Shelf entry · Mesopotamian

Atrahasis, Tablet III (and Gilgamesh XI 21–24)

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traditionMesopotamian

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flood-3

The lord of Wisdom, Ea, counselled with them
And repeated their word to the reed hut:
“O reed hut, reed hut, O, wall, wall,
O reed hut hearken, O wall attend!
O man of Shurippak, son of Ubaratutu,
Pull down thy house, build a ship,
Leave thy possessions, take thought for thy life,
Thy property abandon, save thy life,
Bring living seed of every kind into the ship.”

Gilgamesh XI 20–25, the reed-wall warning · tr. R. W. Rogers, 1912 The Gilgamesh XI form of the warning Atrahasis III carries. The god, oath-bound, addresses the reed wall; the man behind it overhears. The rendering is Rogers (1912).

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flood · flood-3

In both, heaven never announces the flood openly. The warning is smuggled to exactly one man through an absurdly humble intermediary · a reed partition, a minnow in wash-water · and its entire content is naval: build the vessel before the decree is public. The deniability of the channel is itself part of the story.

Enki, oath-bound not to warn any human, addresses the architecture instead of the man: 'Wall, listen constantly to me! Reed hut, make sure you attend to all my words!' · 'Reed house, reed house! Wall, wall! O man of Shuruppak... Tear down the house and build a boat!' The survivor overhears; the god's oath stays technically intact.

set against Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 1.8.1.1–4

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