The Flood Narrative in Ancient Near Eastern Context

“A short time back I discovered among the Assyrian tablets in the British museum an account of the flood … I had divided the collection of tablets into sections according to subject matter. I have recently been examining the division comprising the mythological tablets and from this section there was a copy of the story of the flood. On discovering these documents, I searched all over the collection of fragments, consisting of several thousand pieces, and I recovered 80 fragments of these legends; by the aid of which I was enabled to restore nearly all of the text of the description of the flood, and portions of other legends as well … Of the inscription describing the flood, there are fragments of three copies containing the same texts … All these accounts, together with considerable portions of other mythologies, have, I believe, a common origin in the plains of Chaldea. This country, the cradle of civilization, the birthplace of the arts and sciences, for 2,000 years has been in ruins; its literature, containing the most precious records from antiquity, is scarcely known to us, except from the texts of the Assyrians, but beneath mounds and ruined cities, now awaiting exploration, lay, together with older copies of the flood, other legends and histories of the earliest civilizations of the world.” —Smith, George (1873). The Chaldean Account of the Deluge (2). Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology. 213-34.

Hermann Gunkel’s Creation and Chaos in the Beginning and the End claimed that Genesis 1-11 displayed extensive dependence upon Babylonian traditions.
1. Creation from battles with the chaos-water dragon
2. Creation of humans from the dust
3. Ancient king lists: pre-flood kings living for thousands of years
4. Flood stories

In the 20th century, older versions of this Mesopotamian flood story were discovered, bringing it to a total of five separate versions in four languages.
1. 16th century B.C.E. Sumerian-Babylonian version: Eridu Genesis
2. 17th century B.C.E. Akkadian version: Epic of Atrahasis
3. 13th century B.C.E. Akkadian version in the Epic of Gilgamesh
4. The biblical version, dated anywhere from the 12th-6th century B.C.E.
5. 3rd century B.C.E. Greek version preserved in the writings of the Babylonian priest Berossus

Out of all of this mass, there are now, including the biblical narrative, five accounts of the flood that all have these common elements.
1. There is some deity who decides to send a flood to punish humans.
2. One chosen person is told to save himself and his family, and a bunch of animals by building a boat.
3. The boat’s proportions are given and they are always given in measurements that imitate sacred ziggurats or temples.
4. The Great Flood comes and destroys the people.
5. The boat runs aground on a mountain.
6. Birds are sent out to determine the availability of habitable land.
7. The hero gets off and offers a sacrifice
8. Humanity begins to spread again upon the land.
Tsumura, David Toshio (1994). “Genesis and Ancient Near Eastern Stories of Creation and Flood.” I Studied Inscriptions from Before the Flood: Ancient Near Eastern, Literary, and Linguistic Approaches to Genesis 1-11. Eisenbrauns. 54-55.

Gordon Wenham outlines three basic approaches to explaining these connections in Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 1: Genesis 1-15 (Wenham, 1987).
1. Minimalists: The differences are too great to suppose direct dependence of the Genesis account on the Mesopotamian. Both are independent developments of an earlier common tradition.
2. Maximalists: The author of Genesis was familiar with and dependent upon Mesopotamian traditions in something like their present form. The writer is therefore deliberately opposing, subverting, or expanding on them.
3. Moderates: The truth lies somewhere between the minimalist and maximalist, depending on the specific motif or textual detail.

Genesis 6:1-12

Romans 1:18-24

In the first narrative where God hands the land over to destruction, it is because humans have already set that destruction in motion. —Tim Mackie, The Bible Project

Flood Accounts from The Ancient Messopotamian World

Gilgamesh Epic, Tablet 11

Language: Akkadian / Date: roughly 18th century B.C.E.

