From the lower part of the Third Column, where its text is first
preserved, it is clear that the gods had already decided to send a
Deluge, for the goddess Nintu or Ninkharsagga, here referred to also
as "the holy Innanna", wails aloud for the intended destruction of "her
people". That this decision has been decreed by the gods in council is
clear from a passage in the Fourth Column, where it is stated that the
sending of a flood to destroy mankind was "the word of the assembly (of
the gods)". The first lines preserved in the present column describe the
effect of the decision on the various gods concerned and their action at
the close of the council.
In the lines which described the Council of the Gods, broken references
to "the people" and "a flood" are preserved, after which the text
continues:
At that time Nintu (. . .) like a (. . .),
The holy Innanna lament(ed) on account of her people.
Enki in his own heart (held) counsel;
Anu, Enlil, Enki and Ninkharsagga (. . .).
The gods of heaven and earth in(voked) the name of Anu and Enlil.
It is unfortunate that the ends of all the lines in this column are
wanting, but enough remains to show a close correspondence of the first
two lines quoted with a passage in the Gilgamesh Epic where Ishtar is
described as lamenting the destruction of mankind.(1) This will be seen
more clearly by printing the two couplets in parallel columns: