The prominence given him at the beginning of the text, at nearly a
column's interval before the lines which record the creation of man, is
sufficient proof that the Deluge story is the writer's main interest,
and that preceding episodes are merely introductory to it.

What subject then may we conjecture was treated in the missing lines of
this column, which precede the account of Creation and close with the
speech of the chief creating deity? Now the Deluge narrative practically
ends with the last lines of the tablet that are preserved, and the lower
half of the Sixth Column is entirely wanting. We shall see reason
to believe that the missing end of the tablet was not left blank and
uninscribed, but contained an incantation, the magical efficacy of which
was ensured by the preceding recitation of the Deluge myth. If that were
so, it would be natural enough that the text should open with its main
subject. The cause of the catastrophe and the reason for man's rescue
from it might well be referred to by one of the creating deities in
virtue of the analogy these aspects of the myth would present to the
circumstances for which the incantation was designed. A brief account
of the Creation and of Antediluvian history would then form a natural
transition to the narrative of the Deluge itself. And even if the text
contained no incantation, the narrative may well have been introduced
in the manner suggested, since this explanation in any case fits in with
what is still preserved of the First Column. For after his reference to
the destruction of mankind, the deity proceeds to fix the chief duty
of man, either as a preliminary to his creation, or as a reassertion
of that duty after his rescue from destruction by the Flood. It is
noteworthy that this duty consists in the building of temples to the
gods "in a clean spot", that is to say "in hallowed places". The passage
may be given in full, including the two opening lines already discussed: