Page:Atlantis - The Antediluvian World (1882).djvu/97

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THE DELUGE OF THE CHALDEANS.
79

I stopped up the chinks through which the water entered in;—I visited the chinks, and added what was wanting.—I poured on the exterior three times 3600 measures of asphalte,—and three times 3600 measures of asphalte within.—Three times 3600 men, porters, brought on their heads the chests of provisions.—I kept 3600 chests for the nourishment of my family,—and the mariners divided among themselves twice 3600 chests.—For [provisioning] I had oxen slain;—I instituted [rations] for each day.—In [anticipation of the need of] drinks, of barrels, and of wine—[I collected in quantity] like to the waters of a river, [of provisions] in quantity like to the dust of the earth.—[To arrange them in] the chests I set my hand to.—… of the sun… the vessel was completed.—… strong and—I had carried above and below the furniture of the ship.—[This lading filled the two-thirds.]

All that I possessed I gathered together; all I possessed of silver I gathered together; all that I possessed of gold I gathered—all that I possessed of the substance of life of every kind I gathered together.—I made all ascend into the vessel; my servants, male and female,—the cattle of the fields, the wild beasts of the plains, and the sons of the people, I made them all ascend.

Shamash (the sun) made the moment determined, and——he announced it in these terms:—"In the evening I will cause it to rain abundantly from heaven; enter into the vessel and close the door."——The fixed moment had arrived, which he announced in these terms:—"In the evening I will cause it to rain abundantly from heaven."——When the evening of that day arrived, I was afraid,——I entered into the vessel and shut my door.——In shutting the vessel, to Buzur-shadi-rabi, the pilot,——I confided this dwelling, with all that it contained.

Mu-sheri-ina-namari—rose from the foundations of heaven in a black cloud;—Ramman thundered in the midst of the cloud,—and Nabon and Sharru marched before;—they marched, devastating the mountain and the plain;—Nergal the powerful dragged chastisements after him;—Adar advanced, overthrowing before him;—the archangels of the abyss brought destruction,—in their terrors they agitated the earth.—The inundation of Ramman swelled up to the sky,—and [the earth] became without lustre, was changed into a desert.

They broke… of the surface of the earth like…;—