<a href="/node/578">The Birth-Legend of Sargon</a>

<a href="/node/578">The Birth-Legend of Sargon</a> A Pseudo-Autobiography of Sargon of Akkade Sargon, great king, king of Akkade, am I: ~~my mother was a high priestess, my father I knew not. My father's family dwells in the uplands; ~~my city was Azupiranu, which lies on the bank of the Euphrates. My mother the high priestess conceived me, bore me in secret, ~~in a reed basket she placed me, sealed my lid with bitumen. She set me down on the river, whence I could not ascend; ~~the river bore me up, brought me to the irrigator Aqqi. The irrigator Aqqi lifted me up as he dipped his pail, ~~the irrigator Aqqi brought me up as his adopted son. The irrigator Aqqi set me to work in a date-grove, ~~during my work in the date-grove the goddess Ishtar loved me. [Fifty]-four years I exercised kingship, ~~ruled and governed the black-headed folk. I cut [through] mighty mountains with picks of copper, ~~many times I ascended the upper mountains. Many times I traversed the lower mountains, ~~three times I circumnavigated the entire ocean. (Remainder fragmentary) The opening of this composition is in the form of pseudo-autobiography, written many centuries after the death of the subject. The remainder of the text is fragmentary and defies reconstruction, so that no further generic ascription is currently possible. CT 13 42–43 1200-700 BC Akkadian clay tablet Nineveh; Babylon <a href="/taxonomy/term/56">Narratives featuring rulers or heroes/heroines</a> <a href="/node/566">The Flood Story in the Gilgamesh Epic</a> Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh Tablet XI Dub.11.kam ishkar Gilgamesh Said Gilgamesh to him, to Uta-napishti the Distant: ~~‘I look at you, Uta-napishti: your form is no different, you are just like me, ~~you are not any different, you are just like me. ‘I was fully intent on making you fight,~~XI 5 ~~but now in your presence my hand is stayed. How was it you stood with the gods in assembly? ~~How did you find the life eternal?’ Said Uta-napishti to him, to Gilgamesh: ~~‘Let me disclose, O Gilgamesh, a matter most secret, to you I will tell a mystery of gods.~~XI 10 ‘The town of Shuruppak, a city well known to you, ~~which stands on the banks of the river Euphrates: this city was old — the gods once were in it — ~~when the great gods decided to send down the Deluge. ‘Their father Anu swore on oath,~~XI 15 ~~and their counsellor, the hero Enlil, their chamberlain, the god Ninurta, ~~and their sheriff, the god Ennugi. ‘Princely Ea swore with them also, ~~but repeated their words to a fence made of reed:~~XI 20 "O fence of reed! O wall of brick! ~~Hear this, O fence! Pay heed, O wall! ‘"O man of Shuruppak, son of Ubar-Tutu, ~~demolish the house, and build a boat! Abandon wealth, and seek survival!~~XI 25 ~~Spurn property, save life! Take on board the boat all living things’ seed! ‘"The boat you will build, ~~her dimensions all shall be equal: her length and breadth shall be the same,~~XI 30 ~~cover her with a roof, like the Ocean Below." ‘I understood, and spoke to Ea, my master: ~~"I obey, O master, what thus you told me. I understood, and I shall do it, ~~XI 30~~but how do I answer my city, the crowd and the elders?"~~XI 35 ‘Ea opened his mouth to speak, ~~saying to me, his servant: "Also you will say to them this: ~~‘For sure the god Enlil feels for me hatred. ‘"‘In your city I can live no longer,~~XI 40 ~~I can tread no more [on] Enlil’s ground. [I must] go to the Ocean Below, to live with Ea, my master, ~~and he will send you a rain of plenty: ‘"‘[an abundance] of birds, a profusion of fishes, ~~[he will provide] a harvest of riches.~~XI 45 In the morning he will send you a shower of bread-cakes, ~~and in the evening a torrent of wheat.’" ‘At the very first] glimmer of brightening dawn, ~~at the gate of Ata-hasis the land assembled, the carpenter carrying [his] hatchet,~~XI 50 ~~the reed-worker carrying [his] stone. [the shipwright bearing his] heavyweight axe. ‘The young men were . . . . . . , ~~the old men bearing ropes of palm-fibre; the rich man was carrying the pitch,~~XI 55 ~~the poor man . . . brought the tackle. ‘By the fifth day I had set her hull in position, ~~one acre was her area, ten rods the height of her sides. At ten rods also, the sides of her roof were each the same length. ~~I set in place her body, I drew up her design.