Unfortunately, the tablet on which the myth was written has not been completely preserved, and the beginning of the myth has been lost. We can fill in the meaning of the missing fragments from its later Babylonian version. It is inserted, as a story, into the epic of Gilgamesh “On Who Has Seen All...”. The first lines read tell about the creation of man, the divine origin of royal power and the founding of the five oldest cities.
Further, we are talking about the fact that at the council of the gods it was decided to send a flood to the earth and destroy all of humanity, but many gods are upset by this. Ziusudra, the ruler of Shuruppak, appears to be a pious and God-fearing king who is constantly awaiting divine dreams and revelations. He hears the voice of a god, most likely Enki, informing him of the gods' intention to "destroy the human seed."
Further text has not survived due to a large crack, but judging by the Babylonian counterpart, in it Ziusudra receives detailed instructions on how to build a huge boat to save himself from imminent disaster.
The text resumes with a vivid description of the flood. For seven days and seven nights, a storm of such strength rages on earth that even the gods are afraid of it. Finally, the sun god Utu appeared in the sky, who illuminated and warmed the earth. Ziusudra prostrated himself before him and sacrificed oxen and sheep.
The last lines of the myth describe the deification of Ziusudra. He received the gift of “life like a god,” that is, immortality, and together with his wife he was transferred to the divine paradise country of Dilmun.
The Babylonian version of the flood myth exists in the form of an independent legend about Atrahasis and in the form of the above-mentioned insertion into the Epic of Gilgamesh. In the last story the hero's name sounds like Utnapishtim. It is an almost literal translation into Akkadian of the name Ziusudra - noise. "who has found the life of long days." In Akkadian, Utnapishtim means "found breath."
The myth of the flood was preserved both in the form of the well-known biblical legend about Noah, and in the works of the historian Berossus, who wrote in Greek. Only Berossus calls Ziusudra Xisuthros, and the god who warned him of the danger was Kronos.
The first 37 lines are broken
I
The extermination of my people...
What I created for the goddess Nintu...
Truly I will return it to her.
I will return the people to their places of abode.
May their cities be built, may their troubles be dispelled.
Bricks in all their cities for sacred places
Verily let them deliver.
Let them be gathered in holy places.
The holiness of water - the extinguishing of fire - let it be
Established in righteousness.
Rituals, mighty Essences will truly be perfect,
Let water irrigate the earth, I will give them blissful peace."
When An, Enlil, Enki, Ninhursag
They created the black-headed people,
The living creatures in the earth began to multiply wildly,
All kinds of four-legged creatures
the valleys were covered with a worthy pattern.
More than 30 lines destroyed
II
“I want to direct the work of their efforts.
Let the Builder of the Country dig the ground and lay the foundations."
When the Essences of Royalty descended from heaven,
The mighty crown and royal throne were lowered from heaven,
He created their rites, he is the mighty Essence
Made perfect.
He founded villages and cities.
He gave them names, he distributed shares to them.
The first of them is Eredug, he gave it to the leader Nudimmud.
He gave the second one to the priestess of heaven, Badtibira.
The third is Larag, he gave it to Pabilsag.
The fourth is Sippar, he gave it to the hero Utu.
The fifth is Shuruppak, the Court gave it to him.
He gave names to these cities, he appointed them as capitals.
He didn't stop the floods, he dug up the ground,
He brought them water.
He cleaned small rivers and built irrigation channels.
40 lines destroyed
III
In those days Nintu... his creations...
Light Inanna starts crying for her people.
Enki consults with himself.
An, Enlil, Enki, Ninhursag,
The gods of the Universe swore in the name of Ana,
They swore in the name of Enlil.
In those days Ziusudra, God's anointed...
I built myself an oval canopy...
In submission, reverently, with the humble,
In righteous words...
Every day he stood, bowing...
It’s not a dream, it’s the output of his sayings...
To curse heaven and earth.
IV
In Kiura there is a god... wall...
Ziusudra, standing at the edge, hears...
“The edge of the wall is on the left, come on, listen!
Edge of the wall, I’ll tell you my word, take my word!
Be attentive to my instructions!
The flood will sweep over the whole world,
In order to destroy the seed of humanity.
The final decision, the word of God's assembly...
The decision spoken by An, Enlil, Ninhursag,
Royalty, its interruption..."
About 40 lines, destroyed
All the evil storms, all the hurricanes, they all came together.
The flood is raging over the whole world.
Seven days. Seven nights.
When the flood raged over the Country,
An evil wind with a high wave
Threw away a huge ship,
The sun rose, illuminated the sky and earth,
Ziusudra made a hole in his huge ship,
And a ray of sunlight penetrated the huge ship.
King Ziusudra
He fell prostrate before the sun-Utu.
The king slaughtered the bulls and slaughtered many sheep.
About 40 lines were destroyed.
They swore by the life of heaven and the life of earth,
An and Enlil swore by the lives of heaven and earth about this.
Who took refuge
So that living things can rise from the earth,
So that it comes out for them.
King Ziusudra
He humbly prostrated himself before An, Enlil.
Enlil and Ziusudra spoke kindly.
When life, like a god, was awarded to him,
A long life, as if to God, they told him,
Then they are king Ziusudra,
Who saved the name of life, saved the seed of humanity,
They settled him in the country of transition, in the country of Dilmun, there,
Where the sun-Utu rises...
"You..."
The end is ruined.
(translation by V.K. Afanasyeva)
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru