Sumerian tablets

These are extracts of the Sumerian tablets found under the ruins of King Ashurbanipal's palace in Nineveh.


Part I

ATTESTATION

In the seventh year after the great calamity, in the second month, on the seventeeth day, I was summoned by my master, the Lord Enki, great g-d, benevolent fashioner of mankind omnipotent and merciful.

I was among the remnants of Eridu who had escaped to the arid steppe just as the Evil Wind was nearing the city. And I wandered off into the wilderness to seek withered twigs for firewood. And I looked up and lo and behold, a Whirlwind came out of the south.

There was a reddish brilliance about it and it made no sound. And as it reached the ground, four straight feet spread out from its belly and the brilliance disappeared.

And I threw myself to the ground, and prostrated myself, for I knew that it was a divine vision.

And I lifted my eyes, there were two divine emissaries standing near me. And they had the faces of men, and their garments were sparkling like burnished brass. And they called me by name and spoke to me saying:

You are summoned by the great g-d the lord Enki. Fear not, for you are blessed. And we are to take you aloft, and carry you unto his retreat in the land of Magan, on the island amidst the River of Magan, where the sluices are.

And as they spoke, the Whirlwind lifted itself as a fiery chariot and was gone.
And they took me by my hands, each one grasping me by one hand. And they lifted me and carried me swiftly between the Earth and the Heavens, as the eagle soars. And I could see the land and the waters, and the plains and the mountains.

And they let me down on the island at the gateway pf the great g-d's abode. And the moment they let go of my hands, a brilliance as I had never seen before engulfed and overwhelmed me, and I collapse on the ground as though voided of the spirit of life.

My life senses returned to me, as if awakened from the deepest sleep, by the sound of the calling of my name. I was in some kind of an enclosure. It was dark but there was also an aura. Then my name was called again, by the deepest of voices.
And although I could hear it, I could not tell whence the voice came, nor could I see whoever it was that spoke. And I said: Here I am.

Then the voice said to me: Endubsar, offspring of Adapa, I have chosen you to be my scribe, that you write down my words on the tablets.
And all at once there appeared a glowing in one part of the enclosure. And I saw a place arranged as a scribal workplace: A scribe's table and a scribe's stool, and there were finely shaped stones upon the table. But I saw no clay tablets nor containers of wet clay.

And there lay upon the table only one stylus, and it glistened in the glowing as no reed stylus ever did. And the voice spoke up again, saying:

Endubsar, son of Eridu City, my faithful servant. I am your lord Enki. I have summoned you to write down my words, for I am much distraught by what has befallen mankind by the great calamity.

It is my wish to record the true course of the events, to let g-ds and men alike know that my hands are clean. Not since the Great Deluge had such a calamity befallen the Earth and the g-ds and the Earthlings.

But the Great Deluge was destined to happen, not so the great calamity. This one, seven years ago, need not have happened. It could have been prevented, and I, Enki, did all I could to prevent it; alas, I failed.

And was it fate or was it destiny? In the future shall it be judged, for at the enf of days, a Day of Judgement there shall be. On that day, the Earth shall quake and the rivers shall change course, and there shall be darkness at noon and a fire in the heavens in the night, the day of the returning celestial g-d will it be.

And who shall survive and who would perish, who shall be rewarded and who will be punished, g-ds and men alike, on that day shall it be discovered; for what shall come to pass by what has passed shall be determined; and what was destined shall in a cycle be repeated, and what was fated and only by the heart's will occurring for good or ill shall for judgement come.

The voice fell silent, then the great lord spoke up again, saying: It is for this reason that I will tell the true account of the Beginnings and of the Prior Times and of the Olden Times, for in the past the future lies hidden.

For forty days and forty nights shall I speak and you will write; forty shall be the count of days and the nights of your task here, for forty is my sacred number among the g-ds. For forty days and for forty nights you shall neither eat nor drink; only this once of bread and water you shall partake, and it shall sustain you for the duration of your task.

