“Thereafter Ea made known the purpose of the divine rulers in the hut of reeds, saying:[224] ’O hut of reeds, hear; O wall, understand ...  O man of Shurippak, son of Umbara Tutu, tear down thy house and build a ship; leave all thou dost possess and save thy life, and preserve in the ship the living seed of every kind.  The ship that thou wilt build must be of goodly proportions in length and height.  It must be floated on the great deep.’

“I heard the command of Ea and understood, and I made answer, saying, ’O wise lord, as thou hast said so will I do, for thy counsel is most excellent.  But how shall I give reason for my doings to the young men and the elders?’

“Ea opened his mouth and said unto me, his servant:  ’What thou shalt say unto them is this.... It hath been revealed unto me that Bel doth hate me, therefore I cannot remain any longer in his domain, this city of Shurippak, so I must depart unto the domain of Ea and dwell with him....  Unto you will Bel send abundance of rain, so that you may obtain birds and fishes in plenty and have a rich harvest.  But Shamash hath appointed a time for Ramman to pour down destruction from the heavens.’"[225]

Ea then gave instructions to Pir-napishtim how to build the ship in which he should find refuge.  So far as can be gathered from the fragmentary text, it appears that this vessel was to have a deck house six stories high, with nine apartments in each story.  According to another account, Ea drew a plan of the great ship upon the sand.

Pir-napishtim set to work and made a flat-bottomed vessel, which was 120 cubits wide and 120 cubits in height.  He smeared it with bitumen inside and pitch outside; and on the seventh day it was ready.  Then he carried out Ea’s further instructions.  Continuing his narrative to Gilgamesh, he said: 

“I gathered together all that I possessed, my silver and gold and seeds of every kind, and my goods also.  These I placed in the ship.  Then I caused to go aboard all my family and house servants, the animals of the field and the beasts of the field and the workers—­every one of them I sent up.

“The god Shamash appointed the time, saying:  ’I will cause the Night Lord to send much rain and bring destruction.  Then enter thou the ship and shut thy door.’

“At the appointed time the Night Lord sent at even-time much rain.  I saw the beginning of the deluge and I was afraid to look up.  I entered the ship and shut the door.  I appointed Buzur-Kurgala, the sailor, to be captain, and put under his command the great vessel and all that it contained.

“At the dawn of day I saw rising athwart the heavens a dark cloud, and in the midst of it Ramman thundered.  Nebo and Merodach went in front, speeding like emissaries over hills and plains.  The cables of the ship were let loose.