Utnapishtim said to him, to Gilgamesh:
"I will reveal to thee, Gilgamesh, a hidden matter
And a secret of the gods will I tell thee:
Shurippak--a city which thou knowest,
[(And) which on Euphrates' [banks] is situate--
That city was ancient, (as were) the gods within it,
When their heart led the great gods to produce the flood.
[There] were Anu, their father,
Valiant Enlil, their counselor,
Ninurta, their assistant, Ennuge, their irrigator.
Ninigiku-Ea was also present with them;
Their words he repeats to the reed-hut:
'Reed-hut, reed-hut! Wall, wall!
Reed-hut, hearken! Wall, reflect!
Man of Shuruppak, son of Ubar-Tutu,
Tear down (this) house, build a ship!
Give up possessions, seek thou life
Forswear (worldly) goods and keep the soul alive!
Aboard the ship take thou the seed of all living things
The ship that thou shalt build,
Her dimensions shall be to measure
Equal shall be her width and her length.
Like the Apsu thou shalt ceil her.""
I understood, and I said to Ea. my lord:
'[Behold], my lord, what thou hast thus ordered,
I will be honored to carry out.
[But what] shall I answer the city, the people and
elders?
Ea opened his mouth to speak,
Saying to me, his servant:
'Thou shalt then thus speak unto them:
"I have learned that Enlil is hostile to me,
So that I cannot reside in your city,
Nor set my f[oo]t in Enlil's territory.
To the Deep I will therefore go down,
To dwell with my lord Ea.
[But upon] you he will shower down abundance
[The choicest] birds, the rarest fishes.
[The land shall haven's fill] of harvest riches.
[He who at dusk orders] the husk-greens,
Will shower down upon you a rain of wheat"

With the first glow of dawn,
The land was gathered [about me].
(too fragmentary for translation)
The little ones [carr]ied bitumen,
While the grown ones brought [all else] that was needfuL
On the fifth day I laid her framework.
One (whole) acre was her floor space,
Ten dozen cubits the height of each of her walls,
Ten dozen cubits each edge of the square deck.l9'
I laid out the contours (and) joined her together.
I provided her with six decks,
Dividing her (thus) into seven parts.
Her floor plan I divided into nine parts.
I hammered water-plugs into her.'
I saw to the punting-poles and laid in supplies.!"
Six 'sar' (measures) of bitumen I poured into the
furnace,
Three sar of asphalt [I also] poured inside
Three sar of oil the basket-bearers carried,
Aside from the one sar of oil which the calking con sumed,
And the two sar of oil [which] the boatman stowed
away.
Bullocks I slaughtered for the [people],
And I killed sheep every day.
Must, red wine, oil, and white wine
[I gave the] workmen [to drink], as though river water
That they might feast as on New Year's Day.
I op[ened . . . ] ointment, applying (it) to my hand.
[On the sev]enth [day] the ship was completed
[The launching] was very difficult,
So that they had to shift the floor planks above and below,
[Until] two-thirds of [the structure] [had g]one [into the water].

[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.
Shamash had set for me a stated time: 'When he who orders unease at night,
Will shower down a rain of blight,
Board thou the ship and batten up the entrance!'
That stated time had arrived:
He who orders unease at night, showers down
a rain of blight.'
I watched the appearance of the weather.
The weather was awesome to behold.
I boarded the ship and battened up the entrance.
To batten down the (whole) ship, to Puzur-Amurri, the boatman,
I handed over the structure together with its contents.

With the first glow of dawn,
A black cloud rose up from the horizon.
Inside it Adad thunders,
While Shullat and Hanish go in front,
Moving as heralds over hill and plain.
Erragal tears out the posts;
Forth comes Ninurta and causes the dikes to follow.
The Anunnaki lift up the torches,
Setting the land ablaze with their glare.
Consternation over Adad reaches to the heavens,
Who turned to blackness all that had been light.
[The wide] land was shattered like [a pot]!
For one day the south-storm [blew],
Gathering speed as it blew, [submerging the mountains],
Overtaking the [people] like a battle
No one can see his fellow,
Nor can the people be recognized from heaven.