Gilgamesh spoke to Utanapishtim, the Faraway:
“I have been looking at you,
but your appearance is not strange–you are like me!
You yourself are not different–you are like me!
My mind was resolved to fight with you,
(but instead?) my arm lies useless over you.
Tell me, how is it that you stand in the Assembly of the Gods,
and have found life!”
Utanapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:
“I will reveal to you, Gilgamesh, a thing that is hidden,
a secret of the gods I will tell you!
Shuruppak, a city that you surely know,
situated on the banks of the Euphrates,
that city was very old, and there were gods inside it.
The hearts of the Great Gods moved them to inflict the Flood.
Their Father Anu uttered the oath (of secrecy),
Valiant Enlil was their Adviser,
Ninurta was their Chamberlain,
Ennugi was their Minister of Canals.
Ea, the Clever Prince(?), was under oath with them
so he repeated their talk to the reed house:
‘Reed house, reed house! Wall, wall!
O man of Shuruppak, son of Ubartutu:
Tear down the house and build a boat!
Abandon wealth and seek living beings!
Spurn possessions and keep alive living beings!
Make all living beings go up into the boat.
The boat which you are to build,
its dimensions must measure equal to each other:
its length must correspond to its width.
Roof it over like the Apsu.
I understood and spoke to my lord, Ea:
‘My lord, thus is the command which you have uttered
I will heed and will do it.
But what shall I answer the city, the populace, and the
Elders!’
Ea spoke, commanding me, his servant:
‘You, well then, this is what you must say to them:
“It appears that Enlil is rejecting me
so I cannot reside in your city (?),
nor set foot on Enlil’s earth.
I will go down to the Apsu to live with my lord, Ea,
and upon you he will rain down abundance,
a profusion of fowl, myriad(!) fishes.
He will bring to you a harvest of wealth,
in the morning he will let loaves of bread shower down,
and in the evening a rain of wheat!”’
Just as dawn began to glow
the land assembled around me-
the carpenter carried his hatchet,
the reed worker carried his (flattening) stone,
… the men …
The child carried the pitch,
the weak brought whatever else was needed.
On the fifth day I laid out her exterior.
It was a field in area,
its walls were each 10 times 12 cubits in height,
the sides of its top were of equal length, 10 times It cubits each.
I laid out its (interior) structure and drew a picture of it (?).
I provided it with six decks,
thus dividing it into seven (levels).
The inside of it I divided into nine (compartments).
I drove plugs (to keep out) water in its middle part.
I saw to the punting poles and laid in what was necessary.
Three times 3,600 (units) of raw bitumen I poured into the
bitumen kiln,
three times 3,600 (units of) pitch …into it,
there were three times 3,600 porters of casks who carried (vege-
table) oil,
apart from the 3,600 (units of) oil which they consumed (!)
and two times 3,600 (units of) oil which the boatman stored
away.
I butchered oxen for the meat(!),
and day upon day I slaughtered sheep.
I gave the workmen(?) ale, beer, oil, and wine, as if it were
river water,
so they could make a party like the New Year’s Festival.
… and I set my hand to the oiling(!).
The boat was finished by sunset.
The launching was very difficult.
They had to keep carrying a runway of poles front to back,
until two-thirds of it had gone into the water(?).
Whatever I had I loaded on it:
whatever silver I had I loaded on it,
whatever gold I had I loaded on it.
All the living beings that I had I loaded on it,
I had all my kith and kin go up into the boat,
all the beasts and animals of the field and the craftsmen I
had go up.
Shamash had set a stated time:
‘In the morning I will let loaves of bread shower down,
and in the evening a rain of wheat!
Go inside the boat, seal the entry!’
That stated time had arrived.
In the morning he let loaves of bread shower down,
and in the evening a rain of wheat.
I watched the appearance of the weather–
the weather was frightful to behold!
I went into the boat and sealed the entry.
For the caulking of the boat, to Puzuramurri, the boatman,
I gave the palace together with its contents.
Just as dawn began to glow
there arose from the horizon a black cloud.
Adad rumbled inside of it,
before him went Shullat and Hanish,
heralds going over mountain and land.
Erragal pulled out the mooring poles,
forth went Ninurta and made the dikes overflow.
The Anunnaki lifted up the torches,
setting the land ablaze with their flare.
Stunned shock over Adad’s deeds overtook the heavens,
and turned to blackness all that had been light.
The… land shattered like a… pot.
All day long the South Wind blew …,
blowing fast, submerging the mountain in water,
overwhelming the people like an attack.
No one could see his fellow,
they could not recognize each other in the torrent.
The gods were frightened by the Flood,
and retreated, ascending to the heaven of Anu.
The gods were cowering like dogs, crouching by the outer wall.
Ishtar shrieked like a woman in childbirth,
the sweet-voiced Mistress of the Gods wailed:
