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 by the assembly, cannot be revoked.An order of An and Enlil is not knownever to have been countermanded.Their kingship, their term, has been uprooted,they must bethink themselves (of that)'' The remainder of Enki's advice is missing. But parallels in other Flood stories indicate that Enki instructed Ziusudra to build an ark and load it with his family and the animals. The text resumes with the storm: All evil winds, all stormy winds gathered into oneand with 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 great watersthe sun came out spreading light over heaven and earth The final scene records a speech by Enki who apparently obtained the agreement of the gods to accept the survival of Ziusudra and his family. When Ziusudra sacrificed to An and Enlil, they responded by offering him immortality and an eternal home: And An and Enlil did well by him,were granting him 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 name of the small animalsand the seed of mankind,live toward the east over the mountains in Mount Tilmun Interpretation T. Jacobsen was the scholar who synthesized the text of these fragments into a coherent story. He has selected three main themes to explain the significance of this text. In the first theme the culture that developed from Nintur's directions is considered to be superior to man's nomadic state. In the third theme Jacobsen holds that the Flood story was well preserved and known in the ancient world because it is a story of survival rather than one of destruction.The second theme is important for our literary critical st...
