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the Flood Myths page.The gods agreed to cleanse the earth of humanity, but Utnapishtim was warned by the god Ea in a dream. He and some craftsmen built a large boat (one acre in area, seven decks) in a week. He then loaded it with his family, the craftsmen, and "the seed of all living creatures." The waters of the abyss rose up, and it stormed for six days. The waters covered everything but the top of the mountain Nisur, where the boat landed. Seven days later, the waters had receeded enough for the people to emerge. Utnapishtim and his wife were given immortality and lived at the end of the earth. [Sandars] In a Sumerian tradition, the hero was a priest-king named Ziusudra. [Hammerly-Dupuy, in Dundes] Sharur destroyed Asag, demon of sickness and disease, by flooding his abode. In the process, "The primeval waters of Kur rose to the surface, and as a result of their violence no fresh waters could reach the fields and gardens." [Kramer, p. 105]
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References: Sandars, N. K. (transl.(?)). The Epic of Gilgamesh, Penguin Books, Ltd., Harmondsworth, England, 1972. Dundes, Alan (ed.) The Flood Myth, University of California Press, Berkeley and London, 1988. Kramer, Samuel Noah (ed.). Mythologies of the Ancient World, Anchor Books, Garden City, NY. 1961