{
  "apiVersion": "v1",
  "kind": "Translation",
  "metadata": {
    "generated": "2026-08-22T14:14:13Z",
    "language": "en",
    "schemaUrl": "/v1/schema/translation/"
  },
  "data": {
  "schemaVersion": 2,
  "chapterCount": 1,
  "chapterFiles": [
    {
      "file": "tablet-11.json",
      "n": 11,
      "lines": 308,
      "title": "Gilgamesh Tablet XI — The Flood Narrative: Utnapishtim recounts the deluge to Gilgamesh"
    }
  ],
  "code": "GILG-WOH",
  "lineCount": 308,
  "primaryLang": "akk",
  "originalLang": "akk",
  "publicationYear": 2026,
  "refId": "GILG-WOH",
  "revision": 3,
  "schema": [
    "composition",
    "tablets",
    "lines"
  ],
  "schemaLabels": {
    "en": [
      "Composition",
      "Tablet",
      "Line"
    ]
  },
  "slug": "gilgamesh-woh",
  "titles": {
    "en": "The Epic of Gilgamesh",
    "de": "Das Gilgamesch-Epos",
    "es": "Epopeya de Gilgamesh",
    "fr": "L'Épopée de Gilgamesh",
    "ja": "ギルガメシュ叙事詩",
    "ko": "길가메시 서사시",
    "ru": "Эпос о Гильгамеше",
    "zh": "吉尔伽美什史诗",
    "zh-Hant": "吉爾伽美什史詩",
    "akk": "Ša naqba īmuru"
  },
  "versionTitles": {
    "en": "Wheel of Heaven Translation",
    "de": "Wheel-of-Heaven-Übersetzung",
    "es": "Traducción Wheel of Heaven",
    "fr": "Traduction Wheel of Heaven",
    "ja": "ホイール・オブ・ヘブン訳",
    "ko": "휠 오브 헤븐 번역",
    "ru": "Перевод Wheel of Heaven",
    "zh": "Wheel of Heaven 译本",
    "zh-Hant": "Wheel of Heaven 譯本"
  },
  "shortVersionTitles": {
    "en": "WoH, 2026",
    "de": "WoH, 2026",
    "es": "WoH, 2026",
    "fr": "WoH, 2026",
    "ja": "WoH, 2026",
    "ko": "WoH, 2026",
    "ru": "WoH, 2026",
    "zh": "WoH, 2026",
    "zh-Hant": "WoH, 2026"
  },
  "versionSource": "Best-effort reconstruction of the Standard Babylonian recension Tablet XI from named scholarly editions: George 2003 The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic (Oxford, 2 vols) — the modern critical edition; Thompson 1930 The Epic of Gilgamish (Oxford, Public Domain) — the public-domain critical edition with cuneiform copy + transliteration; Smith 1873 The Chaldean Account of the Deluge (PSBA, Public Domain) — the original discovery publication.",
  "versionLicense": "CC0-1.0",
  "priority": 5,
  "wohCurated": true,
  "verificationStatus": "best-effort-reconstruction-pending-verification",
  "updated": "2026-06-04T00:00:00+00:00",
  "sourceCitation": "George, A. R., The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: Introduction, Critical Edition and Cuneiform Texts, 2 vols (Oxford University Press 2003) — THE modern critical edition. Thompson, R. C., The Epic of Gilgamish: Text, Transliteration, and Notes (Oxford 1930; Public Domain) — the public-domain critical edition. Smith, G., The Chaldean Account of the Deluge (Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, 1873; Public Domain) — the original 1872-1873 discovery publication. Primary manuscript witnesses: Library of Ashurbanipal, Nineveh (7th c. BCE; British Museum K series including K.3375 + K.7752 + K.2252 + Sm. 4302 + others; recovered by Layard 1849). Additional scholarly references: Lambert and Millard 1969 Atra-Ḫasīs: The Babylonian Story of the Flood (Oxford); Tigay 1982 The Evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic (Pennsylvania); Heidel 1949 The Babylonian Genesis (Chicago); Heidel 1946 The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels (Chicago); Foster 2005 Before the Muses, 3rd ed. (Bethesda); Kvanvig 2011 Primeval History: Babylonian, Biblical, and Enochic (Brill).",
  "subtitles": {
    "en": "Standard Babylonian Tablet XI — the Flood narrative: Utnapishtim recounts the deluge to Gilgamesh"
  },
  "descriptions": {
    "en": "An English translation of Tablet XI of the Standard Babylonian recension of the Epic of Gilgamesh — the Flood narrative — produced from a best-effort reconstruction based on named scholarly editions (verification pending against George 2003 critical edition). The fifth Mesopotamian text in the WoH corpus after Enki and Ninmah (Sumerian), the Sumerian Flood Story, Enki and Ninhursag, and Adapa.\n\nTablet XI is the most famous tablet in the Epic of Gilgamesh and a foundational document of ancient Near Eastern comparative-mythology studies. The narrative: Gilgamesh's journey to find Utnapishtim the immortal flood-survivor; Utnapishtim recounts how the gods (Anu, Enlil, Ninurta, Ennugi, Ea) decided to flood the earth; Ea's warning to Utnapishtim through the reed-wall; the boat (tebû/eleppu) construction with seven decks; the embarkation of family + craftsmen + 'the seed of all living creatures'; the seven-day flood from the Anunnaki + Adad's thunder; the landing on Mt Nimush (Mt Nisir) for seven days; the bird-test (dove, swallow, raven); the disembarkation + sacrifice; Enlil's anger + Ea's defense; the deification + immortality grant to Utnapishtim; Gilgamesh's failure (the seven-loaves test); the loss of the plant-of-rejuvenation to the serpent.\n\nThe cross-corpus density is the highest in the Mesopotamian corpus. Direct parallels: Hebrew Bible Genesis 6-9 (boat / animals / flood-duration / bird-test / mountain-landing / sacrifice / divine-promise); the Sumerian Flood Story (Ziusudra recension, already in WoH translation); the Akkadian Atrahasis; the Berossus Babyloniaca; the Qur'an Surah 11:25-49 Noah narrative.\n\nLibrary of Ashurbanipal Nineveh tablets (7th c. BCE; British Museum K series) are the primary manuscript witnesses. The compilation is attributed to Sin-leqi-unninni (Late Bronze Age scribal-compiler; standard recension ~1200 BCE; underlying tradition extends to early-2nd-millennium Atrahasis). The text was rediscovered by George Smith in 1872 — his 1873 publication The Chaldean Account of the Deluge demonstrated the Mesopotamian antecedent to the biblical Flood.\n\nThe Raëlian canon (per Yes... I am Raelian commentary) names the Epic of Gilgamesh among the texts 'closer to the truth' — alongside the Mahābhārata, the Kojiki, and the Popol Vuh. This translation closes the long-standing Gilgamesh gap in the WoH Mesopotamian corpus."
  }
},
  "links": {
    "self": "/v1/translations/gilgamesh-woh/",
    "library": "/v1/library/books/gilgamesh-woh/",
    "canonical_html": "https://www.wheelofheaven.world/library/gilgamesh-woh/",
    "index": "/v1/translations/",
    "schema": "/v1/schema/translation/",
    "glossary": "/v1/glossary/"
  }
}