~~XI 60 ‘Six decks I gave her, ~~dividing her thus into seven. Into nine compartments I divided her interior, ~~I struck the bilge plugs into her middle. I saw to the punting-poles and put in the tackle.~~XI 65 ‘Three myriad measures of pitch I poured in a furnace, ~~three myriad of tar I . . . within, three myriad of oil fetched the workforce of porters: ~~aside from the myriad of oil which was consumed in libations, there were two myriad of oil stowed away by the boatman.~~XI 70 ‘For my workmen I butchered oxen, ~~and lambs I slaughtered daily. Beer and ale, oil and wine ~~like water from a river [I gave my] workforce, so they enjoyed a feast like the days of New Year.~~XI 75 ‘At sun-[rise] I set my hand [to] the oiling, ~~[before] the sun set the boat was complete. . . . . . . . . . were very arduous: ~~from back to front we moved poles for the slipway, [until] two-thirds of [the boat had entered the water.]~~XI 80 ‘[Everything I owned] I loaded aboard: ~~all the silver I owned I loaded aboard, all the gold I owned I loaded aboard, ~~all the living creatures I had I loaded aboard, I sent on board all my kith and kin,~~XI 85 ~~the beasts of the field, the creatures of the wild, and members of every skill and craft. ‘The time which the Sun God appointed — ~~"In the morning he will send you a shower of bread-cakes, and in the evening a torrent of wheat. ~~Go into the boat and seal your hatch!" — ‘that time had now come:~~XI 90 ~~"In the morning he will send you a shower of bread-cakes, and in the evening a torrent of wheat." ~~I examined the look of the weather. ‘The weather to look at was full of foreboding, ~~I went into the boat and sealed my hatch. To the one who sealed the boat, Puzur-Enlil the shipwright,~~XI 95 ~~I gave my palace with all its goods. ‘At the very first glimmer of brightening dawn, ~~there rose on the horizon a dark cloud of black, and bellowing within it was Adad the Storm God. ~~The gods Shullat and Hanish were going before him,~~XI 100 bearing his throne over mountain and land. ‘The god Errakal was uprooting the mooring-poles, ~~Ninurta, passing by, made the weirs overflow. The Anunnaki gods carried torches of fire, ~~scorching the country with brilliant flashes.~~XI 105 ‘The stillness of the Storm God passed over the sky, ~~and all that was bright then turned into darkness. [He] charged the land like a bull [on the rampage,] ~~he smashed [it] in pieces [like a vessel of clay.] ‘For a day the gale [winds flattened the country,] ~~quickly they blew, and [then came] the [Deluge.]~~XI 110 Like a battle [the cataclysm] passed over the people. ~~One man could not discern another, nor people be recognized amid the destruction. ‘Even the gods took fright at the Deluge, ~~~they left and went up to the heaven of Anu,~~XI 115 lying like dogs curled up in the open. ~~The goddess cried out like a woman in childbirth, Belet-ili wailed, whose voice is so sweet: ‘"The olden times have turned to clay, ~~because I spoke evil in the gods’ assembly.~~XI 120 How could I speak evil in the gods’ assembly, ~~and declare a war to destroy my people? ‘"It is I who give birth, these people are mine! ~~And now, like fish, they fill the ocean!" The Anunnaki gods were weeping with her,~~XI 125 ~~wet-faced with sorrow, they were weeping [with her,] their lips were parched and stricken with fever. ‘For six days and [seven] nights, ~~there blew the wind, the downpour, the gale, the Deluge, it flattened the land. ‘But the seventh day when it came,~~XI 130 ~~the gale relented, the Deluge ended. The ocean grew calm, that had thrashed like a woman in labour, ~~the tempest grew still, the Deluge ended. ‘I looked at the weather, it was quiet and still, ~~but all the people had turned to clay.~~XI 135 The flood plain was flat like the roof of a house. ~~I opened a vent, on my cheeks fell the sunlight. ‘Down sat I, I knelt there weeping, ~~down my cheeks the tears were coursing. I scanned the horizons, the edge of the ocean,~~XI 140 ~~in fourteen places there rose an island. ‘On the mountain of Nimush the boat ran aground, ~~Mount Nimush held the boat fast, allowed it no motion. One day and a second, Mount Nimush held the boat fast, allowed it no motion, ~~a third day and a fourth, Mount Nimush held the boat fast, allowed it no motion,~~XI 145 a fifth day and a sixth, Mount Nimush held the boat fast, allowed it no motion. ‘The seventh day when it came, ~~I brought out a dove, I let it loose: off went the dove but then it returned, ~~there was no place to land, so back it came to me.~~XI 150 ‘I brought out a swallow, I let it loose: ~~off went the swallow but then it returned, there was no place to land, so back it came to me. ‘I brought out a raven, I let it loose: ~~off went the raven, it saw the waters receding,~~XI 155 finding food, bowing and bobbing, it did not come back to me. ‘I brought out an offering, to the four winds made sacrifice, ~~incense I placed on the peak of the mountain. Seven flasks and seven I set in position, ~~reed, cedar and myrtle I piled beneath them.~~XI 160 ‘The gods did smell the savour, ~~the gods did smell the savour sweet, the gods gathered like flies around the man making sacrifice. ‘Then at once Belet-ili arrived, ~~she lifted the flies of lapis lazuli that Anu made for their courtship:~~XI 165 "O gods, let these great beads in this necklace of mine ~~make me remember these days, and never forget them! ‘"All the gods shall come to the incense, ~~but to the incense let Enlil not come, because he lacked counsel and brought on the Deluge,~~XI 170 ~~and delivered my people into destruction." ‘Then at once Enlil arrived, ~~he saw the boat, he was seized with anger, filled with rage at the divine Igigi: ~~"[From] where escaped this living being?~~XI 175 No man was meant to survive the destruction!" ‘Ninurta opened his mouth to speak, ~~saying to the hero Enlil: "Who, if not Ea, could cause such a thing? ~~Ea alone knows how all things are done."~~XI 180 ‘Ea opened his mouth to speak, ~~saying to the hero Enlil: "You, the sage of the gods, the hero, ~~how could you lack counsel and bring on the deluge? ‘"On him who transgresses, inflict his crime!~~XI 185 ~~On him who does wrong, inflict his wrong-doing! ‘Slack off, lest it snap! Pull tight, lest it [slacken!]’ ‘"Instead of your causing the Deluge, ~~a lion could have risen, and diminished the people! Instead of your causing the Deluge,~~XI 190 ~~a wolf could have risen, and diminished the people! ‘"Instead of your causing the Deluge, ~~a famine could have happened, and slaughtered the land! Instead of your causing the Deluge, ~~the Plague God could have risen, and slaughtered the land!~~XI 195 ‘"It was not I disclosed the great gods’ secret: ~~Atra-hasis I let see a vision, and thus he learned our secret. And now, decide what to do with him!" ‘Enlil came up inside the boat, ~~took hold of my hand and brought me on board.~~XI 200 He brought aboard my wife and made her kneel at my side, ~~he touched our foreheads, standing between us to bless us: ‘"In the past Uta-napishti was a mortal man, ~~but now he and his wife shall become like us gods! Uta-napishti shall dwell far away, where the rivers flow forth!"~~XI 205 ~~So far away they took me, and settled me where the rivers flow forth. ‘But you now, who’ll convene for you the gods’ assembly, ~~so you can find the life you search for? For six days and seven nights, come, do without slumber!’ As soon as Gilgamesh squatted down on his haunches,~~XI 210 ~~sleep like a fog already breathed over him. Said Uta-napishti to her, to his wife: ~~‘See the fellow who so desired life! Sleep like a fog already breathes over him.’ Said his wife to him, to Uta-napishti the Distant:~~XI 215 ~~‘Touch the man and make him awake!’ The way he came he shall go back in well-being, ~~by the gate he came forth he shall return to his land!’ Said Uta-napishti to her, to his wife: ~~‘Man is deceitful, he will deceive you.~~XI 220 Go, bake for him his daily bread-loaf, and line them up by his head, ~~and mark on the wall the days that he sleeps.’ So she baked for him his daily bread-loaf, she lined them up by his head, ~~noting on the wall the days that he slept. His first bread-loaf was all dried up,~~XI 225 ~~the second was leathery, soggy the third, the fourth flour-cake had turned to white, ~~the fifth had cast a mould of grey, fresh-baked was the sixth, ~~the seventh still on the coals: then he touched him and the man awoke.~~XI 230 Said Gilgamesh to him, to Uta-napishti the Distant: ~~‘No sooner had sleep spilled itself over me, than forthwith you touched me and made me awake!’ ~~[Said] Uta-napishti [to him,] to Gilgamesh: ‘Come, Gilgamesh, count out your bread-loaves,~~XI 235 ~~then you will learn [the days that you slept.] Your [first] bread-loaf [was all dried up,] ~~the second was leathery, soggy the third, ‘the fourth flour-cake had turned to white, ~~the fifth had cast a mould of grey, fresh-baked was the sixth,~~XI 240 ~~[the seventh still on] the coals: and only then did I touch you.’ Said Gilgamesh to him, to Uta-napishti the Distant: ~~‘O Uta-napishti, what should I do and where should I go? A thief has taken hold of my [flesh!] ~~For there in my bed-chamber Death does abide,~~XI 245 and wherever I turn, there too will be Death.’ [Said] Uta-napishti to [him,] to the boatman Ur-shanabi: ~~‘[May] the quay [reject] you, Ur-shanabi, and the ferry scorn you! You who used to walk this shore, be banished from it now! ~~As for the man that you led here,~~XI 250 ‘his body is tousled with matted hair, ~~the pelts have ruined his body’s beauty. Take him, Ur-shanabi, lead him to the washtub, ~~have him wash his matted locks as clean as can be! ‘Let him cast off his pelts, and the sea bear them off,~~XI 255 ~~let his body be soaked till fair! Let a new kerchief be made for his head, ~~let him wear royal robes, the dress fitting his dignity! ‘Until he goes home to his city, ~~until he reaches the end of his road,~~XI 260 let the robes show no mark, but stay fresh and new!’ ~~Ur-shanabi took him, and led him to the washtub. He washed his matted locks as clean as could be, ~~he cast off his pelts, and the sea bore them off. His body was soaked till fair,~~XI 265 ~~he made a new [kerchief for] his head, he wore royal robes, the dress fitting his dignity. ~~‘Until he goes [home to his city,] until he reaches the end of his road, ~~let [the robes show no mark, but stay fresh and] new!’~~XI 270 Gilgamesh and Ur-shanabi crewed the boat, ~~they launched the [craft,] and crewed it themselves. Said his wife to him, to Uta-napishti the Distant: ~~‘Gilgamesh came here by toil and by travail, ‘what have you given for his homeward journey?’~~XI 275 ~~And Gilgamesh, he picked up a punting-pole, he brought the boat back near to the shore. ~~[Said] Uta-napishti to him, to Gilgamesh: ‘You came here, O Gilgamesh, by toil and by travail, ~~what do I give for your homeward journey?~~XI 280 Let me disclose, O Gilgamesh, a matter most secret, ~~to you [I will] tell a mystery of [gods.] ‘There is a plant that [looks] like box-thorn, ~~it has prickles like a dogrose, and will [prick one who plucks it.] But if you can possess this plant,~~XI 285 ~~[you’ll be again how you were in your youth.]’ Just as soon as Gilgamesh heard what he said, ~~he opened a [channel] . . . . . . Heavy stones he tied [to his feet,] ~~and they pulled him down . . . to the Ocean Below.~~XI 290 He took the plant, and pulled [it up, and lifted it,] ~~the heavy stones he cut loose [from his feet,] and the sea cast him up on its shore. ~~Said Gilgamesh to him, to Ur-shanabi the boatman: ‘This plant, Ur-shanabi, is the "Plant of Heartbeat",~~XI 295 ~~with it a man can regain his vigour. To Uruk-the-Sheepfold I will take it, ~~to an ancient I will feed some and put the plant to the test! ‘If the old man grows young again, ~~I will eat it myself, and be again as I was in my youth!’~~XI 300 At twenty leagues they broke bread, ~~at thirty leagues they stopped for the night. Gilgamesh found a pool whose water was cool, ~~down he went into it, to bathe in the water. Of the plant’s fragrance a snake caught scent,~~XI 305 ~~came up [in silence], and bore the plant off. As it went away it sloughed its skin. ~~Then Gilgamesh sat down and wept, down his cheeks the tears were coursing. ~~. . . [he spoke] to Ur-shanabi the boatman:~~XI 310 ‘[For whom,] Ur-shanabi, toiled my arms so hard, ~~for whom ran dry the blood of my heart? Not for myself did I find a bounty, ~~[for] the "Lion of the Earth" I have done a favour! ‘Now far and wide the tide is rising.~~XI 315 ~~Having opened the channel I abandoned the tools: what thing would I find that served as my landmark? ~~Had I only turned back, and left the boat on the shore!’ At twenty leagues they broke bread, ~~at thirty leagues they stopped for the night.~~XI 320 When they arrived in Uruk-the-Sheepfold, ~~said Gilgamesh to him, to Ur-shanabi the boatman: ‘O Ur-shanabi, climb Uruk’s wall and walk back and forth! ~~Survey its foundations, examine the brickwork! Were its bricks not fired in an oven?~~XI 325 ~~Did the Seven Sages not lay its foundations? ‘A square mile is city, a square mile date-grove, a square mile is clay-pit, ~~~~~half a square mile the temple of Ishtar: ~~three square miles and a half is Uruk’s expanse.’ Andrew George, The Epic of Gilgamesh. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 2000, 88-99 <a href="http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780140449198,00.html" target="_blank">http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780140449198,00.html</a> A. R. George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic. Oxford: OUP, 2003 1150-100 BC Akkadian clay tablet Nineveh, Babylon, Ashur <a href="/taxonomy/term/56">Narratives featuring rulers or heroes/heroines</a> <a href="/node/570">Gilgamesh and the Tavern-Keeper</a> The Wisdom of Shiduri (Siduri) ‘[My friend, whom I loved so deeply,] ~~who with me went through every danger, Enkidu, whom I loved so deeply, ~~who with me went through every danger: ‘he went to the doom of mortal men. ~~Weeping over him day and night, I did not surrender his body for burial — ~~"Maybe my friend will rise at my cry!" — ‘for seven days and seven nights, ~~until a maggot dropped from his nostril. After he was gone I did not find life, ~~wandering like a trapper in the midst of the wild. ‘O tavern-keeper, I have looked on your face, ~~but I would not meet death, that I fear so much.’ Said the tavern-keeper to him, to Gilgamesh: ~~‘O Gilgamesh, where are you wandering? ‘The life that you seek you never will find: ~~when the gods created mankind, death they dispensed to mankind, ~~life they kept for themselves. ‘But you, Gilgamesh, let your belly be full, ~~enjoy yourself always by day and by night! Make merry each day, ~~dance and play day and night! ‘Let your clothes be clean, ~~let your head be washed, may you bathe in water! Gaze on the child who holds your hand, ~~let a wife enjoy your repeated embrace! ‘For such is the destiny [of mortal men,] ~~that the one who lives . . . . . . . . . ’ [Said] Gilgamesh to her, [to the ale-wife:] ‘O tavern-keeper, why do you talk [this way?] ~~My heart is [still very] sick for my friend. O tavern-keeper, why do you talk [this way?] ~~My heart is [still very] sick for Enkidu. ‘But you dwell, O tavern-keeper, on the shore [of the ocean,] ~~you are familiar with all [the ways across it.] Show me the way, [O show me!] ~~If it may be done [I will cross] the ocean!’ Said the tavern-keeper to him, [to Gilgamesh:] ~~‘O Gilgamesh, never [before] was there one like you! Who [but the Sun God] can travel [that journey?’] Andrew George, The Epic of Gilgamesh (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2000) 123-5 <a href="http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780140449198,00.html" target="_blank">http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780140449198,00.html</a> A R George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic (Oxford: OUP, 2003) pls. 17-19 18th century BC Akkadian clay tablet Sippar (probably) <a href="/taxonomy/term/56">Narratives featuring rulers or heroes/heroines</a>