'You know the city Shurrupak, it stands on
the banks of
'When I had understood I said to my lord,
"Behold, what you have commanded I will honour and perform, but how shall
I answer the people, the city, the elders?" Then Ea opened his mouth and
said to me, his servant, "Tell them this: I have learnt that Enlil is
wrathful against me, I dare no longer walk in his land nor live in his city; I
will go down to the Gulf to dwell with Ea my lord. But on you he will rain down
abundance, rare fish and shy wild-fowl, a rich harvest-tide. In the evening the
rider of the storm will bring you wheat in torrents."
'In the first light of dawn all my household
gathered round me, the children brought pitch and the men whatever was
necessary. On the fifth day I laid the keel and the ribs, then I made fast the
planking. The ground-space was one acre, each side of the deck measured one
hundred and twenty cubits, making a square. I built six decks below, seven in
all, I divided them into nine sections with bulkheads between. I drove in
wedges where needed, I saw to the punt poles, and laid in supplies. The
carriers brought oil in baskets, I poured pitch into the furnace and asphalt
and oil; more oil was consumed in caulking, and more again the master of the
boat took into his stores. I slaughtered bullocks for the people and every day
I killed sheep. I gave the shipwrights wine to drink as though it were river
water, raw wine and red wine and oil and white wine. There was feasting then as
-there is at the time of the New Year's festival; I myself anointed my head. On
the seventh day the boat was complete.
-'Then was the launching full of difficulty;
there was shifting of ballast above and below till two thirds was submerged. I
loaded into her all that 1 had of gold and of living things, my family, my kin,
the beast of the field both wild and tame, and all the craftsmen. I sent them
on board, for the time that Shamash had ordained was already fulfilled when he
said, "in the evening, when the rider of the storm sends down the
destroying rain, enter the boat and batten her down." The time was
fulfilled, the evening came, the rider of the storm sent down the rain. I
looked out at the weather and it was terrible, so I too boarded the boat and
battened her down. All was now complete, the battening and the caulking; so I
handed the tiller to Puzur-Amurri the steersman, with the navigation and the
care of the whole boat.
'With the first light of dawn a black cloud
came from the horizon; it thundered within where Adad, lord of the storm was
riding. In front over hill and plain Shullat and Hanish, heralds of the storm,
led on. Then the gods of the abyss rose up; Nergal pulled out the dams of the
nether waters, Ninurta the war-lord threw down the dykes, and the seven judges
of hell, the Annunaki, raised their torches, lighting the land with their livid
flame. A stupor of despair went up to heaven when the god of the storm turned
daylight to darkness, when he smashed the land like a cup. One whole day the
tempest raged, gathering fury as .it went, it poured over the people like the
tides of battle; a imam could not see his brother nor the people be seen from
heaven. Even the gods were terrified at the flood, they fled to the highest
heaven, the firmament of Ann; they crouched against the walls, cowering like
curs. Then Ishtar the sweet-voiced Queen of Heaven cried out like a woman in
travail: "Alas the days -of old are turned to dust because I commanded evil;
why did I command thus evil in the council of all the gods? I commanded wars to
destroy the people, but are they not my people, for I brought them forth? Now
like the spawn of fish they float in the ocean." The great gods of heaven
and of hell wept, they covered their mouths.
'For six days and six nights the winds blew,
torrent and tempest and flood overwhelmed the world, tempest and flood raged
together like warring hosts. When the seventh day dawned the storm from the
south subsided, the sea grew calm, the, flood was stilled; I looked at the face
of the world and there was silence, all mankind was turned to clay. The surface
of the sea stretched as flat as a roof-top; I opened a hatch and the light fell
on my face. Then I bowed low, I sat down and I wept, the tears streamed down my
face, for on every side was the waste of water. I looked for land in vain, but
fourteen leagues distant there appeared a mountain, and there the boat
grounded; on the
'When Enlil had come, when he saw the boat,
he was wrath and swelled with anger at the gods, the host of heaven, "Has
any of these mortals escaped? Not one was to have survived the
destruction." Then the god of the wells and canals Ninurta opened his
mouth and said to the warrior Enlil, "Who is there of the gods that can
devise without Ea? It is Ea alone who knows all things." Then Ea opened
his mouth and spoke to warrior Enlil, "Wisest of gods, hero Enlil, how
could you so senselessly bring down the flood?
Lay upon the sinner his sin,
Lay upon the transgressor his transgression,
Punish him a little when he breaks loose,
Do not drive him too hard or he perishes,
Would that a lion had ravaged mankind
Rather than the f loud,
Would that a wolf had ravaged mankind
Rather than the flood,
Would that famine had wasted the world
Rather than the flood,
Would that pestilence had wasted mankind
Rather than the flood.
It was not I that revealed the secret of the
gods; the wise man learned it in a dream. Now take your counsel what shall be
done with him."
'Then Enlil went up into the boat, he took me
by the hand and my wife and made us enter the boat and kneel down on either
side, he standing between us. He touched our foreheads to bless us saying,
"In time past Utnapishtim was a mortal man; henceforth he and his wife
shall live in the distance at the mouth of the rivers." Thus it was that
the gods took me and placed me here to live in the distance, at the mouth of the
rivers.'
UTNAPISHTIM said, 'As for you, Gilgamesh, who
will assemble the gods for your sake, so that you may find that life for which
you are searching? But if you wish, come and put into the test: only prevail
against sleep for six days and seven nights.' But while Gilgamesh sat there
resting on his haunches, a mist of sleep like soft wool teased from the fleece
drifted over him, and Utnapishtim said to his wife, 'Look at him now, the
strong man who would have everlasting life, even now the mists of sleep are
drifting over him.' His wife replied, 'Touch the man to wake him, so that he
may return to his own land in peace, going back through the gate by which he
came.' Utnapishtim said to his wife, 'All men are deceivers, even you he will
attempt to deceive; therefore bake loaves of bread, each day one loaf, and put
it beside his head; and make a mark on the wall to number the days he has
slept.'
So she baked loaves of bread, each day one
loaf, and put it beside his head, and she marked on the wall the days that he
slept; and there came a day when the first loaf was hard, the second loaf was
like leather, the third was soggy, the crust of the fourth had mould, the fifth
was mildewed, the sixth was fresh, and the seventh was still on the embers.
Then Utnapishtim touched him and he woke. Gilgamesh said to Utnapishtim the
Faraway, 'I hardly slept when you touched and roused me.' But Utnapishtim said,
'Count these loaves and learn how many days you slept, for your first is hard,
your second like leather, your third is soggy, the crust of your fourth has
mould, your fifth is mildewed, your sixth is fresh and your seventh was still
over the glowing embers when I touched and woke you.' Gilgamesh said, 'What
shall I do, O Utnapishtim, where shall I go? Already the thief in the night has
hold of my limbs, death inhabits my room; wherever my foot rests, there I find
death.'
Then Utnapishtim spoke to Urshanabi the
ferryman: 'Woe to you Urshanabi, now and for ever more you have become hateful
to this harbourage; it is not for you, nor for you are the crossings of this
sea. Go now, banished from the shore. But this man before whom you walked,
bringing him here, whose body is covered with foulness and the grace of whose
limbs has been spoiled by wild skins, take him to the washing-place. There he
shall wash his long hair clean as snow in the water, he shall throve off his
skins and let the sea carry them away, and the beauty of his body shall be
shown, the fillet on his forehead shall be renewed, and he shall be given
clothes to cover his nakedness. Till he reaches his own city and his journey is
accomplished, these clothes will show no sign of age, they will wear like a new
garment.' So Urshanabi took Gilgamesh and led him to the washing-place, he
washed his long hair as clean as snow in the water, he threw off his skins,
which the sea carried away, and showed the beauty of his body. He renewed the
fillet on his forehead, and to cover his nakedness gave him clothes which would
show no sign of age, but would war like a new garment till he reached his own
city, and his journey was accomplished.
Then Gilgamesh and Urshanabi launched the
boat on to the water and boarded it, and they made ready to sail away; but the
wife of Utnapishtim the Faraway said to him, `Gilgamesh came here wearied out,
he is worn out; what will you give him to carry him back to his own country? So
Utnapishtim spoke, and Gilgamesh took a pole and brought the boat in to the
bank. `Gilgamesh, you came here a man wearied out, you have worn yourself out;
what shall I give you to carry you back to your own country? Gilgamesh, I shall
reveal a secret thing, it is a mystery of the gods that I am telling you. There
is a plant that grows under the water, it has a prickle like a thorn, like a
rose; it will wound your hands, but if you succeed in taking it, then your
hands will hold that which restores his lost youth to a man:
When Gilgamesh heard this he opened the
sluices so that a sweet water current might carry him out to the deepest
channel; he tied heavy stones to his feet and they dragged him down to the
water-bed. There he saw the plant growing;; although it pricked him he took it
in his hands; then he cut the heavy stones from his feet, and the sea carried
him and threw him on to the shore. Gilgamesh said to Urshanabi the ferryman,
`Come here, and see this marvellous plant. By its virtue a man may win back all
his former strength. I will take it to Uruk of the strong walls; there I will
give it to the old men to eat. Its name shall be "The Old Men Are Young
Again"; and at last I shall eat it myself and have back all my lost
youth.' So Gilgamesh returned by the gate through which he had come, Gilgamesh
and Urshanabi went together. They travelled their twenty leagues and then they
broke their fast; after thirty leagues they stopped for the night.
Gilgamesh saw a well of cool water and he
went down and bathed; but deep in the pool there was lying a serpent, and the
serpent sensed the sweetness of the flower. It rose out of the water and
snatched it away, and immediately it sloughed its skin and returned to the
well. Then Gilgamesh sat down and wept, the tears ran down his face, and he
took the hand of Urshanabi; 'O Urshanabi, was it for this that I toiled with my
hands, is it for this I have wrung out my heart's blood? For myself I have
gained nothing; not I, but the beast of the earth has joy of it now. Already
the stream has carried it twenty leagues back to the channels where I found it.
I found a sign and now I have lost it. Let us leave the boat on the bank and
go.'
After twenty leagues they broke their fast,
after thirty leagues they stopped for the night; in three days they had walked
as much as a journey of a month and fifteen days. When the journey was
accomplished they arrived at Uruk, the strong-walled city. Gilgamesh spoke to
him, to Urshanabi the ferryman, 'Urshanabi, climb up on to the wall of Uruk,
inspect its foundation terrace, and examine well the brickwork; see if it is
not of burnt bricks; and did not the seven wise men lay these foundations? One
third of the whole is city, one third is garden, and one third is field, with
the precinct of the goddess Ishtar. These parts and the precinct are all Uruk.'
This too was the work of Gilgamesh, the king,
who knew the countries of the world. He was wiseä he saw mysteries and knew
secret things, he brought us a tale of the days before the flood. He went a
long journey, was weary, worn out with labour, and returning engraved on a
stone the whole story.
THE destiny was fulfilled which the father of
the gods, Enlil of the mountain, had decreed for Gilgamesh: 'In nether-earth
the darkness will show him a light: of mankind, all that are known, none will
leave a monument for generations to come to compare with his. The heroes, the
wise men, like the new moon have their waxing and waning. Men will say,
"Who has ever ruled with might and with power like him?" As in the
dark month, the month of shadows, so without him there is no light. O
Gilgamesh, this was the meaning of your dream. You were given the kingship,
such was your destiny, everlasting life was not your destiny. Because of this
do not be sad at heart, do not be grieved or oppressed; he has given you power
to bind and to loose, to be the darkness and the light of mankind. He has given
unexampled supremacy over the people, victory in battle from which no fugitive
returns, in forays and assaults from which there is no going back. But do not
abuse this power, deal justly with your servants in the palace, deal justly
before the face of the Sun.'
The king has laid himself down and will
not rise again,
The Lord of Kullab will not rise again;
He overcame evil, he will not come again;
Though he was strong of arm he will not rise again;
He had wisdom and a comely face, he will not come again;
He is gone into the mountain, he will not come again;
On the bed of fate he lies, he will not rise again,
Front the couch of many colours he will not come again.
The people of the city, great and small, are
not silent; they lift up, the lament, all men of flesh and blood lift up the
lament. Fate has spoken; like a hooked fish he lies stretched on the bed, like
a gazelle that is caught in a noose. Inhuman Namtar is heavy upon him, Namtar
that has neither hand nor foot, that drinks no water and eats no meat.
For Gilgamesh, son of Ninsun, they weighed
out their offerings; his dear wife, his son, his concubine, his musicians, his
jester, and all his household; his servants, his stewards, all who lived in the
palace weighed out their offerings for Gilgamesh the son of Ninsun, the heart
of Uruk. They weighed out their offerings to Ereshkigal, the Queen of Death,
and to all the gods of the dead. To Namtar, who is fate, they weighed out the
offering. Bread for Ned the Keeper of the Gate, bread for Ningizzida the god of
the serpent, the lord of the Tree of Life; for Dumuzi also, the young shepherd,
for Enki and Ninki, for Endukugga and Nindukugga, for Enmul and Nimnul, all the
ancestral gods, forbears of Enlil. A feast for Shulpae the god of feasting. For
Samuqan, god of the herds, for die mother Ninhursag, and the gods of creation
in the place of creation, for the host of heaven, priest and priestess weighed
out the offering of the dead.
Gilgamesh, the son of Ninsun, lies in the
tomb. At the place of offerings he weighed the bread-offering, at the place of
libation he poured out the wine. In those days the lord Gilgamesh departed, the
son of Ninsun, the kung, peerless, without an equal among men, who did not
neglect Enlil his master. O Gilgamesh, lord of Kullab, great is thy praise.