Lecture VIII. The Myths And Epics. 405
those reed-huts which stood by the shore of the Persian Gulf, and
in which Xisuthros—despite the fact that he is called“a man of
Surippak”—was born. The rustling reeds communicated to him
the secret, and he in turn told his“lord Ea”that he had understood
the message.
The ship was built, and by the advice of Ea the too-inquisitive
inquirers were informed that the builder was transferring his
allegiance from Bel, the lord of the land, to Ea, the god of the
sea.^336 All sorts of provisions were stored in it, together with [441]
“the seed of life,”each after its kind—“cattle of the field, wild
beasts of the field, and the sons of the craftsmen.”Then the helm
was placed in the hands of Buzur-Sadi-rabi, the steersman, the
door of the ark was closed, and the storm broke upon the earth.
For seven days and nights it raged; man and his works were
swept away, and the ark alone survived with its living freight.
When at last Xisuthros opened his window and looked out, a
desolate waste of waters was all that could be seen. Above it the
lofty peak of the mountain of Nizir^337 in the north-east finally
appeared; here the ship grounded, and seven days afterwards
Xisuthros sent forth a dove to see if the earth were dry. But
the dove“went to and fro, and returned.”Next he sent forth
a swallow, which returned also to the ark; and lastly a raven,
which“ate, waded and croaked, and did not return.”So the
Chaldæan Noah knew that the waters of the Flood had subsided:
and accordingly he opened the door of the ark and let the animals
within it depart towards“the four quarters of heaven.”Then he
offered sacrifice on the summit of the mountain, setting beside
it vases of smoking incense ranged“seven by seven.”The gods
(^336) The words“I will no longer dwell in your city, and turn my face toward the
ground of En-lil,”imply that Surippak was not far from Nippur.
(^337) The mountain of Nizir was in the country called Lulubi or Luluwi by the
Assyrians, Lulu in the Vannic inscriptions. In the bilingual inscription of
Topzawa, Lulu is made the equivalent of the Assyrian Urardhu, the Hebrew
Ararat.