The gods were frightened by the deluge, -
And, shrinking back, they ascended to the heaven of
Anu.
The gods cowered like dogs
Crouched against the outer wall.
Ishtar cried out like a woman in travail,
The sweet-voiced mistress of the [gods] moans aloud:
'The olden days are alas turned to clay,
Because I bespoke evil in the Assembly of the gods.
How could I bespeak evil in the Assembly
of the gods,
Ordering battle for the destruction of my people,
When it is I myself who give birth to my people!
Like the spawn of the fishes they fill the sea!'
The Anunnaki gods weep with ha,
The gods, all humbled, sit and weep,
Their lips drawn tight, [ . . . ] one and all
Six days and [six] nights
Blows the flood wind, as the south-storm sweeps the land.
When the seventh day arrived,
The flood(-carrying) south-storm subsided in the battle,
Which it had fought like an army.
The sea grew quiet, the tempest was still, the flood ceased.
I looked at the weather: stillness had set in,
And all of mankind had returned to clay.
The landscape was as level as a flat roof.
I opened a hatch, and light fell upon my face.
Bowing low, I sat and wept,
Tears running down on my face
I looked about for coast lines in the expanse of the sea:
In each of fourteen (regions)
There emerged a region(-mountain).
On Mount Nisir the ship came to a halt.Mount Nisir held the ship fast,
Allowing no motion.
One day, a second day, Mount Nisir held the ship fast,
Allowing no motion.
A third day, a fourth day, Mount Nisir held the ship fast,
Allowing no motion.
A fifth, and a sixth (day), Mount Nisir held the ship fast,
Allowing no motion.

When the seventh day arrived,
I sent forth and set free a dove.
The dove went forth, but came back;Since no resting-place for it was visible, she turned round.
Then I sent forth and set free a swallow.
The swallow went forth, but came back;
Since no resting-place for it was visible,' she turned round.
Then I sent forth and set free a raven.
The raven went forth and, seeing that the waters had diminished,
He eats, circles, caws, and turns not round.
Then I let out (all) to the four winds And offered a sacrifice.
I poured out a libation on the top of the mountain.
Seven and seven cult-vessels I set up,
Upon their pot-stands I heaped cane, cedarwood, and myrtle
The gods smelled the savor,
The gods smelled the sweet savor,
The gods crowded like flies about the sacrificer.
When at length as the great goddess arrived,
She lifted up the great jewels which Anu had fashioned to her liking:
'Ye gods here, as surely as this lapis
Upon my neck I shall not forget,
I shall be mindful of these days, forgetting (them) never.
Let the gods come to the offering;
(But) let not Enlil come to the offering,
For he, unreasoning, brought on the deluge
And my people consigned to destruction.'
When at length as Enlil arrived,
And saw the ship, Enlil was wroth,
He was filled with wrath over the Igigi gods:='
'Has some living soul escaped ?
No man was to survive the destruction!'
Ninurta opened his mouth to speak,
Saying to valiant Enlil:
'Who, other than Ea. can devise plans ?
It is Ea alone who knows every matter.'
Ea opened his mouth to speak,
Saying to valiant Enlil
'Thou wisest of gods, thou hero,
How couldst thou, unreasoning, bring on the deluge?
On the sinner impose his sin,
On the transgressor impose his transgression!
(Yet) be lenient, lest he be cut off,
Be patient, lest he be dis[lodged] !
Instead of thy bringing on the deluge,
Would that a lion had risen up to diminish man-kind!Instead of thy bringing on the deluge,
Would that a wolf had risen up to diminish mankind!
Instead of thy bringing on the deluge,
Would that a famine had risen up to l[ay low] mankind!
Instead of thy bringing on the deluge,
Would that pestilence had risen up to smi[te down] mankind!
It was not I who disclosed the secret of the great gods.
I let Atrahasis2'7 see a dream,
And he perceived the secret of the gods.
Now then take counsel in regard to him!'
Thereupon Enlil went aboard the ship.
Holding me by the hand, he took me aboard.
He took my wife aboard and made (her) kneel by my side.
Standing between us, he touched our foreheads to bless
us
'Hitherto Utnapishtim has been but human.
Henceforth Utnapishtim and his wife shall be like unto us gods.
Utnapishtim shall reside far away, at the mouth of the rivers!'
Thus they took me and made me reside far away,
At the mouth of the rivers.
But now, who will for thy sake call the gods to Assembly
That the life which thou seekest thou' mayest find ?