Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet XI — The Flood · 5 of 7 · tr. R. Campbell Thompson
Tablet XI, Section 1e
" (So straightway) she (did so), his flour Baked she (and) set at his head, but the time he was sleeping she noted 215.
On the house-wall.
(So), first was collected his flour, (then) secondly sifted, Thirdly , ’twas moisten’d, and fourthly she kneaded his dough, and so fifthly Leaven she added, and sixthly ’twas baked; (then) seventh —he touch’d him, All on a sudden, and (so from his slumber) awoke the (great) fellow!
________________________________ Gilgamish unto him spake, (yea) to Uta-Napishtim the Distant: 220.
"(Tell me), I pr’ythee (?), was 't thou, who when sleep was shower’d upon me All on a sudden didst touch me, and (straightway) rouse me (from slumber)?" Uta-Napishtim to Gilgamish [spake, (yea), unto him spake he]: "Gilgamish, told was the tale of thy meal .
.
.
and (then) did I wake thee: 225.
[ 'One' —was collected] thy flour: [(then) 'two' ]—it was sifted; (and) 'thirdly' — Moisten’d: (and) 'fourthly' —she kneaded thy dough [(and) 'fifthly' ] the leaven Added: (and) 'sixthly' —’twas baked: [(and) 'seventh' ] —’twas I on a sudden Touch’d thee and thou didst awake." To Uta-Napishtim, the Distant, 230.
Gilgamish answer'd: "O, [how] shall I act, (or) where shall I hie me, Uta-Napishtim?
A Robber (from me) hath ravish’d my [courage,] Death [in] my bed-chamber broodeth, and Death is wherever I [listen] ." ________________________________ [Spake] to [him, (yea),] to the boatman Ur-Shanabi Uta-Napishtim: 235.
"’Tis thou, Ur-Shanabi .
.
.
the crossing, will hate thee, (Sooth), to all those who come to its marge, doth its marge set a limit: (This) man for whom thou wert guide—are stains to cover his body, Or shall a skin hide the grace of his limbs?
Ur-Shanabi, take him, 240.
Lead him to where he may bathe, that he wash off his stains in the water (White) as the snow: let him cast off his pelt(s) that the sea may remove (them); Fair let his body appear: of his head be the fillet renewéd, Let him, as clothes for his nakedness, garb himself in a mantle, 245.
Such that, or ever he come to his city, and finish his journey, No (sign of) age shall the mantle betray, but preserve (all) its freshness." Wherefore Ur-Shanabi took him, and where he might bathe did he lead him, Washing his stains in the [water] like snow, his pelt(s), [too], discarding, 250.
So that the sea might bear them away; (and) his body appearéd Fair; [of] his head he [the fillet] renewed, and himself in a mantle Garb’d, as the clothes for his nakedness, [such that or ever his city Reach he], or ever he finish his journey, [the mantle betray not 255.
Age, but] preserve [(all) its freshness].
§ Ask Guru about this passage →Themes
Anthropomorphismtheology
Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.
The immortal Uta-Napishtim and his wife engage in distinctly human activities such as baking bread, sleeping, and conversing.
All passages →Living Godtheology
The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.
Uta-Napishtim is depicted as an active, responsive divine figure who interacts directly with Gilgamesh and instructs the boatman.
All passages →Ritual Puritypraxis
The maintenance of a state of cleanliness—physical, moral, or spiritual—required for encounter with the divine.
Gilgamesh is instructed to wash off his stains and discard his pelt in water like snow to appear fair before returning to his city.
All passages →Shamanic Journeypraxis
The living practitioner's deliberate trance-journey into spirit, underworld, or upper realms — Lemminkainen's descent into Tuoni and Wainamoinen's entry into Wipunen's body in the Kalevala, the Siberian shaman's drum-mediated travel, Inuit angakkuq's submarine journey to Sedna, classical katabasis as ritual technique. The practitioner returns with knowledge, songs, lost-words, or a recovered soul. Distinct from psychopomp_journey (which guides the *dead* soul through afterlife realms) and from spiritual_ascent (which is the soul's *upward* return to source); shamanic_journey is the *living* practitioner crossing into ordinarily-inaccessible domains as a worked technique.
Gilgamesh travels to the edge of the world with a boatman guide (Ur-Shanabi) to access an ordinarily inaccessible realm of immortals.
All passages →Related passages · 11 parallels
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