‘The olden days have alas turned to clay,
because I said evil things in the Assembly of the Gods!
How could I say evil things in the Assembly of the Gods,
ordering a catastrophe to destroy my people!!
No sooner have I given birth to my dear people
than they fill the sea like so many fish!’
The gods–those of the Anunnaki–were weeping with her,
the gods humbly sat weeping, sobbing with grief(?),
their lips burning, parched with thirst.
Six days and seven nights
came the wind and flood, the storm flattening the land.
When the seventh day arrived, the storm was pounding,
the flood was a war–struggling with itself like a woman
writhing (in labor).
The sea calmed, fell still, the whirlwind (and) flood stopped up.
I looked around all day long–quiet had set in
and all the human beings had turned to clay!
The terrain was as flat as a roof.
I opened a vent and fresh air (daylight!) fell upon the side of
my nose.
I fell to my knees and sat weeping,
tears streaming down the side of my nose.
I looked around for coastlines in the expanse of the sea,
and at twelve leagues there emerged a region (of land).
On Mt. Nimush the boat lodged firm,
Mt. Nimush held the boat, allowing no sway.
One day and a second Mt. Nimush held the boat, allowing
no sway.
A third day, a fourth, Mt. Nimush held the boat, allowing
no sway.
A fifth day, a sixth, Mt. Nimush held the boat, allowing
no sway.
When a seventh day arrived
I sent forth a dove and released it.
The dove went off, but came back to me;
no perch was visible so it circled back to me.
I sent forth a swallow and released it.
The swallow went off, but came back to me;
no perch was visible so it circled back to me.
I sent forth a raven and released it.
The raven went off, and saw the waters slither back.
It eats, it scratches, it bobs, but does not circle back to me.
Then I sent out everything in all directions and sacrificed
(a sheep).
I offered incense in front of the mountain-ziggurat.
Seven and seven cult vessels I put in place,
and (into the fire) underneath (or: into their bowls) I poured
reeds, cedar, and myrtle.
The gods smelled the savor,
the gods smelled the sweet savor,
and collected like flies over a (sheep) sacrifice.
Just then Beletili arrived.
She lifted up the large flies (beads) which Anu had made for
his enjoyment(!):
‘You gods, as surely as I shall not forget this lapis lazuli
around my neck,
may I be mindful of these days, and never forget them!
The gods may come to the incense offering,
but Enlil may not come to the incense offering,
because without considering he brought about the Flood
and consigned my people to annihilation.’
Just then Enlil arrived.
He saw the boat and became furious,
he was filled with rage at the Igigi gods:
‘Where did a living being escape?
No man was to survive the annihilation!’
Ninurta spoke to Valiant Enlil, saying:
‘Who else but Ea could devise such a thing?
It is Ea who knows every machination!’
La spoke to Valiant Enlil, saying:
‘It is yours, O Valiant One, who is the Sage of the Gods.
How, how could you bring about a Flood without consideration
Charge the violation to the violator,
charge the offense to the offender,
but be compassionate lest (mankind) be cut off,
be patient lest they be killed.
Instead of your bringing on the Flood,
would that a lion had appeared to diminish the people!
Instead of your bringing on the Flood,
would that a wolf had appeared to diminish the people!
Instead of your bringing on the Flood,
would that famine had occurred to slay the land!
Instead of your bringing on the Flood,
would that (Pestilent) Erra had appeared to ravage the land!
It was not I who revealed the secret of the Great Gods,
I (only) made a dream appear to Atrahasis, and (thus) he
heard the secret of the gods.
Now then! The deliberation should be about him!’
Enlil went up inside the boat
and, grasping my hand, made me go up.
He had my wife go up and kneel by my side.
He touched our forehead and, standing between us, he
blessed us:
‘Previously Utanapishtim was a human being.
But now let Utanapishtim and his wife become like us,
the gods!
Let Utanapishtim reside far away, at the Mouth of the Rivers.’
They took us far away and settled us at the Mouth of the Rivers.”
“Now then, who will convene the gods on your behalf,
that you may find the life that you are seeking!
Wait! You must not lie down for six days and seven nights.”
soon as he sat down (with his head) between his legs
sleep, like a fog, blew upon him.
Utanapishtim said to his wife:
“Look there! The man, the youth who wanted (eternal) life!
Sleep, like a fog, blew over him.”
his wife said to Utanapishtim the Faraway:
“Touch him, let the man awaken.
Let him return safely by the way he came.
Let him return to his land by the gate through which he left.”
Utanapishtim said to his wife:
“Mankind is deceptive, and will deceive you.
Come, bake loaves for him and keep setting them by his head
and draw on the wall each day that he lay down.”
She baked his loaves and placed them by his head
and marked on the wall the day that he lay down.
The first loaf was dessicated,
the second stale, the third moist(?), the fourth turned white,
its …,
