3. and the oracle of the gods let me declare unto thee.

4.  The city of Surippak, which, as thou knowest, is built [on the bank] of the Euphrates,

5. this city was (already) old when the gods within it

6. set their hearts to cause a flood, even the great gods

7. [as many as] exist:  Anu the father of them,

8. the warrior Bel their prince,

9.  Bir their throne-bearer, En-nugi (Hades) their chief.

10.  Ea the lord of wisdom conferred with them, and

11. repeated their words to the reed-bed:  ’Reed-bed, O reed-bed!  Frame, O frame!

12.  Hear, O reed-bed, and understand, O frame!

13.  O man of Surippak, son of Ubara-Tutu,

14. frame the house, build a ship:  leave what thou canst; seek life!

15.  Resign (thy) goods, and cause thy soul to live,

16. and bring all the seed of life into the midst of the ship.

17.  As for the ship which thou shalt build,

18. ... cubits shall be in measurement its length;

19. and ... cubits the extent of its breadth and its height.

20.  Into the deep [then] launch it.’

21.  I understood and spake to Ea my lord: 

22.  ’As for the building of the ship, O my lord, which thou hast ordered thus,

23.  I will observe and accomplish it.

24. [But what] shall I answer the city, the people and the old men?’

25. [Ea opened his mouth and] says, he speaks to his servant, even to me: 

26. [’If they question thee] thou shalt say unto them: 

27.  Since (?) Bel is estranged from me and

28.  I will not dwell in your city, I will not lay my head [in] the land of Bel;

29. but I will descend into the deep; with [Ea] my lord will I dwell.

30. (Bel) will rain fertility on you,

31. [flocks] of birds, shoals of fish.’

Lines 32 to 42 are lost.

43.  On the fifth day I laid the plan of it (i.e. the ship);

44. in its hull (?) its walls were 10 gar (120 cubits?) high;

45. 10 gar were the size of its upper part.’

Another version of the account of the Deluge, of which a fragment has been preserved, puts a wholly different speech into the mouth of Ea, and gives the hero of the story the name of Adra-Khasis.  This fragment is as follows:—­

’I will judge him above and below, [But] shut [not thou thy door] [until] the time that I shall tell thee of. [Then] enter the ship, and close the door of the vessel. [Bring into] it thy corn, thy goods, [thy] property, thy [wife], thy slaves, thy handmaids, and the sons of [thy]
    people,
the [cattle] of the field, the beasts of the field, as many as
    I appoint ... 
I will tell thee of (the time), and the door [of thy ship]
    shall preserve them.’ 
Adra-Khasis opened his mouth and says, he speaks to Ea [his] lord: