This tablet tell of how Gilgamesh finds Utnapishtim who was disguised as a normal old man telling him that eternal life is impossible. However, he reveals his true identity and tells Gilgamesh his story. Once the gods were going to punish the land and its people by creating an enormous flood. Ea, one of the gods, tells Utnapishtim about this and tells him how to survive and to take every animal with him. He did so and when the flood came, he and the animals survived. The gods at first were going to punish him but due to Ea's persuation, they made Utnapishtim a god instead granting him eternal life. Utnapishtim then made a test for Gilgamesh. He had to stay awake for seven days, a test he quickly failed. Utnapishtim then gave Gilgamesh a plant to become young but it was later stolen from him by a snake leaving him empty handed.
The relation between Utnapishtim's story and the story of the ark is obvious but these books were apparently written around the same time. They are so similar that maybe they are two versions of an event that actually happened. Gilgamesh then quickly fails Utnapishtim's test showing that a mere mortal is no match for a god and eternal life is only a fantasy for mortals. He got a herb to lengthen his life but it was stolen by snake maybe signifying the fight for longer life is not only on humans.
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