(translation by Nikolai Gumilyov)
Gilgamesh says to the hermit Ut-napishtim:
“Oh Ut-write, I contemplate you,
Your appearance is not scary, you are like me,
You are like me, you are not different from me.
Your heart is fit to laugh in battle
Like everyone else, when you sleep, you lie on your back!
Why are you so exalted, have you gained life from the assembly of immortals?”
Ut-napishtim says to Gilgamesh:
I will reveal to you, Gilgamesh, a secret word,
I will tell you the secret of the gods:
Shurippak, the city you know
which stands near the Euphrates,
An ancient city, the gods live in it,
And their hearts, the great gods, pushed them to make the flood.
Among them was their father, Anu,
Bel warrior, their adviser,
Eniugi, their chief,
And Ninib, their messenger,
Ea the wisest sat with them;
He repeated their words to the reed hedge:
“Hedge, hedge! Fence, fence!
Listen, hedge! Understand, fence!
The man Shurippaka, son of Ubar-Tutu,
Destroy your house, build a ship,
Leave your wealth, think about life,
Hate riches for life's sake
Immerse the seeds of all life into the interior of the vessel.
Let them be measured, its dimensions,
The dimensions of the ship you will build are
Let width and length answer each other!
Then only you can lower it into the sea!”
I understood and said to Ea, my master:
"Oh my lord, everything you said
I listened with my heart and will do everything,
But what will I tell the crowd and the elders?”
He opened his mouth and answered me,
He answered his servant like this:
This is what you will tell the crowd and the elders:
- I am hated by Bel and will not live in your city
I won’t put my feet on Bel’s ground,
I will go down to the ocean, I will live with Ea, my master.
And he will send abundance of water upon you,
Prey birds and fish prey,
He will send unclean rain on you. —
As soon as the morning dawned, I began to work,
On the fifth day I finished the drawings:
The walls must be one hundred and twenty cubits long,
And the roof volume is also one hundred and twenty,
I outlined the outlines and drew them afterwards;
I covered the ship with planking six times,
I divided its roof into seven parts,
His insides were divided into nine,
He placed spacers in the middle,
I arranged the steering wheel and everything that is needed,
I poured six measures of resin into the bottom,
I poured three measures of tar into the bottom;
Bearers of three measures of oil:
I left one measure for the sacred sacrifice,
The boatman hid the other two measures.
I slaughtered bulls for the people,
Every day I killed a goat,
They brought me berry juice, wine and butter
I gave him water like plain water;
I arranged a holiday, like on New Year's Day,
He opened the pantries and took out the precious myrrh.
Before sunset the ship was finished,
The builders brought a mast for the ship.
I loaded everything I had onto it,
I loaded everything I had in silver onto it,
All that I had in gold I loaded onto it,
All that I had I loaded, all the seed of life
I imprisoned myself in the interior of the ship; relatives and family,
The cattle of the field and the beasts of the field, I loaded them all.
Shamash appointed an hour for me:
- In the evening of darkness the ruler will send unclean waters,
Enter the interior of the ship and slam the door.
- The destined hour has come:
In the evening of darkness the ruler shed unclean waters;
I looked at the images of the day
And I was scared of this weather,
He entered the ship and slammed the doors;
To steer the ship, the boatman Puzur-Belu
I entrusted the construction with everything loaded.
As soon as the dawn broke,
A black cloud rose from the depths of the sky,
Adad growled inside her,
Nabu and the Tsar stepped forward;
The messengers, they walked through the mountain and the field;
Nergal knocked over the mast.
He is coming, Ninib, he is leading the battle;
The Anunnaki brought the torches,
With their lights they illuminate the earth.
The roar of Adad filled the sky,
Everything that was brilliant turns into darkness.
Brother doesn't see brother anymore
People in the sky cannot recognize each other,
The gods are afraid of the flood
They run away, they ascend to the sky of Anu.
There they sit down like dogs, lying down on their camps.
