I will perform it.
But what shall I answer to (the inquiries of) the city, the people, and the elders?"
Ea, opening his mouth, spake saying to his servant, to me:

"As an answer say thus unto them: I know the god Bel is hostile to me;
Not can I (longer) live in your city. On Bel’s earth I dare not live securely.
I will go] down to the sea, with Ea, my lord, I will live.
Upon you he (Bel) will (for a time) pour down rich blessing,
Will grant you] fowl [in plenty] and ab[undance] of fish,
A multitude of cattle and abundance] of harvest.
But when he who lights up the darkness sends an appointed sign,
He will pour down upon you] a destructive rain.
On the following morning, at day-break I …

The light I feared;
The earth (i.e., terra firma) [I desired to leave]; all that was needed I collected.
On the fifth day I drew its (the vessel’s) design.
In its circuit 120 cubits were high its sides;
120 cubits measured the length of its beam.
I added a front-roof, and closed it in.
I built it in 6 divisions, thus making seven stories.
Its interior I divided again in 9 partitions.
(thus making in all 63 divisions, 9 on each of the 7 stories).
Beaks for water within I cut off;
I selected a mast and added what was wanting.
Three sars of pitch I poured out on the outside;
Three sars of naphta I distributed in its interior; (so as to make everything water-tight).
Three sars (?) of men, carriers of baskets, carried the oil (i.e., food?)
One sar of oil I reserved which the people might eat(?)
While the two other sars the boatman stowed away.
In the temples (?) I slaughtered oxen,
[Killed lambs day by day,]
Jugs of cider (!) and oil and sweet wine,
Large bowls (!) [filled with drinkables] like river water (i.e., freely poured out in libations).
A feast (to the gods) I made such as is held on great religious festivals.
[To god Shamash] my hand put down the food (i.e., the sacrifice).
[On the seventh day?] the ship was finished.

. . . . . . . . . heavy it was,
and The tackling above and below I added; [and after everything was completed]
[The ship sank into water] two-thirds of its height (i.e., 80 cubits).
With all that I had, I laded it; with all that I had of silver, I laded it;
With all that I had of gold, I laded it;
With all that I had of the seed of life, I laded it;
I embarked all my family and my servants;
The cattle, the beasts of the field, and the workmen [who had assisted me], them all I embarked.
A sign Shamash had agreed upon (namely :)
"When he who (usually) lights up the darkness will send in the evening a destructive rain,
Then enter into the ship and close thy door."
(a variant reading says: thy ship).
This (very) sign came to pass;
He who lights up the darkness, sent a destructive rain in the evening.
Of the day I feared its dawn;
The day to behold I was afraid;
I entered into the ship, and closed my door.
The guidance of the ship I gave unto Buzur-shadu-rabu, the boatman,
The great house (the ship) together with its contents.

As soon as dawn appeared,
There rose from the north a dark cloud.
The weather god (Ramman) thundered in its midst.
God Nebo and god, the king, went in front of him.
There came they that oppress mountain and country.
God Uragal tore loose the anchor.
There came (also) Adar, storm he poured down.
The gods the Anunnaki lifted on high (their) torches,
With whose light they illuminate the land.
The storm, excited by Ramman, reached up to heaven.
All light was turned into darkness.
He overflooded the land like […], he devastated.
With violence he blew and in one (?) day the storm rose above the mountains.
Like as an onslaught in battle it came against the people.

Not could brother see his brother, not did recognize one another the people;
Even in heaven the gods were afraid of the deluge;
They retired, went up to the heaven of god Anu (i.e., the sky).
There the gods crouched down like as dogs, on the surrounding walls (perhaps "the firmament,") they sat down.
Then cried out Ishtar full of wrath (variant: like a woman in travail);
There called out the goddess, the lofty, she whose cry is powerful:
This people (?) has been turned into clay, and
The evil that I have predicted before (or in the assembly of) the gods,
As I have predicted the evil in the assembly of the gods,
(It has come about namely :)
To destroy my people completely, I predicted the storm.
But I will bear my people again (i.e., bring them to life again),
Though now, like young fishes, they fill the sea.
The gods wailed with her over the Anunnaki;
The gods sat there bowed down in weeping;
Their lips were pressed together (in fear and in terror).
Six days and (seven) nights continued the storm,
Raged cyclone and tempest.
When the seventh day arrived that (fearful) cyclone ceased, the battle
Which they had fought like as a battle-army rested;
The waters of the deep narrowed down (sank), the terrible storm, the deluge, was at an end.

I looked up over the sea and raised my voice.
But the whole race had returned to the clay.
Like as the surrounding field had become the bed of the rivers.
(i.e., no difference could be seen, everything was covered with water).
I opened an air-hole and light fell upon my cheeks;
Dazzled I sank backward, sitting down weeping,
Down my cheeks flowed my tears.
I looked up: "The world a wide ocean!" (I cried).
On the twelfth (day?) there arose (out of the water) a strip of land.
On Mount Nicir the ship settled.
The mountain of the land Nicir took hold of the ship and did not let it move again.
One day, two days, Mount Nicir took hold of the ship and did not let it move again.
The third and fourth day Mount Nicir, the same.
The same on the fifth and sixth day.

On the seventh day, in the morning,
I let go a dove; she flew hither and thither,
But as there was no place of rest for her, she returned.
I then sent out a swallow, the bird left, it also flew hither and thither,
And returned again, as there was no place of rest.
At last I sent out a raven, it left;
The raven went and saw the decrease of the waters.
It settled down to feed (either on the carcasses still floating about or on the slimy mud), went off, and no more returned.
Then I disembarked and to the four winds I offered a sacrifice.
A peace-offering I made upon the height of the mountain.
Each time I placed seven censers,
Poured into them calmus, cedar-wood, and sweet-smelling lollium.
The gods inhaled the savor, yea the gods inhaled the sweet savor;
The gods gathered like flies around the sacrificer.
But when now the lofty goddess arrived,
She took the great lightnings of Anu and did according to her desire.
"These gods! (she said) not, by my necklace, will I forget;
These days will I remember for ever, not will I forget;
The gods may come to the sacrifice,
But Bel shall not come to the sacrifice,
Because rashly did he cause the deluge
And delivered my people to destruction."

But when god Bel arrived,
He saw the vessel and grew angry, wrath filled his heart against the gods, the Igigi (and he said):
"What soul has escaped here; no man must survive the universal destruction."
God Adar opened his mouth and spake, saying unto Bel, the warlike:
"Who beside Ea could have thought this out,
But Ea knows everything."
Ea opened his mouth and spake, saying unto Bel, the warlike:
"Thou, mighty among the gods, warrior,
Thus, thus rashly hast thou caused the deluge.
May the sinner bear his sin’s reward, and the wicked his wickedness.
Be lenient, let not (all) be crushed; be merciful, let not (everything) be destroyed.
Instead of causing a flood, lions might have come and diminished mankind;
Instead of causing a flood, hyenas might have come and diminished mankind;

Instead of causing a flood, famine might have arisen and seized the land;
Instead of causing a flood, pestilence might be brought about and killed the people.
I did not reveal the decision of the great gods.
Atrachasis I let see (it) in a dream, the decision of the gods he heard."
Then came Bel to his senses, Bel mounted to the ship,
Took me by the hand and raised me up.
He raised up and placed my wife at my side.
Then he turned toward us, sat down between us and blessed us, saying:
"Ere this Pernapishtim was a man;
Now Pernapishtim and his wife shall be like unto the gods and lifted up on high;
Let Pernapishtim live afar off at the mouth of the (two?) rivers."
And he took us and made us dwell afar off at the mouth of the rivers.

TRANSLATED BY W. MUSS-ARNOLT.