Death of Bilgames (English) in: Near East – Sumer
The Numbering of the lines is different than Cavigneaux proposed in 2000, possibly because the text for this edition was finalized before Cavigneaux’ publication.
As the young lord [lay] on his deathbed,
30 The king fell into a deep sleep (and dreamed):
[The dream of Gilgamesh begins, with the gods talking about his exploits.]
In that dream, the god, the lord Nudimmud, was bringing him(?) before them (the gods).
In the assembly, the ritual place of the gods,
As the lord Gilgamesh came near,
They were speaking about him, the lord Gilgamesh, about his fame,
35 They were talking of the campaigns he had waged:
Bringing down that cedar, like no other, from the mountain,
Smiting Huwawa in his forest,
Erecting steles for now and forever,
Establishing the temples of the gods,
40 Reaching Ziusudra in his abode,
Resurrecting the forgotten, archaic and ancient rites of Sumer,
The ordinances and rituals of the land,
Executing perfectly the rites of purification,
Understanding everything of what was needful for the land, from before the flood,
[gap]
[In his dream, the gods discuss Gilgamesh’s fate.]
45 Then Gilgamesh was brought before them (the gods),
They relayed the god Enlil’s counsel to the god Enki.
The god Enki replied to the gods An and Enlil:
In those days, in those far-off days,
In those nights, in those far-off nights,
50 In those years, those far-off years,
After the assembly of the gods let the flood sweep over the land
To cause the human race to disappear,
Among us a single solitary creature remained alive,
Ziusudra, a human being, remained alive.
55 From that day forth, we swore by the life of heaven and the life of earth,
From that day forth, we swore that no one of the human race would live forever.
(…)
[Gilgamesh recounts his dream to his counselors.]
130 The king recounted (the dream):
In that dream, the lord Nudimmud, was bringing me before them (the gods).
In the assembly, the ritual place of the gods,
When I, the lord Gilgamesh, came near,
They were speaking about me, the lord Gilgamesh, about my fame,
135 They were talking of the campaigns I had waged:
“Bringing down that cedar, like no other, from the mountain,
Smiting Huwawa in his forest,
Erecting steles for now and forever,
Establishing the temples of the gods,
140 Reaching Ziusudra in his abode,
Resurrecting the forgotten, the archaic and ancient rites of Sumer,
The ordinances and rituals of the land,
Executing perfectly the rites of purification,
Understanding everything of what was needful for the land, from before the flood,”
[gap]
[Gilgamesh reports what he dreamed the great gods ordained for him.]
145 Then I, Gilgamesh, was brought before them (the gods),
They relayed the god Enlil’s counsel to the god Enki.
The god Enki replied to the gods An and Enlil:
“In those days, in those far-off days,
In those nights, in those far-off nights,
150 In those years, in those far-off years,
After the assembly of gods let the flood sweep over the land
To cause the human race to disappear,
Among us a single solitary creature remained alive,
Ziusudra, a human being, remained alive.
155 From that day forth, we swore by the life of heaven and the life of earth,
From that day forth, we swore that no one of the human race would live forever.
(h.i) Sumerian [transliteration] — (h.ii) Veldhuis (2001) — (h.iii) Frayne (2001) — (h.iv) George (1999) — (h.v) Black et al. (1998-) — (h.vi) Chen (2012) [partial] — (h.vii) Cavigneaux and Al-Rawi (2000) (French) — (h.viii) Secondary sources
– Fayne, Douglas, “The Sumerian Gilgamesh Poems”, in: Foster, Benjamin R. The Epic of Gilgamesh, (New York: Norton, 2001), pp. 144-145, 148-149.
Flood Stories 