the fifth sprouted gray (mold), the sixth is still fresh.
the seventh–suddenly he touched him and the man awoke.
Gilgamesh said to Utanapishtim:
“The very moment sleep was pouring over me
you touched me and alerted me!”
Utanapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:
“Look over here, Gilgamesh, count your loaves!
You should be aware of what is marked on the wall!
Your first loaf is dessicated,
the second stale, the third moist, your fourth turned white,
its …
the fifth sprouted gray (mold), the sixth is still fresh.
The seventh–suddenly he touched him and the man awoke.
Gilgamesh said to Utanapishtim:
“The very moment sleep was pouring over me
you touched me and alerted me!”
Utanapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:
“Look over here, Gilgamesh, count your loaves!
You should be aware of what is marked on the wall!
Your first loaf is dessicated,
the second stale, the third moist, your fourth turned white,
its …
the fifth sprouted gray (mold), the sixth is still fresh.
The seventh–at that instant you awoke!”
Gilgamesh said to Utanapishtim the Faraway:
“O woe! What shall I do, Utanapishtim, where shall I go!
The Snatcher has taken hold of my flesh,
in my bedroom Death dwells,
and wherever I set foot there too is Death!”
Home Empty-Handed
Utanapishtim said to Urshanabi, the ferryman:
“May the harbor reject you, may the ferry landing reject you!
May you who used to walk its shores be denied its shores!
The man in front of whom you walk, matted hair chains
his body,
animal skins have ruined his beautiful skin.
Take him away, Urshanabi, bring him to the washing place.
Let him wash his matted hair in water like ellu.
Let him cast away his animal skin and have the sea carry it off,
let his body be moistened with fine oil,
let the wrap around his head be made new,
let him wear royal robes worthy of him!
Until he goes off to his city,
until he sets off on his way,
let his royal robe not become spotted, let it be perfectly new!”
Urshanabi took him away and brought him to the washing place.
He washed his matted hair with water like ellu.
He cast off his animal skin and the sea carried it oh.
He moistened his body with fine oil,
and made a new wrap for his head.
He put on a royal robe worthy of him.
Until he went away to his city,
until he set off on his way,
his royal robe remained unspotted, it was perfectly clean.
Gilgamesh and Urshanabi bearded the boat,
they cast off the magillu-boat, and sailed away.
The wife of Utanapishtim the Faraway said to him:
“Gilgamesh came here exhausted and worn out.
What can you give him so that he can return to his land (with
honor) !”
Then Gilgamesh raised a punting pole
and drew the boat to shore.
Utanapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:
“Gilgamesh, you came here exhausted and worn out.
What can I give you so you can return to your land?
I will disclose to you a thing that is hidden, Gilgamesh,
a… I will tell you.
There is a plant… like a boxthorn,
whose thorns will prick your hand like a rose.
If your hands reach that plant you will become a young
man again.”
Hearing this, Gilgamesh opened a conduit(!) (to the Apsu)
and attached heavy stones to his feet.
They dragged him down, to the Apsu they pulled him.
He took the plant, though it pricked his hand,
and cut the heavy stones from his feet,
letting the waves(?) throw him onto its shores.
Gilgamesh spoke to Urshanabi, the ferryman, saying:
“Urshanabi, this plant is a plant against decay(!)
by which a man can attain his survival(!).
I will bring it to Uruk-Haven,
and have an old man eat the plant to test it.
The plant’s name is ‘The Old Man Becomes a Young Man.’”
Then I will eat it and return to the condition of my youth.”
At twenty leagues they broke for some food,
at thirty leagues they stopped for the night.
Seeing a spring and how cool its waters were,
Gilgamesh went down and was bathing in the water.
A snake smelled the fragrance of the plant,
silently came up and carried off the plant.
While going back it sloughed off its casing.’
At that point Gilgamesh sat down, weeping,
his tears streaming over the side of his nose.
“Counsel me, O ferryman Urshanabi!
For whom have my arms labored, Urshanabi!
For whom has my heart’s blood roiled!
I have not secured any good deed for myself,
but done a good deed for the ‘lion of the ground’!”
Now the high waters are coursing twenty leagues distant,’
as I was opening the conduit(?) I turned my equipment over
into it (!).
What can I find (to serve) as a marker(?) for me!
I will turn back (from the journey by sea) and leave the boat by
the shore!”
At twenty leagues they broke for some food,
at thirty leagues they stopped for the night.
They arrived in Uruk-Haven.
Gilgamesh said to Urshanabi, the ferryman:
“Go up, Urshanabi, onto the wall of Uruk and walk around.
Examine its foundation, inspect its brickwork thoroughly–
is not (even the core of) the brick structure of kiln-fired brick,
and did not the Seven Sages themselves lay out its plan!
One league city, one league palm gardens, one league lowlands, the open area(?) of the Ishtar Temple,
three leagues and the open area(?) of Uruk it encloses.

https://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/tab11.htm

The Atrahasis Epic

Language: Akkadian / Date: roughly 18th century B.C.E.

Atrahasis made ready to speak,
And said to his lord:
“Make me know the meaning [of the dream],
[ ] let me know, that I may look out for its consequence.”
(15) [Enki] made ready to speak,
And said to his servant: “You might say,
‘Am I to be looking out while in the bedroom?’
Do you pay attention to message that I speak for you:
(20) ‘Wall, listen to me!
Reed wall, pay attention to all my words!
Flee the house, build a boat,
Forsake possessions, and save life.
(25) The boat which you build,
[ ] be equal [ ]

[gap]

Roof her over like the depth,
(30) So that the sun shall not see inside her,
Let her be roofed over fore and aft.
The gear should be very strong,
The pitch should be firm, and so give (the boat) strength.
I will shower down upon you later
(35) A windfall of birds, a spate (?) of fishes.’
He opened the water clock and filled it,
He told it of the coming of the seven-day deluge.
Atrahasis received the command,
He assembled the elders at his gate.
(40) Atrahasis made ready to speak,
And said to the elders:
“My god [does not agree] with your god,
Enki and [Enlil] are constantly angry with each other.
They have expelled me from [the land (?)].
(45) Since I have always reverenced [Enki],
[He told me] this.
I can[not] live in [ ]
Nor can I [set my feet on] the earth of Enlil.
[I will dwell (?)] with god in (?) the depths.”
(50) “[This] he told me [ ] …”
[gap of four or five lines]

(ii 10) The elders [ ]
The carpenter [carried his axe],
The reed-worker [carried his stone].
[The rich man? carried] the pitch,
The poor man [brought the materials needed].

[gap]

Bringing [ ]
(ii 30) Whatever he [had]
Whatever he had [ ]
Pure (animals) he sl[aughtered, cattle] …
Fat (animals) [he killed, sheep (?)] …
He chose and brought on] board.
(ii 35) The [birds] flying in the heavens,
The cattle (?) [and of the cat]tle god,
The [creatures (?) ] of the steppe,
[ ] he brought on board
[]…
(ii 40) [ ] he invited his people
[ ] to a feast.
[ ] his family he brought on board.
While one was eating and another was drinking,
(ii 45) He went in and out; he could not sit, could not kneel,
For his heart was broken, he was retching gall.
The outlook of the weather changed,
Adad began to roar in the clouds.
(ii 50) The god they heard, his clamor.
He brought pitch to seal his door.
By the time he had bolted his door,
Adad was roaring in the clouds.
The winds were furious as he set forth,
(ii 55) He cut the mooring rope and released the boat.
[four lines lost]
(iii 5) [ ] the storm
[ ] were yoked
[Anzu rent] the sky with his talons,
[He ] the land
(iii 10) And broke its clamor [like a pot].
[ ] the flood [came forth],
Its power came upon the peoples [like a battle].
One person did [not] see another, They could [not] recognize each other in the catastrophe.
(iii 15) [The deluge] bellowed like a bull,
The wind [resound]ed like a screaming eagle.
The darkness [was dense], the sun was gone,
[ ] … like flies
(iii 20) [ the clamor (?)] of the deluge …

Hallo, William W. and Younger, K. Lawson (1997). The Context of Scripture, Volume 1: Canonical Compositions from the Biblical World. Brill Academic Publishers.

