Apparently the gods were displeased with the human race, for they held a council in which it was agreed that mankind should be drowned. But Ea, the god of wisdom, wished to spare human beings. So Ea told one man, Uta-Napishtim, to build a ship for his family and all living creatures. Uta-Napishtim worked diligently, and by the time the rains came his ship was prepared. For six days and nights a foul rain flooded everything on earth, and even the gods became fearful. By the seventh day the winds and rains ceased. All but Uta-Napishtim and his family had become mud. The ship came to rest upon Mount Nisir, and Uta-Napishtim sent forth birds to find out whether the waters had subsided enough to disembark. When a raven failed to return Uta-Napishtim left the ship and offered a sacrifice to the gods on the mountain peak. Only Enlil, god of the tempest, was angered to see that humanity had been spared. But Ea managed to placate Enlil with soft words, and in token of his reconciliation Enlil gave Uta-Napishtim and his wife the gift of immortality.
