Detailed Summary
Utnapishtim begins his tale. He lived in Shuruppak, a great city that stood along the Euphrates river.
But the noise that the humans of the city made disturbed the slumber of the gods.
Enlil grows tired of the mortals, and convinced the other gods to let him destroy all human life.
Ea does not want the mortals to die, so he sends Utnapishtim a dream, and tells him how to survive the
flood.
He must take apart his house and use the wood to build a large boat.
Utnapishtim agrees to build the boat, but is concerned about how to explain his actions to the
neighbors.
Ea instructs Untnapishtim to answer questions by saying that he has offended Enlil, and as punishment
Enlil has cast him out from the city and from the land.
He begins to build the boat with his family, and hires men to help them.
The boat has seven decks and is bigger than any other ship.
He fills it with supplies to endure the ordeal to come.
He is a kindly employer, and gives the builders nightly feasts since they, and his food and wine, will soon
be destroyed by the flood.
When the boat is complete, Utnapishtim takes his wife, his extended family, his animals, and his
household servants onto the boat.
He launches it onto the river, seals it up, and waits.
At dawn, the storm begins.
There is thunder and wind as the storm god Adad and his helpers begin their work.
The gods of the dead, Nergal, Ninurta, and the Annunaki rise up.
The storm is so strong that daytime becomes as dark as night.
Even the gods are frightened by the terrible storm.
Ishtar is the first of the gods to regret the decision to flood the earth, because her worshippers are dead.
All gods but Enlil join her in her grief.
The storm continues for six days and six nights. Then, as the sun rises on the seventh day, the winds die
and the sea is suddenly calm.
Utnapishtim unseals the hatches of the boat.
At first he sees only water where the plains, rivers, and cities used to be.
In the distance, though, Utnapishtim, he can see the only land left: a mountain peak.
He sails towards it and grounds the boat on it.
For six days, and six nights he waits to see if the boat will remain on the mountain peak. It holds fast.
On the seventh day, he releases a dove to see if it can find land.
It returns because the mountain is the only land above the water.
Later, he releases a swallow.
It can find no land or food, and returns to the boat.
Finally, he releases a raven.
It does not come back, which means it has found other land.
The flood is receding.
Utnapishtim opens up the boat and makes an offering to the gods. He cooks plants in boiling water.
The gods smell his offering and gather around.
Ishtar is the last to arrive.
Ishtar says she will always remember the flood.
She calls all the gods to gather and bars Enlil from sharing in Utnapishtim’s sacrifice.
Enlil is angry that any humans survived, but Ea scolds him for trying to destroy all mortal life.
Ea sings a song about how small punishment is better than too large a punishment.
Too great a punishment does not correct the sinner, but instead kills him.
He does not deny that mankind should have been punished, but just wishes that the gods had sent a
smaller punishment, like a monster or a famine.
Enil demands to know who told Utnapishtim how to survive, but Ea says the mortal learned how to build
a boat from a dream.
Enlil responds by granting immortality to Utnapishtim and his wife.
They become the gods who guard the headwaters of the rivers.
He must take apart his house and use the wood to build a large boat.
He begins to build the boat with his family, and hires men to help them.
The boat has seven decks and is bigger than any other ship.
When the boat is complete, Utnapishtim takes his wife and animals to his boat.
He launches it onto the river, seals it up, and waits.
The storm is so strong that daytime becomes as dark as night.
Even the gods are frightened by the terrible storm.
Ishtar is the first of the gods to regret the decision to flood the earth, because her worshippers are dead.
The storm continues for six days and six nights. Then, as the sun rises on the seventh day, the winds die
and the sea is suddenly calm.
In the distance, though, Utnapishtim, he can see the only land left: a mountain peak.
For six days and six nights the boat sails toward the mountain, and grounds the boat on it.
On the seventh day, he releases a dove to see if it can find land.
It returns because the mountain is the only land above the water.
Later, he releases a swallow.
It can find no land or food, and returns to the boat.
Finally, he releases a raven.
It does not come back, which means it has found other land.
The flood is receding.
Utnapishtim then opens all the hatches and makes an offering of cane, cedar, and myrtle on a
mountaintop in a heated cauldron.
The gods “gathered like flies over the sacrifice.”
When Enlil does arrive, he’s enraged to find that Utnapishtim and his companions have survived.
Ea says that he was not the one who told Utnapishtim how to avoid his fate; Utnapishtim learned it from
a dream.
Then Enlil enters the boat and takes Utnapishtim and his wife below-deck, and he makes them kneel
down
Enlil blesses Utnapishtim and his wife, saying “In time past Utnapishtim was a mortal man; henceforth
he and his wife shall live in the distance at the mouth of the rivers.”
And so Utnapishtim is placed far away, at the mouth of the rivers, to live and be immortal.
Analysis:
The story depicts the gods, particularly Enlil, as capricious and vengeful, punishing humankind for their
noise and their overpopulation.
Utnapishtim's righteousness and obedience to the divine will are rewarded, highlighting the importance
of piety and humility in the face of divine power.
The flood itself is a powerful symbol of destruction and renewal, mirroring the cyclical nature of life and
death.
The flood serves as a reminder of the fragility of life and the inevitability of death, forcing Gilgamesh to
confront the limits of human ambition and the power of the divine.
Utnapishtim's survival is not merely a matter of luck; it is a result of his knowledge of the divine will and
his obedience to the gods' commands.
The flood in the Epic of Gilgamesh is a complex and multi-layered narrative, exploring themes of divine
justice, human fallibility, the cycle of life and death, and the pursuit of immortality. It serves as a
powerful reminder of the interconnectedness of humanity and the divine, and the importance of
wisdom and knowledge in navigating the challenges of life.