And the voice paused, and all at once there appeared a glowing in another part of the enclosure. And I saw a table and upon it a plate and a cup. And I rose up thereto, and there was bread on the plate and water in the cup.

And the voice of the great lord Enki spoke up again, saying: Endubsar, eat the bread and drink the water, and be sustained for forty days and forty nights. And I did as directed. And thereafter the voice directed me to sit myself at the scribal table, and the glowing there intensified. I could neither see door nor aperture where I was, yet the glowing was as strong as the midday sun.

And the voice said: Endubsar the scribe, what do you see?
And I looked and saw the glowing rayed upon the table and the stones and the stylus, and I said: I see stone tablets, and their hue is blue as pure as the sky.
And I see a stylus as I have never seen before, its stem unlike any reed and its tip shaped like an eagle's talon.

And the voice said: These are tablets upon which you shall inscribe my words. By my wish they have been cut of the finest lapis lazuli; each with smooth faces provided. And the stylus you see is a g-d's handiwork, its handle made of electrum and its tip of divine crystal.

It shall firmly fit in your hand and what you shall engrave with it shall be as easy as marking upon wet clay.

In two columns you shall inscribe the front face, in two columns you shall inscribe the back of each stone tablet.
So not deviate from my words and utterances!

And there was a pausing, and I touched one of the stones, and the surface thereof felt like a smooth skin, soft to the touch. And I picked up the holy stylus, and it felt like a feather in my hand. And then the great g-d Enki began to speak, and I began to write down his words, exactly as he had spoken them.

At times his voice was strong, at times almost a whisper. At times there was joy or pride in his voice, at times pain or agony. And as one tablet was inscribed on all its faces, I took another to continue.

And when the final words were spoken, the great g-d paused and I could hear a great sigh. And he said: Endubsar my servant, for forty days and forty nights you have faithfully recorded my words. Your task here is completed.

Now take hold of another tablet, and on it you shall write your own attestation, and at the end thereof, as a witness mark it with your seal, and take the tablet and put it together with the other tablets in the divine chest; for at the designated time chosen ones shall come hither and they shall find the chest and the tablets, and they shall learn all that I have dictated to you; and that true account of the Beginnings and the Prior Times and the Olden Times and the Great Calamity shall henceforth be known as The Words of the Lord Enki.

And it shall be a Book of Witnessing of the past, and a Book of Foretelling the Future, for the future in the past lies and the first things shall also be the last things.

And there was a pause, and I took the tablets, and put them one by one in their correct order in the chest. And the chest was made of acacia wood and it was inlaid with gold on the outside.

And the voice of my lord said: Now close the chest's cover and fasten its lock. And I did as directed.

And there was another pause, and my lord Enki said: And as for you, Endubsar, with a great g-d you have spoken, and though you have not seen me, in my presence you have been. Therefore you are blessed, and my spokesman to the people you shall be.

You shall admonish them to be righteous, for in that lies a good and long life. And you shall comfort them, for in seventy years the cities will be rebuilt and the crops shall sprout again.

There will be peace but there will also be wars. New nations will become mighty, kingdoms shall rise and fall. The olden g-ds shall step aside and new g-ds shall decree the fates. But at the end of days destiny shall prevail, and of that future it is foretold in my words about the past.

All of that, Endubsar, to the people you shall tell.
And there was a pause and a silence. And I, Endubsar, bowed to the ground and said: But how will I know what to say?

And the voice of the lord Enki said: The signs will be in the heavens, and the words to utter shall come to you in dreams and in visions. And after you, there will be other chosen prophets. And in the end there will be a New Earth and a New Heaven, and for prophets there will be no more need.

And then there was silence, and the auras were extinguished, and the spirit left me. And when I regained my senses, I was in the fields outside Eridu.

Seal of Endubsar, master scribe
(translated and published by Mr. Zacharia Sitchin)
Sitchin is an eminent Oriental & Biblical scholar, who distinguised himself with his ability to translate ancient Sumerian and other ancient texts. He is a graduate of the University of London and worked as a journalist & editor in Israel for many years. He now lives & writes in New York.