Epic of Gilgamesh (summary)

Tablet 11

  Tablet 11 

 At this point, Gilgamesh realizes that he is talking to Utnapishtim, the FarAway;he hadn't expected an immortal human to be ordinary and aged. He asksUtnapishtim how he received immortality, and Utnapishtim tells him the greatsecret hidden from humans: In the time before the Flood, there was a city,Shuruppak, on the banks of the Euphrates. There, the counsel of the gods held asecret meeting; they all resolved to destroy the world in a great flood. All thegods were under oath not to reveal this secret to any living thing, but Ea (one ofthe gods that created humanity) came to Utnapishtim's house and told the secretto the walls of Utnapishtim's house, thus not technically violating his oath to therest of the gods. He advised the walls of Utnapishtim's house to build a greatboat, its length as great as its breadth, to cover the boat, and to bring all livingthings into the boat. Utnapishtim gets straight to work and finishes the great boatby the new year. Utnapishtim then loads the boat with gold, silver, and all theliving things of the earth, and launches the boat. Ea orders him into the boat andcommands him to close the door behind him. The black clouds arrive, with thethunder god Adad rumbling within them; the earth splits like an earthenware pot,and all the light turns to darkness. The Flood is so great that even the gods arefrightened:The gods shook like beaten dogs, hiding in the far corners of heaven,Ishtar screamed and wailed:"The days of old have turned to stone:We have decided evil things in our Assembly!Why did we decide those evil things in our Assembly?Why did we decide to destroy our people?We have only just now created our beloved humans;We now destroy them in the sea!"All the gods wept and wailed along with her,All the gods sat trembling, and wept. The Flood lasts for seven days and seven nights, and finally light returns to theearth. Utnapishtim opens a window and the entire earth has been turned into aflat ocean; all humans have been turned to stone. Utnapishtim then falls to hisknees and weeps. Utnapishtim's boat comes to rest on the top of Mount Nimush; the boat lodgesfirmly on the mountain peak just below the surface of the ocean and remainsthere for seven days. On the seventh day: I [Utnapishtim] released a dove from the boat,It flew off, but circled around and returned,For it could find no perch.I then released a swallow from the boat,It flew off, but circled around and returned,For it could find no perch.I then released a raven from the boat,It flew off, and the waters had receded:It eats, it scratches the ground, but it does not circle around and return.I then sent out all the living things in every direction and sacrificed a sheep onthat very spot. The gods smell the odor of the sacrifice and begin to gather aroundUtnapishtim. Enlil, who had originally proposed to destroy all humans, thenarrives, furious that one of the humans had survived, since they had agreed towipe out all humans. He accuses Ea of treachery, but Ea convinces Enlil to bemerciful. Enlil then seizes Utnapishtim and his wife and blesses them:At one time Utnapishtim was mortal.At this time let him be a god and immortal;Let him live in the far away at the source of all the rivers. At the end of his story, Utnapishtim offers Gilgamesh a chance at immortality.If Gilgamesh can stay awake for six days and seven nights, he, too, will becomeimmortal. Gilgamesh accepts these conditions and sits down on the shore; theinstant he sits down he falls asleep. Utnapishtim tells his wife that all men areliars, that Gilgamesh will deny having fallen asleep, so he asks his wife to bake aloaf of bread every day and lay the loaf at Gilgamesh's feet. Gilgamesh sleepswithout ever waking up for six days and seven nights, at which point Utnapishtimwakes him up. Startled, Gilgamesh says, "I only just dozed off for half a secondhere." Utnapishtim points out the loaves of bread, showing their states of decayfrom the most recent, fresh bread, to the oldest, moldy, stale bread that had beenlaid at his feet on the very first day. Gilgamesh is distraught:O woe! What do I do now, where do I go now?Death has devoured my body,Death dwells in my body,Wherever I go, wherever I look, there stands Death! Utnapishtim's wife convinces the old man to have mercy on him; he offersGilgamesh in place of immortality a secret plant that will make Gilgamesh youngagain. The plant is at the bottom of the ocean surrounding the Far-Away;Gilgamesh ties stones to his feet, sinks to the bottom, and plucks the magic plant.But he doesn't use it because he doesn't trust it; rather he decides to take it backto Uruk and test it out on an old man first, to make sure it works. Urshanabi takes him across the Waters of Death. Several leagues inland,Gilgamesh and Urshanabi stop to eat and sleep; while they're sleeping, a snakeslithers up and eats the magic plant (which is why snakes shed their skin) andcrawls away. Gilgamesh awakens to find the plant gone; he falls to his knees andweeps:For whom have I labored? For whom have I journeyed?For whom have I suffered?I have gained absolutely nothing for myself, I have only profited the snake, the ground lion! The tale ends with Gilgamesh, at the end of his journey standing before thegates of Uruk, inviting Urshanabi to look around and view the greatness of thiscity, its high walls, its masonwork, and here at the base of its gates, as thefoundation of the city walls, a stone of lapis lazuli on which is carvedGilgamesh's account of his exploits.