THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH
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CONTENT
PROLOGUE―GILGAMESH
KING IN URUK
1―THE COMING OF ENKIDU
2―THE FOREST JOURNEY
3―ISHTAR AND GILGAMESH, AND
THE DEATH OF ENKIDU
4―THE SEARCH FOR
EVERLASTING LIFE
5―THE STORY OF THE FLOOD
6―THE RETURN
7―THE DEATH OF GILGAMESH
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I WILL proclaim to the world the deeds of Gilgamesh. This was
the man to whom all things were known; this was the king who knew the countries
of the world. He was wise, he saw mysteries and knew secret things, he brought
us a tale of the days before the flood. He went on a long journey, was weary,
worn-out with labour, returning he rested, he engraved on a stone the whole
story.
When the gods created Gilgamesh they gave him a perfect body. Shamash the
glorious sun endowed him with beauty, Adad the god of the storm endowed him with
courage, the great gods made his beauty perfect, surpassing all others,
terrifying like a great wild bull. Two thirds they made him god and one third
man.
In Uruk he built walls, a great rampart, and the temple of blessed Eanna for the
god of the firmament Anu, and for Ishtar the goddess of love. Look at it still
today: the outer wall where the cornice runs, it shines with the brilliance of
copper; and the inner wall, it has no equal. Touch the threshold, it is ancient.
Approach Eanna the dwelling of Ishtar, our lady of love and war, the like of
which no latter-day king, no man alive can equal. Climb upon the wall of Uruk;
walk along it, I say; regard the foundation terrace and examine the. masonry: is
it not burnt brick and good? The seven sages laid the foundations.
GILGAMESH went abroad in the world, but he met with none who
could withstand his arms till be came to Uruk. But the men of Uruk muttered in
their houses, 'Gilgamesh sounds the tocsin for his amusement, his arrogance has
no bounds by day or night. No son is left with his father, for Gilgamesh takes
them all, even the children; yet the king should be a shepherd to his people.
His lust leaves no virgin to her lover, neither the warrior's daughter nor the
wife of the noble; yet this is the shepherd of the city, wise, comely, and
resolute.'
The gods heard their lament, the gods of heaven cried to the Lord of Uruk, to
Anu the god of Uruk: 'A goddess made him, strong as a savage bull, none can
withstand his arms. No son is left with his father, for Gilgamesh takes them
all; and is this the king, the shepherd of his people? His lust leaves no virgin
to her lover, neither the warrior's daughter nor the wife of the noble. When Anu
had heard their lamentation the gods cried to Aruru, the goddess of creation,
'You made him, O Aruru; now create his equal; let it be as like him as his own
reflection, his second self; stormy heart for stormy heart. Let them contend
together and leave Uruk in quiet.'
So the goddess conceived an image in her mind, and it was of the stuff of Anu of
the firmament. She dipped her hands in water and pinched off day, she let it
fall in the wilderness, and noble Enkidu was created. There was virtue in him of
the god of war, of Ninurta himself. His body was rough, he had long hair like a
woman's; it waved like the hair of Nisaba, the goddess of corn. His body was
covered with matted hair like Samugan's, the god of cattle. He was innocent of
mankind; he knew nothing of the cultivated land.
Enkidu ate grass in the hills with the gazelle and lurked with wild beasts at
the water-holes; he had joy of the water with the herds of wild game. But there
was a trapper who met him one day face to face at the drinking-hole, for the
wild game had entered his territory. On three days he met him face to face, and
the trapper was frozen with fear. He went back to his house with the game that
he had caught, and he was dumb, benumbed with terror. His face was altered like
that of one who has made a long journey. With awe in his heart he spoke to his
father: 'Father, there is a man, unlike any other, who comes down from the
hills. He is the strongest in the world, he is like an immortal from heaven. He
ranges over the hills with wild beasts and eats grass; the ranges through your
land and comes down to the wells. I am afraid and dare not go near him. He fills
in the pits which I dig and tears up-my traps set for the game; he helps the
beasts to escape and now they slip through my fingers.'
His father opened his mouth and said to the trapper, 'My son, in Uruk lives
Gilgamesh; no one has ever prevailed against him, he is strong as a star from
heaven. Go to Uruk, find Gilgamesh, extol the strength of this wild man. Ask him
to give you a harlot, a wanton from the temple of love; return with her, and let
her woman's power overpower this man. When next he comes down to drink at the
wells she will be there, stripped naked; and when he sees her beckoning he will
embrace her, and then the wild beasts will reject him.'
So the trapper set out on his journey to Uruk and addressed himself to Gilgamesh
saying, 'A man unlike any other is roaming now in the pastures; he is as strong
as a star from heaven and I am afraid to approach him. He helps the wild game to
escape; he fills in my pits and pulls up my traps.' Gilgamesh said, 'Trapper, go
back, take with you a harlot, a child of pleasure. At the drinking hole she will
strip, and when, he sees her beckoning he will embrace her and the game of the
wilderness will. surely reject him.'
