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you are here: > Epic of Gligamesh
> Chapter 08
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Chapter 8 | |
1. |
When all was made ready the God Shamash appeared before me. |
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2. |
He signified to me that at even-tide a great flood would be loosed upon the earth. |
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3. |
"A rain-flood came at even-tide. |
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4. |
I watched the darkness coming and the storm. |
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5. |
Terror possessed me as I watched. |
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6. |
I went within where my family were and the beasts and birds were in pairs, and I bolted down the doors; yea, I bolted down the nine parts which I had made inside the ship. |
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7. |
I committed the ship and all that was on board of it to the mercy of the Gods. |
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8. |
"Then a black cloud came up, and out of the black cloud and the whirlwind the Gods thundered. |
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9. |
The Star Gods of the Southern Sky brandished their torches. |
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10. |
Every gleam of light was turned to darkness. |
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11. |
Floods descended out of the heavens. |
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12. |
The waters attacked mankind as in a battle. |
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13. |
Fathers no longer saw their children; brother no longer saw brother. |
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14. |
The rains descended until the waters mounted to the tops of the hills. |
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15. |
As they mounted up, the Gods themselves were filled with fright; they went out of their own places; they went into the high heaven of Anu. |
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16. |
Ishtar, the Lady of the Gods, cried out like a woman in travail. |
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17. |
Yea, Ishtar lamented, crying against herself for speaking of this flood in the presence of the Gods. |
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18. |
The Gods of the Southern Sky wailed with her, and for six days and six nights rain fell and the wind beat down all that was upon the land. |
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19. |
"But after the seventh day the raging flood ceased; the whirlwind and the rain-storm ceased, and the waters no longer rose. |
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20. |
I looked over the waters; I saw that calm had come. |
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21. |
Calm had come, but the land had been laid out flat, and mankind had been turned to mud. |
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22. |
I bowed myself down; I fell upon my face and tears flowed down my cheeks. |
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23. |
I looked to the four quarters of the world and all that I saw was the open sea. |
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24. |
Then for twelve days the ship went on. The ship rested on the mountain of Nisir and it moved no more. |
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25. |
"And when, after seven days, the ship still rested, I opened an air-hole and light fell upon my face. |
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26. |
I let a dove fly forth. The dove came back to the ship for there was no place for her to light. |
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27. |
I let a swallow fly forth. The swallow also returned. |
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28. |
I let a raven fly forth. The raven did not return; she saw the land come up through the sinking waters; she ate; she pecked on the ground; she croaked, and did not come back to me. |
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29. |
"Then I brought out all that was on board the ship; I brought all to where the four winds blew. |
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30. |
I offered up a sacrifice. |
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31. |
I poured out a libation where I stood upon the peak of the mountain. |
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32. |
There Ishtar, the Lady of the Gods, appeared before me; she cursed Bel for having brought about the flood. |
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33. |
"The God Bel was wroth seeing that a portion of mankind had been saved from the flood. |
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34. |
He raged. He cried out, 'None shall be left alive; no man shall be left living in this destruction! |
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35. |
But the God En-urta pleaded with Bel for mankind, and Bel relented. |
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36. |
Then the God Ea went to the ship, and took me by the hand, and brought me forth and brought my wife forth; he turned our faces towards one another and made us kneel together. |
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37. |
He blessed us, saying, 'Formerly Uta-Napishtim and his wife were mortals; now let Uta-Napishtim and his wife be like the Gods themselves, having immortal life.'" |
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38. |
The tables having been read to the end, Gilgamish said, "How may I go to where Uta-Napishtim is, and what is the way to his dwelling? |
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39. |
I would go to him whom the Gods have made undying and find out from him how a man may save himself from going down into that abyss that is Irkalla's." |
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40. |
His mother said, "All that we know is that the dwelling-place of Uta-Napishtim is beyond Mount Mashu, where the sun rises and sets." |
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41. |
Thereupon Gilgamish set out for Mount Mashu. |
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