Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet XI — The Flood · 2 of 7 · tr. R. Campbell Thompson
Tablet XI, Section 1b
Did I lay down, (and) the same did I fashion; (aye), six times cross-pinn’d her, Sevenfold did I divide her .
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., divided her inwards Ninefold: hammer’d the caulking within her, (and) found me a quant-pole, 65.
(All) that was needful I added; the hull with six shar of bitumen Smear’d I, (and) three shar of pitch [did I smear] on the inside; some people, Bearing a vessel of grease, three shar of it brought (me); (and) one shar (Out of this) grease did I leave, which the tackling (?) consumed; (and) the boatman 70.
Two shar of grease stow’d away; (yea), beeves for the .
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I slaughter’d, Each day lambs did I slay: mead, beer, oil, wine, too, the workmen [Drank] as though they were water , and made a great feast like the New Year, : ________________________________ 80.
[All I possess’d I] laded aboard her; the silver I laded All I possess'd; gold, all I possess’d I laded aboard her, All I possess’d of the seed of all living [I laded aboard] her.
Into the ship I embark’d all my kindred and family (with me), 85.
Cattle (and) beasts of the field (and) all handicraftsmen embarking.
(Then) decreed Shamash the hour: " .
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(?) Shall in the night let a plentiful rainfall(?) pour down .
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(Then) do thou enter the vessel, and (straightway) shut down thy hatchway." 90.
Came (then) that hour (appointed), .
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(?) Did in the night let a plentiful rainfall(?) pour down .
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(?) View’d I the aspect of day: to look on the day bore a horror, (Wherefore) I enter’d the vessel, and (straightway) shut down my hatchway, (So, too) to shut down the vessel to Puzur-Amurri (?), the boatman, 95.
Did I deliver the poop (of the ship), besides its equipment.
________________________________ (Then), when something of dawn had appear’d, from out the horizon Rose a cloud darkling; (lo), Adad (the storm-god) was rumbling within it, 100.
Nabu and Sharru were leading the vanguard, and coming as heralds Over the hills and the levels: (then) Irragal wrench’d out the bollards; Havoc Ninurta let loose as he came, th’ Anunnaki their torches 105.
Brandish’d, and shrivell’d the land with their flames; desolation from Adad Stretch’d to (high) Heaven, (and) all that was bright was turn’d into darkness.
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Nor could a brother distinguish his brother ; from heaven were mortals Not to be spied.
O, were stricken with terror the gods at the Deluge, Fleeing, they rose to the Heaven of Anu, and crouch’d in the outskirts, 115.
Cow 'ring like curs were the gods (while) like to a woman in travail Ishtar did cry, she shrieking aloud, (e’en) the sweet-spoken Lady (She of the gods): 'May that day turn to dust, because I spake evil 120.
(There) in th’ Assemblage of Gods!
O, how could I utter (such) evil (There) in the Assemblage of Gods, (so) to blot out my people, ordaining Havoc!
§ Ask Guru about this passage →Themes
Anthropomorphismtheology
Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.
The passage vividly depicts gods with human emotions (terror, regret), physical actions (feasting, fleeing), and forms (Ishtar crying like a woman in travail).
All passages →Divine Providencetheology
Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.
Shamash decrees the specific hour for the flood, indicating that the divine actively orders the unfolding of cosmic events toward an end.
All passages →Eschatological Judgmentsoteriology
Final, collective cosmic judgment as an event in which the wicked are sentenced and the cosmos restored; distinct from psychopomp_journey (individual passage at death) and emphasising verdict where Zoroastrian frashokereti emphasises restoration.
The flood functions as a collective cosmic judgment event where humanity is sentenced to destruction by the assembly of gods.
All passages →Living Godtheology
The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.
The deities are portrayed as active, dynamic, and personal agents who intervene directly in the natural world and human history rather than abstract principles.
All passages →Related passages · 11 parallels
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Shared concept: Living God — The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality. (derived)
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Shared concept: Divine Providence — Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity. (derived)
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Shared concept: Divine Providence — Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity. (derived)
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“1-10, 18, 19 as a natural sequel, where p.
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The original order of the text, therefore, was:…”
Shared concept: Eschatological Judgment — Final, collective cosmic judgment as an event in which the wicked are sentenced and the cosmos restored; distinct from psychopomp_journey (individual passage at death) and emphasising verdict where Zoroastrian frashokereti emphasises restoration. (derived)
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“Section 16 16.
But if all this is true, what room is left for evil?
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How explain that in a world organized in good, the efficient agents [human beings] behave unjustly, commit sin?
And how comes…”
Shared concept: Divine Providence — Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity. (derived)
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Shared concept: Anthropomorphism — Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery. (derived)
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Shared concept: Anthropomorphism — Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery. (derived)
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Shared concept: Anthropomorphism — Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery. (derived)
jewish_mysticism|The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation)|Chapter XXXVIII
“XXXVII-XLIV. The First Parable . XXXVIII. The Coming Judgement of the Wicked . CHAPTER XXXVIII 1. The First Parable. When the congregation of the righteous shall appear, And sinners shall be judged for their sins, And shall be driven from t…”
Shared concept: Eschatological Judgment — Final, collective cosmic judgment as an event in which the wicked are sentenced and the cosmos restored; distinct from psychopomp_journey (individual passage at death) and emphasising verdict where Zoroastrian frashokereti emphasises restoration. (derived)