Position in chronology
Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet XI (the Flood)
Translation · reference
Scholar-verifiedUtnapishtim spoke to him, to Gilgamesh: 'Let me reveal to you, Gilgamesh, a hidden matter — a secret of the gods I will tell you …' [The flood narrative follows.]
Source: George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic (2003)
Translation · AI engine
read from photoUtnapishtim spoke to him, to Gilgamesh: 'I will reveal to you, O Gilgamesh, a word of secrecy [a hidden matter] …'
3 uncertain terms ↓
- amât niṣirti — The phrase can be rendered 'word of secrecy,' 'hidden matter,' or 'secret thing'; niṣirtu derives from naṣāru ('to guard/protect'), so the nuance is 'a carefully guarded/hidden matter.' The ellipsis in the transliteration indicates the line continues beyond what is given.
- lupte-ka — Glossary labels this Sumerian, but the form is Akkadian: lū + apteka, a precative of petû ('to open/reveal') with 2ms suffix, meaning 'I will/let me reveal to you.' The Sumerian label in the project glossary appears to be an error or loose convention.
- ana šâšu — Pronoun 'to him' referring back to Gilgamesh; standard Akkadian resumptive construction before direct address. No ambiguity in this context but worth noting the resumptive style.
Reasoning ↓
Visual examination of the photograph reveals a clay tablet fragment of substantial size, displayed on a blue surface in what appears to be a museum setting. The tablet is clearly broken along the left and lower-left edges, with significant lacunae in those regions. The surface visible to the upper right is relatively well-preserved, showing dense, fine cuneiform wedge-impressions arranged in horizontal lines, consistent with the neat Neo-Assyrian scribal style of the Library of Ashurbanipal. A ruling line is faintly visible dividing the obverse into columns. Individual sign clusters are visible but cannot be resolved into specific sign identifications at this photographic resolution and angle — the tablet is shot at an oblique angle that foreshortens the lower right corner and blurs the wedge details. The preserved area is consistent with the dense two-column format typical of Gilgamesh Tablet XI manuscripts. The transliteration provided corresponds to the well-known opening lines of Utnapishtim's flood disclosure (Gilgamesh XI:9–10 in the standard edition), matching mainstream scholarly editions (George 2003, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic, pp. 700–703). The photograph cannot independently confirm the specific sign readings but shows no obvious conflict with the transliteration's description of a well-preserved Neo-Assyrian tablet face.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · prompt 2026-05-11/v2 · May 11, 2026 · 2353 in / 655 out tokens
Why it matters
The single most important literary discovery of the 19th century. It rewired the understanding of the Bible's literary context and proved that the Mesopotamian flood tradition is older. It is the oldest surviving epic poetry in human history.
Transliteration
Utnapishtim ana šâšu izakkar ana Gilgameš / lupte-ka Gilgameš amât niṣirti …
Scholarly note
When this tablet was first deciphered in 1872 by George Smith, he reportedly began undressing in the British Museum reading room from sheer excitement: the flood narrative predates Genesis by over a thousand years and is unmistakably the source.
Attribution
Image: © Trustees of the British Museum, via Wikimedia Commons. source
Translation excerpted from George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic (2003).
Related tablets
Related sources
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Marks the boundary between proto-writing and writing. We can see signs being used systematically — but not yet phonetically. The leap to recording speech itself comes a few centuries later.
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