Now the trapper returned, taking the harlot with him. After a three days'
journey they came to the drinking hole, and there they sat down; the harlot and
the trapper sat facing one another and waited for the game to come. For the
first day and for the second day the two sat waiting, but on the third day the
herds came; they came down to drink and Enkidu was with them. The small wild
creatures of the plains were glad of the water, and Enkidu with them, who ate
grass with the gazelle and was born in the hills; and she saw him, the savage
man, come from far-off in the hills. The trapper spoke to her: 'There he is.
Now, woman, make your breasts bare, have no shame, do not delay but welcome his
love. Let him see you naked, let him possess your body. When he comes near
uncover yourself and lie with him; teach him, the savage man, your woman's art,
for when he murmurs love to you the wild' beasts that shared his life in the
hills will reject him.'
She was not ashamed to take him, she made herself naked and welcomed his
eagerness; as he lay on her murmuring love she taught him the woman's art For
six days and seven nights they lay together, for Enkidu had forgotten his home
in the hills; but when he was satisfied he went back to the wild beasts. Then,
when the gazelle saw him, they bolted away; when the wild creatures saw him they
fled. Enkidu would have followed, but his body was bound as though with a cord,
his knees gave way when he started to run, his swiftness was gone. And now the
wild creatures had all fled away; Enkidu was grown weak, for wisdom was in him,
and the thoughts of a man were in his heart. So he returned and sat down at the
woman's feet, and listened intently to what she said. 'You are wise, Enkidu, and
now you have become like a god. Why do you want to run wild with the beasts in
the hills? Come with me. I will take you to strong-walled Uruk, to the blessed
temple of Ishtar and of Anu, of love and of heaven there Gilgamesh lives, who is
very strong, and like a wild bull he lords it over men.'
When she had spoken Enkidu was pleased; he longed for a comrade, for one who
would understand his heart. 'Come, woman, and take me to that holy
temple, to the house of Anu and of Ishtar, and to the place where Gilgamesh
lords it over the people. I will challenge him boldly, I will cry out aloud in
Uruk, "I am the strongest here, I have come to change the old order, I am he who
was born in the hills, I am he who is strongest of all."'
She said, 'Let us go, and let him see your face. I know very well where
Gilgamesh is in great Uruk. O Enkidu, there all the people are dressed in their
gorgeous robes, every day is holiday, the young men and the girls are wonderful
to see. How sweet they smell! All the great ones are roused from their beds. O
Enkidu, you who love life, I will show you Gilgamesh, a man of many moods; you
shall look at him well in his radiant manhood. His body is perfect in strength
and maturity; he never rests by night or day. He is stronger than you, so leave
your boasting. Shamash the glorious sun has given favours to Gilgamesh, and Anu
of the heavens, and Enlil, and Ea the wise has given him deep understanding. f
tell you, even before you have left the wilderness, Gilgamesh will know in his
dreams that you are coming.'
Now Gilgamesh got up to tell his dream to his mother; Ninsun, one of the wise
gods. 'Mother, last night I had a dream. I was full of joy, the young heroes
were round me and I walked through the night under the stars of the firmament,
and one, a meteor of the stuff of Anu, fell down from heaven. I tried to lift it
but it proved too heavy. All the people of Uruk came round to see it, the common
people jostled and the nobles thronged to kiss its feet; and to me its
attraction was like the love of woman. They helped me, I braced my forehead and
I raised it with thongs and brought it to you, and you yourself pronounced it my
brother.'
Then Ninsun, who is well-beloved and wise, said to Gilgamesh, 'This star of
heaven which descended like a meteor from the sky; which you tried to lift,
but found too heavy, when you tried to move it it would not budge, and so you
brought it to my feet; I made it for you, a goad and spur, and you were drawn as
though to a woman. This is the strong comrade, the one who brings help to his
friend in his need. He is the strongest of wild creatures, the stuff of Anu;
born in the grass-lands and the wild hills reared him; when you see him you will
be glad; you will love him as a woman and he will never forsake you. This is the
meaning of the dream.'
Gilgamesh said, 'Mother, I dreamed a second dream. In the streets of
strong-walled Uruk there lay an axe; the shape of it was strange and the people
thronged round. I saw it and was glad. I bent down, deeply drawn towards it; I
loved it like a woman and wore it at my side.' Ninsun answered, 'That axe, which
you saw, which drew you so powerfully like love of a woman, that is the comrade
whom I give you, and he will come in his strength like one of the host of
heaven. He is the brave companion who rescues his friend in necessity.'
Gilgamesh said to his mother, 'A friend, a counsellor has come to me from Enlil,
and now I shall befriend and counsel him.' So Gilgamesh told his dreams; and the
harlot retold them to Enkidu.
