Shepherding Humanity

Chapter 18: The Great Flood

"Seven days, God made the world in only seven days!"

Gilgamesh was shocked. He started laughing hysterically while shedding tears.

Crack!

He felt something inside him break.

In the final moments of his life, his arrogance and pride has been completely shattered.

"Seven days" His laugh gradually died down as his consciousness grew hazy. His inquiries brought him back to that moment in his childhood, when he had stood on the palm of God and asked:

"What is civilization?"

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"Civilization is fire. Civilization is knowledge. Civilization is order. Civilization is the greatest weapon an intelligent species can possess."

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"Civilization is a force we intelligent species can use to protect ourselves?"

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He suddenly started laughing again, his laugh growing louder and louder, carrying over windswept hills and towering mountains, across rushing rivers and verdant forests rustling in the breeze, over burgeoning wheat fields, and resounding throughout the endless steppes.

Within the grassland tribes, in the royal city, in the mountains and forests, the people all looked up in silence.

In a trance, they looked up at the sky as complex emotions stirred within their hearts. It was as if they had all heard the dying laughter of their king. The people of Sumer wept, singing a mournful folk song that had no name as they wailed in grief. All mourned the passing of the great king.

On this day, on the borders of the royal city of Uruk, the mythical Hero King Gilgamesh passed away.

Xu Zhi sighed as he looked on, "I never wanted to fight you. Ive always truthfully answered your questions. I really do not have the Treasure of Immortality. Why couldnt you believe me?

"The king is dead!"

"Our king, the most powerful Hero King in history, Gilgamesh, challenged the Creator and died!!!"

"We have lost!"

The soldiers wailed as they frantically fled.

Xu Zhi didn't go after them. After all, where could they escape to? The borders of the world?

"Unbelievable! This is just unbelievable" The historian Akkad stood atop the towering walls of Uruk. He looked on as the great Hero King died in defeat, cold sweat dripping down his back as he learned the horrific truth. "I must I must document everything before I die, and leave the truth about this world behind for future generations."

The historian trembled. His arms were soaked in cold sweat.

He had just finished recording Gilgameshs battle against the Great Beast of Wisdom. With trembling hands, he turned to the next page and hurriedly began a new chapter.

In the Epic of Genesis, the chapter dealing with the fall of Sumer thus said:

[The Great Beast of Wisdom is in fact the Creator God. In his old age, Gilgamesh recklessly pointed his sword at God. His arrogant plan to take Gods blood and obtain eternal life angered God, who saw great sin in the people of the land. God decided to destroy the Sumerian civilization and send down a great flood to end all life.]

The sound of wailing resounded throughout the land.

In the royal city of Uruk, the people miserably wept. Men and women on the verge of madness laughed wildly as they fell on their knees and fanatically prayed.

"God says, the world is full of sin!"

"Repent!!! Kneel and repent for your sins!"

"Our world will be washed away in a great flood!"

In this nervous atmosphere, the people trembled with fear and anxiety. Panic reigned.

At this time, a young man wearing a black turban brought a blood-soaked package to Xu Zhi's feet. He opened the package and took out a severed head. "Great Beast of Wisdom, the king of the forest, Enkidu, begs for mercy."

Xu Zhi was slightly startled.

He had wondered why only two of the three kings had come, and the king of the forest had been missing.

Utnapishtim knelt down and pleaded. He flattened himself against the ground as he spoke in a trembling voice: "We Sumerians are not only a race of savages. My teacher, Enkidu, has sacrificed his own life in order to prove this point. He had defied the kings decree and would rather choose death than raise his sword against the benefactor who had granted us civilization. Not all of us are guilty of sin. I beg you to be merciful when handing down your divine punishment and allow some of the Sumerian people to survive."

Xu Zhi sighed. In truth, he never thought that Gilgamesh would be that crazy.

He had never intended to exterminate them, but they had been just too reckless and presumptuous For their impertinent challenge and for their brutal and barbaric behavior, they would have to pay a price for their actions in the end. "You may have your people cut down the great Divine Tree and build Noah's ark. Bring onto the ark seeds and breeding stock for every living thing in the world, and use the remaining space for your tribesmen. Once youre ready, I will immediately bring down the great flood and destroy the world."

Xu Zhi turned and walked away.

The Sumerian people he left behind were deeply moved.

"We may have been defeated, but this is not the end of the world. There remains hope for a future."

"We thank the Creator for his mercy."

"All thanks to Enkidu. The King of the Forest has shown the Lord that we also have virtue, and are not only a barbaric race. There is still hope of salvation for us."

"Praise Enkidu!"

"Praise the great King of the Forest!"

Akkad wept with joy. Gazing at the giant's departing back, he excitedly raised his pen and recorded thus in the Epic of Genesis:

[The benevolence of Enkidu, King of the Forest, moved the Creator, who was preparing to destroy the world. He decided to spare some of the Sumerian people, and commanded Utnapishtim to build Noah's Ark to weather the Great Flood.]

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Xu Zhi returned to the courtyard and tidied up.

He brought out the high-pressure water gun that had been placed in the corner of the farm. He had bought it while out shopping with Chen Xi, but never expected it to come in handy so soon.

In the ten minutes that it took Xu Zhi to prepare the water gun, a hundred and twenty days had already passed by in the sandbox. The people of Sumer moved quickly to cut down the Divine Tree and built a huge ark.

Then, they collected seeds and baby animals from all living things in the world and stored them on the giant ark, along with the written records of the Sumerian civilization.

"Time to start cleaning up." Xu Zhi lifted the water gun.

High-pressure water sprayed down and flooded the sandbox. Large trees fell. The giant royal city collapsed in an instant. Countless animals ran out of the forest in a vain attempt to outrun the monstrous flood. The torrential currents claimed all without distinction.

The foaming waters dyed heaven and earth pure white.

"God witnessed the sin of men and sent down a great flood from heaven, ending all life on earth.

Utnapishtim and his people sat on the ark, gazing in awestruck terror at the sky above. The scene was horrific beyond compare. It was as if heaven itself had cracked open and water poured down from an endless abyss.

White streams of water poured down from the white clouds in the sky and washed over the entire land.

Except for the ark suspended above the endless sea of water, the entire world has been submerged under the foaming currents.