Ishtar calls out loudly like a charwoman,
With a wondrous voice the queen of the gods exclaims:
"Let that day crumble into dust,
Laziness, when I said something evil before the gods,
Because I said something evil before the gods,
To destroy people and bring about a flood.
Is it for this reason that I cherished my people?
So that, like a brood of fish, they fill the sea?
Because of the Anunnaki, the gods weep with her,
The gods are depressed and sit in tears,
Their lips are compressed and their body trembles.
For six days, six nights the wind and water roam, a hurricane rules the earth.
At the beginning of the seventh day the hurricane subsides,
He who fought like an army;
The sea calmed down, the wind calmed down, the flood stopped.
I looked at the sea: the voice was not heard,
All humanity has become dirt,
There was a swamp above the rooftops!
I opened the window, the day illuminated my cheek,
I went crazy, I sat and cried,
Tears streamed down my cheek.
I looked at the world, at the expanse of the sea,
Twelve days' journey away an island was visible,
A ship is approaching Mount Nizir,
Mount Nizir does not allow ships away from it,
The day, and the second, and the third does not let him in,
The fourth, fifth, sixth day he won’t let him in.
The seventh day caught fire,
I took the dove and let it out,
The dove flew away and returned,
As if she couldn’t find a place for herself, she returned.
I took the swallow and let it out,
The swallow flew away and returned,
As if she couldn’t find a place for herself, she returned.
I took the crow and let it out,
The raven rushed off, he saw the damage to the water:
He eats, he flutters, he croaks, he doesn’t want to come back.
I left it to the four winds, I poured out a libation,
I placed the victim on a mountain top.
I placed fourteen sacrificial urns,
Myrtle, cedar and reeds were spread under them.
The gods smelled it
The gods smelled a good smell,
The gods flocked like flies over those making sacrifices.
Only the queen of the gods rushed in,
She offered the jewelry that Anu had made for her:
“O gods standing here, how will I not forget my necklace of lapis lazuli,
I won’t forget these days either, I will always remember them!
Let the gods approach the victim
But let Bel not approach the victim
Because he did not think twice, he caused a flood,
He has ordained death for my people.”
Only God Bel came rushing,
He saw the ship, Bel, and became angry,
Filled with anger against Igigi:
“Has any mortal escaped?
A person should not live among destruction!”
Ninib opens his mouth,
He says to the hero Bel:
“Who, besides Ea, is the creator of creation?
“Ea alone knows the whole matter.”
He opens his mouth,
He says to the hero Bel:
“You, a sage among the gods, a warrior,
Why didn't you realize that you caused a flood?
Place the sin on the sinner,
Place the blame on the culprit!
But retreat before he is destroyed!
Why did you cause the flood?
Let the lion come and devour people!
Why did you cause the flood?
Let the leopard come and devour people!
Why did you cause the flood?
Let famine come and devastate the land!
Why did you cause the flood?
Let the plague come and devastate the earth!
I did not reveal the secret of the great gods to people,
Wise one, I sent them a dream, and the dream told them a secret.”
The gods then asked Bel for advice;
Bel boarded the ship
He took me by the hand and lifted me high;
And he lifted up my wife and placed us side by side;
He touched our faces, stood between us, and blessed us:
“Before Ut-napishtim were mortals,
Now both he and his wife are like us, immortals:
Let him live, Ut-napishtim, at the mouths of rivers far away!
They took me and settled me at the mouths of rivers.
And you, Gilgamesh, who of the gods will introduce you into their assembly,
So that you can find the immortality you are looking for?
Here! Don’t lie down for six days, seven nights, try!”
As soon as Gilgamesh fell to the ground,
Sleep blew over him like a storm.
Ut-napishtim says to his wife:
“Do you see the strong one who wants immortality?
Sleep blew over him like a storm!”
The wife says to the hermit, Ut-napishtim:
“Touch him, let the man awaken immediately
And the way he came, he will return unharmed!
He will return home through the big gate from where he came out!”
Ut-napishtim says to his wife:
“Humanity is evil and rewards good with evil!
But bake him some bread and place it at his bedside!”
And while he slept on the deck of the ship,
She baked some bread and placed it at his bedside.
And while he was sleeping, knowledge told him:
“His first bread is leavened,
The second one is seasoned, the third one is seasoned,
The fourth one was fried, it turned white,
The fifth has become old,
Sixth brew,
Seventh!..." He touched him, the man woke up immediately!
Gilgamesh says to the hermit Ut-napishtim:
“I lay motionless! They spread sleep over me!
Suddenly you touched me and I woke up.”
Ut-napishtim says to Gilgamesh:
“Count, Gilgamesh, count your loaves!
Let the quality of the bread be known to you!”
Gilgamesh says to Ut-napishtim:
“What, what will I do, Ut-write? Where will I go?
I, whose joys the thief stole,
I, in whose bedroom lies destruction?
Ut-napishtim turned to Ur-Ea the boatman.
“Ur-Ea, let the sea rejoice with you!
Let him who wanders along the shore see!
The man you came before
Whose body is covered with dirty clothes
And whose beauty is covered by skins,
Take him, Ur-Ea, and take him to the bathhouse,
Let him wash his clothes in water until they are clean.
Let him throw off the skins from his shoulders, and let them be carried away by the sea,
Let his marvelous body arouse envy in the beholder,
Let it become new, his head bandage,
Let him be covered with a dress, with unshameful clothing!
Until the day he arrives in his city,
Until the day he finishes his journey,
His dress will not wear out, but will remain new.”
Gilgamesh and Ur-Ea boarded the ship,
They pushed the ship into the waves and sailed away.
His wife said this to the hermit Ut-napishtim:
"Gilgamesh traveled, he was tired, weary,
What will you give him when he returns?
Gilgamesh heard and raised the pole,
He brings the ship to the shore.
Ut-napishtim says to Gilgamesh:
“To you, Gilgamesh, I will reveal a secret word,
I will tell you the sacred word:
Do you see a plant on the ocean floor?
Its thorn, like a thorn, will pierce your hand,
If your hand can reach this plant.”
As soon as Gilgamesh heard this,
He tied heavy stones to his feet,
And they plunged him into the ocean.
He took the plant, it pierced his hand,
Then he untied the heavy stones
And he went upstairs with his prey.
Gilgamesh addressed Ur-Ea:
“Ur-Ea, this plant is very famous,
Because of him, a person receives the breath of life.
I will take it to strong Uruk, divide it among my fellow citizens,
His name is “the old man becomes young.”
I will eat it in Uruk and become a young man.”
Twenty hours passed, they made a sacrifice to the dead,
Thirty hours had passed, they finished lamenting;
Gilgamesh saw a well of cold water,
He went down into it and washed himself with water.
The snake smelled the plant,
She crawled up and took away the plant.
Gilgamesh returned, shouted a curse,
Then he sat down and cried;
Tears are rolling down his cheek,
He says to the boatman Ur-Ea:
“For whom, O Ur-Ea, did my hands endure fatigue?
For whom did I waste the blood from my heart?
After all, I did not perform feats for myself,
I performed feats for the lions of the desert,
And my plant is swayed by the waves.
When I came ashore,
I saw a sacred sign: it’s time to land,
It’s time to leave the ship offshore.”
Twenty hours passed, they made a sacrifice to the dead,
Thirty hours have passed, they finished lamenting,
And then they saw blessed Uruk.
Gilgamesh addressed the boatman Ur-Ea:
“Ur-Ea, go for a walk on the wall of Uruk!
Contemplate the foundation, look at the masonry, isn’t the masonry beautiful?
Or was it not the seven wise men who laid the foundation here?
One sar of the city, one of the garden, one ruins of the temple of the goddess -
Three saras, and I’ll take the wreckage of Uruk and finish it.”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru