is below . . . .—. . .  Close the vessel . . . —­ . . .  At a given moment that I shall cause thee to know,—­enter into it, and draw the door of the ship toward thee.—­Within it, thy grains, thy furniture, thy provisions, thy riches, thy men-servants, and thy maid-servants, and thy young people—­the cattle of the field, and the wild beasts of the plain that I will assemble-and that I will send thee, shall be kept behind thy door.”—­Khasisatra opened his mouth and spoke;—­he said to Ea, his lord:—­“No one has made [such a] ship.—­On the prow I will fix . . . —­I shall see . . . and the vessel . . . —­the vessel thou commandest me to build [thus] which in . . .”

“’On the fifth day [the two sides of the bark] were raised.—­In its covering fourteen in all were its rafters—­fourteen in all did it count above.—­I placed its roof, and I covered it.—­I embarked in it on the sixth day; I divided its floors on the seventh;—­I divided the interior compartments on the eighth.  I stopped up the chinks through which the water entered in;—­I visited the chinks, and added what was wanting.—­I poured on the exterior three times 3600 measures of asphalte,—­and three times 3600 measures of asphalte within.—­Three times 3600 men, porters, brought on their beads the chests of provisions.—­I kept 3600 chests for the nourishment of my family,—­and the mariners divided among themselves twice 3600 chests.—­For [provisioning] I had oxen slain;—­I instituted [rations] for each day.—­In [anticipation of the need of] drinks, of barrels, and of wine—­[I collected in quantity] like to the waters of a river, [of provisions] in quantity like to the dust of the earth.-[To arrange them in] the chests I set my hand to.—. . . of the sun . . . the vessel was completed.—­ . . . strong and—­I had carried above and below the furniture of the ship.—­[This lading filled the two-thirds.]

“’All that I possessed I gathered together; all I possessed of silver I gathered together; all that I possessed of gold I gathered—­all that I possessed of the substance of life of every kind I gathered together.—­I made all ascend into the vessel; my servants, male and female,—­the cattle of the fields, the wild beasts of the plains, and the sons of the people, I made them all ascend.

“’Shamash (the sun) made the moment determined, and he announced it in these terms:—­“In the evening I will cause it to rain abundantly from heaven; enter into the vessel and close the door.”—­The fixed Moment had arrived, which he announced in these terms:—­“In the evening I will cause it to rain abundantly from heaven.”—­When the evening of that day arrived, I was afraid,—­I entered into the vessel and shut my door.—­In shutting the vessel, to Buzur-shadi-rabi, the pilot,—­I confided this dwelling, with all that it contained.

“’Mu-sheri-ina-namari—­rose from the foundations of heaven in a black cloud;—­Ramman thundered in the midst of the cloud,—­and Nabon and Sharru marched before;—­they marched, devastating the mountain and the plain;—­Nergal the powerful dragged chastisements after him;—­Adar advanced, overthrowing;—­before him;—­the archangels of the abyss brought destruction,—­in their terrors they agitated the earth.—­The inundation of Ramman swelled up to the sky,—­and [the earth] became without lustre, was changed into a desert.