(86) In those places where there are great lakes and seas, there the water was chief or predominant over that place in that zenith or elevation of the pole; and there not being much Salitter in that place, there came to be as it were a dale or valley, wherein the water remained standing.

(77) I saw seven rivers on the earth larger than all the rivers: one of them coming from the west pours its waters into the Great Sea.

(1) 'These rivers, my son, run, the eastern (like the Gangâ) toward the east, the western (like the Sindhu) toward the west. They go from sea to sea (i. e. the clouds lift up the water from the sea to the sky, and send it back as rain to the sea). They become indeed sea. And as those rivers, when they are in the sea, do not know, I am this or that river,

(6) I watched the appearance of the weather-- the weather was frightful to behold! I went into the boat and sealed the entry. For the caulking of the boat, to Puzuramurri, the boatman, I gave the palace together with its contents. Just as dawn began to glow there arose from the horizon a black cloud. Adad rumbled inside of it, before him went Shullat and Hanish, heralds going over mountain and land. Erragal pulled out the mooring poles, forth went Ninurta and made the dikes overflow. The Anunnaki lifted up the torches, setting the land ablaze with their flare. Stunned shock over Adad's deeds overtook the heavens, and turned to blackness all that had been light. The... land shattered like a... pot. All day long the South Wind blew..., blowing fast, submerging the mountain in water, overwhelming the people like an attack.

(8) When the seventh day arrived, the storm was pounding, the flood was a war--struggling with itself like a woman writhing (in labor). The sea calmed, fell still, the whirlwind (and) flood stopped up. I looked around all day long--quiet had set in and all the human beings had turned to clay! The terrain was as flat as a roof. I opened a vent and fresh air (daylight!) fell upon the side of my nose. I fell to my knees and sat weeping, tears streaming down the side of my nose. I looked around for coastlines in the expanse of the sea, and at twelve leagues there emerged a region (of land). On Mt. Nimush the boat lodged firm, Mt. Nimush held the boat, allowing no sway. One day and a second Mt. Nimush held the boat, allowing no sway. A third day, a fourth, Mt.

(77) And these two come from the north to the sea and pour their waters into the Erythraean Sea in the east.

(77) And the remaining four come forth on the side of the north to their own sea, 〈two of them〉 to the Erythraean Sea, and two into the Great Sea and discharge themselves there [and some say: into the desert].

(57) When the river is full and green like the flowing sap which comes out of Osiris, I take its water, I draw from its flood like the great god who is in the domain of the water, and who keeps watch over it for fear that the gods may drink from its water, and who inspires dread to the glorious ones

(82) For in those places where the sweet water in the standing wheel of God was chief or predominant, there much earthly, comprehensible or palpable water came to be.

(8) And it turneth from here towards the south towards the mouth of the great sea on the shore of (its) waters, and it extendeth to the west to ' Af ra,* and it extendeth till it reacheth the waters of the river Gihon, and to the south of the waters of Gihon,* to the banks of this river.

(46) This lake is often mentioned in the texts of the pyramids. It is one of the celestial lakes not very distant from the Elysian fields

(5) 'What is the origin of water?' 'That world (heaven),' he replied. 'And what is the origin of that world?'-- He replied: 'Let no man carry the Sâman beyond the world of svarga (heaven). We place (recognise) the Sâman in the world of svarga, for the Sâman is extolled as svarga (heaven).'

(2) And the waters did so as He commanded them, and they retired from qff the face of the earth into one place outside of this firmament, and the dry land appeared.

(2) And on the third day a He commanded the waters to pass from off the face of the whole earth into one place, and the dry land to appear.

(69) And through it the earth was founded upon the water, And from the secret recesses of the mountains come beautiful waters, From the creation of the world and unto eternity.

(9) For when the seven spirits kindled themselves in their outermost birth or geniture, then they generated such a violent moving spirit; and so the sweet water, which before the times of the wrath was very rarified and thin and incomprehensible, grew very thick and elevated and swelled, and the astringent quality grew very sharp and coldfiery or fiercecold, for it got a strong attracting together, like salt.

(89) And I saw again, and behold fountains were opened on the surface of that great enclosure, and that water began to swell and rise upon the surface, and I saw that enclosure till all its surface was covered with water.

(1) The Heron came in all haste and at once began to speak about himself. ' My charming house is near the sea among the lagoons, where none hears my song. I am so inoffensive that no one complains of me. Sad and melancholy, I stand pensively on the salt sea's verge, my heart filled with longing for the water, for if there were none what would become of me! But since I am not one of those who dwell in the sea, I am like to die, my lips parched, on its shore. Though the waters boil and the waves break at my feet, I cannot swallow a single drop; yet if the ocean should lose even a little of its water my heart would burn with vexation. For a creature such as I my passion for the sea is enough. I have not the strength to go in quest of the Simurgh, so I ask to be excused. How could one like me, who seeks only a drop of water, possibly attain union with the Simurgh?'

Said the Hoopoe: 'O ignorant of the sea, don't you know that it is full of crocodiles and other dangerous creatures? Sometimes its water is bitter, sometimes salt; sometimes it is calm, sometimes boisterous; always changing, never stable; sometimes it flows, sometimes it ebbs. Many great ones have been swallowed up in its abyss. The diver in its depths holds his breath lest he should be thrown up like a straw. The sea is an element devoid of loyalty. Do not trust it or it will end by submerging you. It is resdess because of its love for its friend. Sometimes it rolls great billows, sometimes it roars. Since the sea cannot find what it desires, how will you find

there a resting place for your heart! The ocean is a rill which rises in the way that leads to its friend; why then should you remain here content, and not strive to see the face of the Simurgh?'

(11) At that time there was a movement in the sea

(2) And on that day He created for them all the seas according to their separate gathering-places, and all the rivers, and the gatherings of the waters in the mountains and on all the earth, and all the lakes, and all the dew of the earth, and the seed which is sown, and all sprouting things, and fruit-bearing trees, and trees of the wood, and the garden of Eden, in Eden, and all (plants after their kind). These four great works God created on the third day.