The Lost Book of Enki

by Zecharia Sitchin

  Let him in it save himself and his kinfolk,

  And the seed of all that is useful, be it plant or animal, also take;

  That is the will of the Creator of All!

  And Galzu, in the dream-vision, with the stylus on the tablet an image drew,

  And placed the engraved tablet by the side of Enki’s bed;

  And after that the image faded, the dream-vision ended, and Enki with a shudder awoke.

  In his bed Enki for a while lying remained, with wonder the dream-vision he pondered:

  What was thereof the meaning, what omen did it hold?

  Then, as off his bed he stepped, lo and behold there was the tablet;

  What in a mere dream-vision he had seen now by his bedside materially was!

  With trembling hands the lord Enki the tablet picked up,

  A design of a curious-shaped boat upon the tablet he saw,

  By the tablet’s edge measuring markings there were, the boat’s measures indicating!

  Astir with awe and hope the lord Enki by sunrise for his emissaries quickly sent,

  Find the one called Galzu, to him I must speak! So to them he said.

  By sundown all came back, to Enki thus reporting: None Galzu to find was able,

  Galzu, they said, to Nibiru did long ago return!

  Greatly baffled Enki was, the mystery and its omen to understand he strove.

  Unravel the mystery he could not, yet the message to him was clear!

  That night to the reed hut where Ziusudra was sleeping Enki stealthily went;

  The oath not breaking, the lord Enki not to Ziusudra but to the hut’s wall spoke:

  Wake up! Wake up! to the reed wall Enki was saying, from behind the reed screen he was speaking.

  When Ziusudra by the words was awakened, to him Enki from behind the reed screen said:

  Reed hut, reed hut! To my words pay attention, to my instructions heed pay!

  On all the habitations, over the cities, a calamitous storm will sweep,

  The destruction of Mankind and its offspring it will be.

  This is the final ruling, the word of the assembly by Enlil convened,

  This is the decision by Anu and Enlil and Ninmah spoken.

  Now heed my words, observe the message that to you I am speaking:

  Abandon your house, build a boat; spurn possessions, save the life!

  The boat that you must build, its design and measurements on a tablet are shown,

  By the reed hut’s wall the tablet I shall leave.

  Make sure that the boat shall be roofed throughout, the sun from the inside must not be seen.

  The tackle must be very strong, the pitch strong and tight to ward off the water.

  Let the boat be one that can turn and tumble, the watery avalanche to survive!

  In seven days build the boat, into it your family and kinfolk gather,

  In the boat food and water for drinking heap up, household animals also bring.

  Then, on the appointed day, a signal to you shall be given;

  A boatguide who knows the waters, by me appointed, to you that day will come;

  On that day the boat you must enter, its hatch tightly close you must.

  An overwhelming Deluge, coming from the south, lands and life shall devastate;

  Your boat from its moorings it shall lift, the boat it shall turn and tumble.

  Fear not: To a safe haven the boatguide will navigate you,

  By you shall the seed of Civilized Mankind survive!

  When Enki’s voice fell silent, agog was Ziusudra, on his knees prostrate he fell:

  My lord! My lord! he shouted. Your voice I heard, let me see your face!

  Not to you, Ziusudra, have I spoken, to the reed wall did I speak! So Enki said.

  By Enlil’s decision, by an oath upheld am I bound to that all the Anunnaki swore;

  If my face you shall see, surely like all Earthlings you will die!

  Now reed hut, to my words pay heed:

  The purpose of the boat, a secret of the Anunnaki with you must remain!

  When the townspeople will inquire, to them you will so say:

  The lord Enlil with my lord Enki has angry been,

  To Enki’s abode in the Abzu I am sailing, perchance Enlil will be appeased!

  For a while a silence followed. Ziusudra from behind the reed wall came,

  A tablet of lapis lazuli, in the moonlight shining, he saw and picked up;

  The image of a boat upon it was drawn, notches its measurements gave;

  Wisest of Civilized Men was Ziusudra, what he had heard he understood.