Eridu Genesis

Language: Sumerian / Date: 17th century B.C.E.

The Creator Goddess thinks about humankind
[1’-9’] Ninturnote was paying attention:
“Let me bethink myself of my humankind, all forgotten as they are;
and mindful of mine, Nintur’s, creatures let me bring them back,
let me lead the people back from their trails.
Let they come and build cities and cult places,
that I may cool myself in their shade;
may they lay the bricks for the cult cities in pure spots,
and may they found places for divination in pure spots!”
She gave directions for purification, and cries for clemency,
the things that cool divine wrath,
[10’ff] perfected the divine service and the august offices,
said to the surrounding regions: “Let me institute peace there!”
When An, Enlil, Enki, and Ninhursaga
fashioned the dark-headed people,
they had made the small animals that came up from out of the earth
come from the earth in abundance and had let there be, as befits it,
gazelles, wild donkeys, and four-footed beasts in the desert.
[large part lost; perhaps a story of a failed attempt to build a city]
Creation of kingship
[32’-40’] … “and let me have him advise;
let me have him oversee their labor,
and let him teach the nation to follow like unerringly like cattle!”
When the royal scepter was coming down from heaven,
the august crown and the royal throne being already down from heaven,
the king regularly performed to perfection
the august divine services and offices,
and laid the bricks of those cities in pure spots.
They were named by name and allotted half-bushel baskets.
The first cities
[41’ff] The firstling of the cities, Eridu, she gave to the leader Nudimmud,
the second, Bad-Tibira, she gave to the Prince and the Sacred One,
the third, Larak, she gave to Pahilsag,
the fourth, Sippar, she gave to the gallant Utu,
the fifth, Šuruppak, she gave to Ansud.note
These cities, which had been named by names,
and had been alloted half-bushel baskets,
dredged the canals, which were blocked with purplish
wind-borne clay, and they carried water,
Their cleaning of the canals established abundant growth
[Large part lost, in which the antediluvian kings must have been mentioned. Working in the canals and on the fields, they produced so much noise, that the supreme god Enlil persuaded the other gods to destroy humankind.]
[81’-89’] That day, Nintur wept over her creatures
and holy Inanna was fill of grief over her people;
but Enki took counsel with his own heart.
An, Enlil, Enki, and Ninhursaga
had the gods of heaven and earth swear by the names of An and Enlil.
Ziusudra’s Vision
At that time Ziusudra was king and lustration priest.
He fashioned, being a seer, the god of giddinessnote
and stood in awe beside it, wording his wishes humbly.
As he stood there regularly day after day
[90’-99’] something that was not a dream was appearing: conversation,
a swearing of oaths by heaven and earth, a touching of throats,note and the gods bringing their thwarts up to Kiur.
Enki’s advice
And as Ziusudra stood there beside it, he went on hearing:
“Step up to the wall to my left and listen!
Let me speak a word to you at the wall and may you grasp what I say,
may you heed my advice! By our hand a flood will sweep over
the cities of the half-bushel baskets, and the country;
the decision, that mankind is to be destroyed, has been made.
A verdict, a command of the assembly, can not be revoked,
[100’ff] no order of An and Enlil is known to have been countermanded,
their kingship, their term, has been uprooted; they must bethink themselves …
Now …
What I have to say to you …”
[Lacuna; Enki orders Ziusudra to build the ark and load it with pairs of animals.]
The Flood
[132’f] All the evil winds, all stormy winds gathered into
one and with them, them, the Flood was sweeping over the cities of the half-bushel baskets,
for seven days and seven nights.
After the flood had swept over the country,
after the evil wind had tossed the big boat about on the great waters,
the sun came out spreading light over heaven and earth.
Ziusudra’s sacrifice
[138’-139’] Ziusudra then drilled an opening in the big boat
and the gallant Utu sent his light into the interior of the big boat.
[140’] Ziusudra, being the king,
stepped up before Utu kissing the ground before him.
The king was butchering oxen, was being lavish with the sheep,
barley cakes, crescents together with …
… he was crumbling for him
…
juniper, the pure plant of the mountains he filled on the fire
and with a … clasped to
the breast he …
[Lacuna; Enlil is angry at finding survivors, but Enki explains himself]
End of Enki’s speech
[175’-178’] “You here have sworn by the life’s breath of heaven, the life’s breath of earth that he verily is allied with you yourself;
you there, An and Enlil, have sworn by the life’s breath of heaven, the life’s breath of earth, that he is allies with all of you.
He will disembark the small animals that come up from the earth!”
Reward of Ziusudra
[179’] Ziusudra, being king, stepped up before An and Enlil, kissing the ground,
and An and Enlil after honoring him
[180’ff] were granting life like a god’s,
were making lasting breath of life, like a god’s, descend into him.
That day they made Ziusudra, preserver, as king,
of the small animals and the seed of mankind,
live toward the east over the mountains of Dilmun.note
https://www.livius.org/sources/content/oriental-varia/eridu-genesis/

The Babylonica of Berossus

Language: Greek / Date: 3rd century B.C.E.

[54] Kronos appeared to Xisuthrus in a dream and revealed that on the fifteenth of the month Daisios mankind would be destroyed by a great flood. He then ordered him to bury together all the tablets, the first, the middle, and the last, and hide them in Sippar, the city of the sun. Then he was to build a boat and board it with his family and best friends. He was to provision it with food and drink and also to take on board wild animals and birds and all four-footed animals. Then when all was prepared, he was to make ready to sail. If asked where he was going, he was to reply, “To the gods, to pray that all good things will come to man.” He did not stop working until the ship was built. Its length was five stades (one kilometer) and its breadth two (400 m). He boarded the finished ship, equipped for everything as he had been commanded, with his wife, children, and closest friends.

After the waters of the Great Flood had come and quickly left, Xisuthrus freed several birds. They found neither food nor a place to rest, and they returned to the ship. After a few days, he again set free some other birds, and they too came back to the they ship, but they returned with claws covered with mud. Then later for a third time he set free some other birds, but they did not return to the ship.

[55] Then Xisuthrus knew that the earth had once again appeared.

He broke open a seam on a side of the ship and saw that the ship had come to rest on a mountain. He disembarked, accompanied by his wife and his daughter together with the steersman. He prostrated himself in worship to the earth and set up an altar and sacrificed to the gods.

After this, he disappeared together with those who had left the ship with him. Those who remained on the ship and had not gone out with Xisuthrus, when he and those with him had disembarked, searched for him and called out for him by name all about. But Xisuthrus from then on was seen no more, and then the sound of voice that came from the air gave the instruction that it was their duty to honor the gods and that Xisuthrus, because of the great honor he had shown the gods, had gone to the dwelling place of the gods and that his wife and daughter and the steersman had enjoyed the same honor.

The voice then instructed them to return to Babylonia to go to the city of Sippar, as it was fated for them to do, to dig up the tablets that were buried there and to turn them over to mankind. The place where they had come to rest was the land of Armenia. After they understood all this, they sacrificed to the gods there and went on foot to Babylonia.

To this day a small part of the ship that came to rest in Armenia remains in the Gordyenian Mountains in Armenia and some people go there and scrape off pieces of pitch to keep them as good luck charms.

[56] And those who had arrived in Babylonia dug up the tablets in the city of Sippar and brought them out. They built many cities and erected temples to the gods and again renewed Babylonia.

Burstein, Stanley (1978). The Babyloniaca of Berossus. Undena Publications.

Bibliography

https://bibleproject.com/classroom/noah-to-abraham
Smith, George (1873). The Chaldean Account of the Deluge (2). Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology. 213-34.
Wenham, Gordon J. Genesis 1-15: word Biblical Commentary, Volume 1. Word Publishing, 1987.
https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/8867/who-were-the-sons-of-god-bene-elohim-in-genesis-62
Heiser, Michael (2017). Reversing Hermon: Enoch, The Watchers, and the Forgotten Mission of Jesus Christ. Defender.
Annus, Amar (2010). “On the Origin of Watchers: A Comparative Study of the Antediluvian Wisdom in Mesopotamian and Jewish Traditions.” Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, Volume 19.4. 277-320.