04 - Babylonian Story of the Deluge and the Epic of Gilgamesh by E. A. Wallis Budge

Dive into the captivating world of ancient Babylon with this insightful monograph, which explores the legendary flood myth and the renowned Epic of Gilgamesh, particularly the Standard Babylonian version dating back to the 7th century BC. Unearthed from the clay tablets of the Royal Library of Ashurbanipal at the historic Nineveh, the capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, this work not only narrates these timeless stories through a blend of direct translation and engaging paraphrase but also provides a vivid description of the library and the intriguing tale of its discovery. Accompanied by eighteen stunning illustrations, this book offers a rich glimpse into a fascinating chapter of human history. - Summary by Kazbek

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Section four of the Babylonian story of the Deluge in
the Epic of Gilgamesh, with an account of the royal
libraries of Nineveh by E. A. Wallace Budge. This librivixed
recording is in the public domain. The legend of the deluge,
according to Berosus, after the death of Ardites, his son

(00:23):
Zyphathrus reigned eighteen Sari. In his time happened a great deluge,
the history of which is thus described. The deity Cronus
appeared to him in a vision and warned him that
upon the fifteenth day of the Monsdasius, there would be

(00:43):
a flood by which mankind would be destroyed. He therefore
enjoined him to write a history of the beginning, procedure
and conclusion of all things, and to bury it in
the city of the Sun at Sippara, and to build
a vessel, and to take with him into it his
friends and relations, and to convey and board everything necessary

(01:07):
to sustain life, together with all the different animals, both
birds and quadrupeds, and trust himself fearlessly to the deep.
Having asked the deity whither he was to sail, he
was answered to the gods, upon which he offered up
a prayer for the good of mankind. He then obeyed

(01:28):
the divine admonition and built a vessel five stadia in
length and two in breadth. Into this he put everything
which he had prepared, and lest of all, conveyed into
it his wife, his children, and his friends. After the
flood had been upon the earth and was in time
abeyd Zeputhrus sent out birds from the vessel, which, not

(01:54):
finding any food nor any place whereupon they might rest
their feet, returned to him him again. After an interval
of some days, He sent them forth a second time,
and they now returned with their feet tinged with mud.
He made a trial a third time with these birds,
but they returned to him no more. From whence he

(02:16):
judged that the surface of the earth had appeared about
the waters. He therefore made an opening in the vessel,
and upon looking out, found that it was stranded upon
the side of some mountain, upon which he immediately quitted
it with his wife, his daughter, and the pilots. Xyhithrus
then paid his adoration to the earth, and, having constructed

(02:40):
an altar, offered sacrifices to the gods, and with those
who had come out of the vessel with him disappeared.
They who remained within, finding that their companions did not return,
quitted the vessel with many lamentations, and called continually on
the name of Xyhythrus him. They saw no more, but

(03:02):
they could distinguish his voice in the air, and could
hear him admonage them to pay due regard to religion,
and likewise informed them that it was upon account of
his piety that he was translated to live with the gods,
that his wife and daughter and the pilot had obtained
the same honor. To this, he added that they should

(03:25):
return to Babylonia, and it was ordained searched for the
writings at Sippara, which they were to make known to mankind. Moreover,
that the place wherein they then were was the land
of Armenia. The rest, having heard these words, offered sacrifices
to the gods, and, taking a circuit, journeyed towards Babylonia.

(03:51):
Cory Ancient Fragments, London, eighteen thirty two, paged twenty six
f f end of section four