Epic of Gilgamish

iconChapter - 7

1Now in the Temple there were tables on which were inscribed the history of Uta-Napishtim the Remote, of him whom the Gods had made immortal.
2These tables had the very words of Uta-Napishtim upon them.
3And these are the words that were written there:
4"I lived in Shurippak, the city of the sun, a city that was old, and had the Gods dwelling in it. The Gods decided in their hearts to destroy mankind by wind and by flood, so that none would be left living. on the earth.
5Anu, the Father of the Gods, was there when this thing was thought upon, and Enlil, the Warrior of the Gods, and En-urta, the Messenger of the Gods.
6But the Gods considered again, and they decided to leave living on the earth one man and his family.
7"Ea went to the place where I was. He cried to me where I slept; he cried to me to come out of my house and to build a ship; he cried to me to abandon all my possessions and to save my life.
8"He told me of the dimensions of the ship I was to build; he told me of the measures of grain I was to take on board that ship.
9And he commanded that I should go before the elders and people of the city and say to them that Enlil bore ill-will towards them and that he was set upon destroying them.
10Then I said to Ea, 'Whither shall I sail when I have built the ship?', and he said, 'To the Gods. Trust thy ship upon the flood and be not fearful.'
11"I spoke to the elders and the people of the city.
12I gathered my servants around me and I began the building of the ship.
13I made it a hundred and twenty cubits in length;
14I covered it with pitch and bitumen; I provided a strong steering-pole for it.
15And when the ship was built I loaded it with grain, and took my family on board it.
16The beasts of the field and of the wilderness, also the birds came on board it; they came in pairs.