  In the morning, to the townspeople he so announced:

  The lord Enlil with the Lord Enki, my master, angry has been,

  On that account to me the lord Enlil is hostile.

  In this city I no longer reside can, nor in the Edin my foot anymore set;

  To the Abzu, the lord Enki’s domain, I will there a-sailing go.

  In a boat that must quickly be built I will away from here depart;

  Thereby the lord Enlil’s anger will subside, hardships will end,

  Upon you the lord Enlil abundance henceforth will shower!

  The morning was not yet gone when the people about Ziusudra gathered,

  To speedily for him the boat build they each other encouraged.

  Timbers of boat-wood the elders were hauling, the little ones bitumen from the marshes carried.

  As woodworkers the planks together hammered, Ziusudra in a cauldron the bitumen melted.

  With bitumen the boat he waterproofed inside and out,

  As in the drawing upon the tablet the boat on the fifth day was completed.

  Eager to see Ziusudra depart, the townspeople to the boat food and water brought,

  From their own mouths sustenance they took; to appease Enlil they were in a hurry!

  Four-legged animals into the boat were also driven, birds from the field by themselves flew in.

  Into the boat Ziusudra his spouse and sons made embark, their wives and children also came.

  Any who to the abode of the lord Enki wish to go, let them too aboard come!

  So did Ziusudra to the gathered people announce.

  Envisioning Enlil’s abundance, only some of the craftsmen the call heeded.

  On the sixth day Ninagal, Lord of the Great Waters, to the boat came,

  A son of Enki he was, to be the boat’s navigator he was selected.

  A box of cedarwood in his hands he held, by his side in the boat he kept it;

  The life essences and life eggs of living creatures it contains, by the lord Enki and Ninmah collected,

  From the wrath of Enlil to be hidden, to life resurrect if Earth be willing!

  So did Ninagal to Ziusudra explain; thus were all beasts by their twos in the boat hidden.

  Now Ninagal and Ziusudra in the boat the arrival of the seventh day awaited.

  In the one hundred and twentieth Shar was the Deluge awaited,

  In the tenth Shar in the life age of Ziusudra was the Deluge forthcoming,

  In the station of the Constellation of the Lion was the avalanche looming.

  Now this is the account of the Deluge that over the Earth swept

  And how the Anunnaki escaped, and how Ziusudra in the boat survived.

  For days before the Day of the Deluge the Earth was rumbling, groan as with pain it did;

  For nights before the calamity struck, in the heavens Nibiru as a glowing star was seen;

  Then there was darkness in daytime, and at night the Moon as though by a monster was swallowed.

  The Earth began to shake, by a netforce before unknown it was agitated.

  In the glow of dawn, a black cloud arose from the horizon,

  The morning’s light to darkness changed, as though by death’s shadow veiled.

  Then the sound of a rolling thunder boomed, lightnings the skies lit up.

  Depart! Depart! Utu to the Anunnaki gave the signal.

  Cr
ouched in the boats of heaven, the Anunnaki heavenward were lofted.

  In Shurubak, eighteen leagues away, the bright eruptions by Ninagal were seen:

  Button up! Button up the hatch! Ninagal to Ziusudra shouted.

  Together the trapdoor that the hatch concealed they pulled down;

  Watertight, enclosed completely, was the boat; inside not a ray of light penetrated.

  On that day, on that unforgettable day, the Deluge with a roar began;

  In the Whiteland, at the Earth’s bottom, the Earth’s foundations were shaking;

  Then with a roar to a thousand thunders equal, off its foundations the icesheet slipped,

  By Nibiru’s unseen netforce it was pulled away, into the south sea crashing.

  One sheet of ice into another icesheet was smashing,

  The Whiteland’s surface like a broken eggshell was crumbling.

  All at once a tidal wave arose, the very skies was the wall of waters reaching.

  A storm, its ferocity never before seen, at the Earth’s bottom began to howl,

  Its winds the wall of water were driving, the tidal wave northward was spreading;

  Northward was the wall of waters onrushing, the Abzu lands it was reaching.

  Therefrom toward the settled lands it traveled, the Edin it overwhelmed.

  When the tidal wave, the wall of waters, Shurubak reached,

  The boat of Ziusudra the tidal wave from its moorings lifted,

  Tossed it about, like a watery abyss the boat it swallowed.

  Though completely submerged, the boat held firm, not a drop of water into it did enter.

  Outside the storm’s wave the people overtook like a killing battle,

  No one his fellow man could see, the ground vanished, there was only water.

  All that once on the ground stood by the mighty waters away was swept;

  Before day’s end the watery wall, gathering speed, the mountains overwhelmed.

  In their celestial boats the Anunnaki the Earth were circling.

  Crowding the compartments, against the outer walls they crouched,

  What was happening upon the Earth, down below, to see they

  strained. From the celestial boat in which she was, Ninmah like a woman in travail cried out:

  My created like drowned dragonflies in a pond the waters fill,

  All life by the rolling sea wave away was taken! Thus did Ninmah cry and moan.

  Inanna, who was with her, also cried and lamented:

  Everything down below, all that lived, has turned into clay!

  Thus did Ninmah and Inanna weep; they wept and eased their feelings.

  In the other celestial boats the Anunnaki by the sight of unbridled fury were humbled,

  A power greater than theirs they with awe those days witnessed.

  For the fruits of Earth they hungered, for fermented elixir they thirsted.

  The olden days, alas, to clay have turned! So to each other the Anunnaki said.

  After the immense tidal wave that over the Earth swept,

  The sluices of heaven opened, a downpour from the skies upon the Earth was unleashed.

  For seven days the waters from above with the waters of the Great Below were mingled;

  Then the wall of water, its limits reaching, its onslaught ceased,

  But the rains from the skies for forty more days and nights continued.

  From their perches the Anunnaki looked down: Where there were dry lands, now was a sea of water,

  And where mountains once to the heavens their peaks raised,

  Their tops now like islands were in the waters;

  And all that on the dry lands was living in the avalanche of waters perished.

  Then, as in the Beginning, the waters to their basins were gathered,

  Waving back and forth, day by day the water level came lower.

  Then, forty days after the Deluge over the Earth swept, the rains also stopped.

  After the forty days Ziusudra the boat’s hatch opened, his whereabouts to survey.

  A bright day it was, a gentle breeze was blowing;

  All alone, with no other sign of life, the boat upon a vast sea was lolling.

  Mankind, all living things, off the Earth’s face are wiped out,

  No one except us few survived, but there is no dry land to set a foot upon!

  So did Ziusudra to his kinfolk say as he sat down and lamented.

  At that time Ninagal, by Enki appointed, the boat toward the twin peaks of Arrata directed,

  A sail for her he shaped, toward the Mount of Salvation he the boat guided.

  Impatient Ziusudra was; birds that were on board he released

  To check for dry land, for surviving vegetation to verify he sent them.

  He sent forth a swallow, he sent forth a raven; both to the boat returned.

  He sent forth a dove; with a twig from a tree to the boat it returned!

  Now Ziusudra knew that the dry land from under the waters had emerged.

  A few more days, and the boat by rocks was arrested:

  The Deluge is over, at the Mount of Salvation we are! So did Ninagal to Ziusudra say.

  Opening the watertight hatch, from the boat Ziusudra emerged;

  The sky was clear, the Sun was shining, a gentle wind was blowing.

  Hurriedly upon his spouse and children he to come out called.

  The lord Enki let us praise, to him thanks give! to them Ziusudra said.

  With his sons stones he gathered, with them an altar he built,

  Then a fire on the altar he lit, with aromatic incense he made a fire.

  A ewe-lamb, one without blemish, for a sacrifice he selected,

  And upon the altar to Enki the ewe-lamb as a sacrifice he offered.

  At that time Enlil from his celestial boat to Enki words conveyed:

  Let us in Whirlwinds from the celestial boats upon the peak of Arrata descend,

  The situation to review, what to be done to determine!

  While the others in their celestial boats the Earth to circuit continued,

  Enlil and Enki in Whirlwinds upon the peak of Arrata descended.

  Smiling the two brothers met, with joy their arms they locked.

  Then Enlil by the whiffs of fire and roasting meat was puzzled.

  What is that? to his brother he shouted. Has anyone the Deluge survived?

  Let us go and see! meekly to him Enki responded.

  In their Whirlwinds to the other peak of Arrata they flew over,

  The boat of Ziusudra they saw, by the altar that he had built they landed.

  When Enlil the survivors saw, Ninagal among them, his fury no bounds had.

  Every Earthling had to perish! he with fury shouted; at Enki with anger he lunged,

  To kill his brother with his bare hands he was ready.

  He is no mere mortal, my son he is! Enki, to Ziusudra pointing, cried out.

  For a moment Enlil was hesitating. You broke your oath! at Enki he shouted.

  To a reed wall I spoke, not to Ziususdra! Enki said, then to Enlil the dream-vision related.

  By then, by Ninagal alerted, Ninurta and Ninmah in their Whirlwinds also touched down;

  When the account of events they heard, Ninurta and Ninmah by the account were not angered.

  The survival of Mankind the will of the Creator of All must be! So did Ninurta to his father say.

  Ninmah her necklace of crystals, a gift of Anu, touched and swore:

  On my oath, the annihilation of Mankind shall never be repeated!

  Relenting, Enlil by the hands Ziusudra and Emzara his spouse took and blessed them thus:

  Be fruitful and multiply, and the Earth replenish!

  Thus were the Olden Times ended.

  Now this is the account of how survival on Earth was restored,

  And how a new source of gold and other Earthlings beyond the oceans were found.

  It was after the encounter at Arrata that the waters of the Deluge to recede continued, />
  And the face of the Earth gradually from under the waters was showing.

  The mountainlands were mostly unscathed, but the valleys under mud and silt were buried.

  From the celestial boats and from the Whirlwinds the Anunnaki the landscapes surveyed:

  All that in the Olden Times in the Edin and the Abzu had existed under the mud was buried!

  Eridu, Nibru-ki, Shurubak, Sippar, all were gone, completely vanished;

  But in the Cedar Mountains the great stone platform in the sunlight glistened,

  The Landing Place, in the Olden Times established, was still standing!

  One after another the Whirlwinds upon the platform landed;

  The platform was intact; at the launch corner the huge stone blocks held firm.

  Clearing debris and tree branches away, the first to land to the chariots signaled;

  One after the other the celestial chariots came, upon the platform they touched down.

  Then to Marduk on Lahmu and Nannar on the Moon words were sent,

  And they too to Earth returned, upon the Landing Place they came down.

  Now the Anunnaki and Igigi who were thus gathered by Enlil to assembly were called.

  The Deluge we have survived, but the Earth is devastated! So did Enlil to them say.

  All ways to recover we must assess, be it on Earth, be it elsewhere!

  Lahmu by the passage of Nibiru was devastated! So did Marduk relate:

  Its atmosphere was sucked out, its waters thereafter evaporated, a place of dust storms it is!

  The Moon by itself life cannot sustain, only with Eagle masks is staying enabled!

  So did Nannar to the others account give, and then words of enamor he added:

  Once there, that it was Tiamat’s host’s leader one must recall,

  Of Earth a companion it is, with it Earth’s destiny is connected!

  Lovingly Enlil on his son’s shoulders his arm put. With survival now we are concerned!

  So did Enlil to Nannar mildly retort; now, sustenance is our first concern!

  Let us the sealed Creation Chamber examine; perchance Nibiru’s seeds we shall still find!

  So did Enlil to Enki say, of the grains once created him reminding.

  At the side of the platform, clearing some mud, the shaft from times remote they found,

  The stone that blocked it they lifted off, the sanctuary they entered.

  The diorite chests with seals were fastened, the seals with a copper key they made open.

  Inside the chests, in crystal vessels, the seeds of Nibiru’s grain were there!