And now she said to Enkidu, 'When I look at you you have become like a god. Why
do you yearn to run wild again with the beasts in the hills? Get up from the
ground, the bed of a shepherd.' He listened to her words with care. It was good
advice that she gave. She divided her clothing in two and with the one half she
clothed him and with the other herself, and holding his hand she led him like a
child to the sheepfolds, into the shepherds' tents. There all the shepherds
crowded round to see him, they put down bread in front of him, but Enkidu could
only suck the milk of wild animals. He fumbled and gaped, at a loss what to do
or how he should eat the bread and drink the strong wine. Then the woman said, 'Enkidu,
eat bread, it is the staff of life; drink the wine, it is the custom of the
land.' So he ate till he was full and drank strong wine, seven goblets. He
became merry, his heart exulted and his face shone. He rubbed down the matted
hair of his body and anointed himself with oil. Enkidu had become a man; but
when he had put on man's clothing he appeared like a bridegroom. He took arms to
hunt the lion so that the shepherds could rest at night. He caught wolves and
lions and the herdsmen lay down in peace; for Enkidu was their watchman, that
strong man who had no rival.
He was merry living with the shepherds, till one day lifting his eyes he saw a
man approaching. He said to the harlot, 'Woman, fetch that man here. Why has he
come? I wish to know his name.' She went and called the man saying, 'Sir, where
are you going on this weary journey?' The man answered, saying to Enkidu,
'Gilgamesh has gone into the marriage-house and shut out the people. He does
strange things in Uruk, the city of great streets. At the roll of the drum work
begins for the men, and work for the women. Gilgamesh the king is about to
celebrate marriage with the Queen of Love, and he still demands to be first with
the bride, the king to be first and the husband to follow, for that was ordained
by the gods from his birth, from the time the umbilical cord was cut. But now
the drums roll for the choice of the bride and the city groans.' At these words
Enkidu turned white in the face. 'I will go to the place where Gilgamesh lords
it over the people, I will challenge him boldly, and I will cry aloud in Uruk,
"I have come to change the old order, for I am the strongest here."
Now Enkidu strode in front and the woman followed behind. He entered Uruk, that
great market, and all the folk thronged round him where he stood in the street
in strong-walled Uruk. The people jostled; speaking of him they said, 'He is the
spit of Gilgamesh. 'He is shorter.' 'He is bigger of bone.' This is the one who
was reared on the milk of wild beasts. His is the greatest strength.' The men
rejoiced: 'Now Gilgamesh has met his match. This great one, this hero
whose beauty is like a god, he is a match even for Gilgamesh.'
In Uruk the bridal bed was made, fit for the goddess of love. The bride waited
for the bridegroom, but in the night Gilgamesh got up and came to the house.
Then Enkidu stepped out, he stood in the street and blocked the way. Mighty
Gilgamesh came on and Enkidu met him at the gate. He put out his foot and
prevented Gilgamesh from entering the house, so they grappled, holding each
other like bulls. They broke the doorposts and the walls shook, they snorted
like bulls locked together. They shattered the doorposts and the walls shook.
Gilgamesh bent his knee with his foot planted on the ground and with a turn
Enkidu was thrown. Then immediately his fury died. When Enkidu was thrown he
said to Gilgamesh, 'There is not another like you in the world. Ninsun, who is
as strong as a wild ox in the byre, she was the mother who bore you, and now you
are raised above all men, and Enlil has given you the kingship, for your
strength surpasses the strength of men.' So Enkidu and Gilgamesh embraced and
their friendship was sealed.
ENLIL of the mountain, the father of the gods, had decreed
the destiny of Gilgamesh. So Gilgamesh dreamed and Enkidu said, 'The meaning of
the dream is this. The father of the gods has given you kingship, such is your
destiny, everlasting life is not your destiny. Because of this do not be sad at
heart, do not be grieved or oppressed. He has given you power to bind and to
loose, to be the darkness and the light of mankind. He has given you unexampled
supremacy over the people, victory in battle from which no fugitive returns, in
forays and assaults from which there is no going back. But do not abuse this
power, deal justly with your servants in the palace, deal justly before
Shamash.'
The eyes of Enkidu were full of tears and his heart was sick. He sighed bitterly
and Gilgamesh met his eye and said,' My friend, why do you sigh so bitterly? But
Enkidu opened his mouth and said, 'I am weak, my arms have lost their strength,
the cry of sorrow sticks in my throat, I am oppressed by idleness.' It was then
that the lord Gilgamesh turned his thoughts to the Country of the Living; on the
Land of Cedars the lord Gilgamesh reflected. He said to his servant Enkidu, 'I
have not established my name stamped on bricks as my destiny decreed; therefore
I will go to the country where the cedar is felled. I will set up my name in the
place where the names of famous men are written, and where- no man's name is
written yet I will wise a monument to the gods. Because o£ the evil that is in
the land, we will go to the forest and destroy the evil; for in the forest lives
Humbaba whose name is "Hugeness", , a ferocious giant. But Enkidu sighed
bitterly and said, 'When I went with the wild beasts ranging through the
wilderness I discovered the forest; its length is ten thousand leagues in every
direction. Enlil has appointed Humbaba to guard it and armed him iii sevenfold
terrors, terrible to all flesh is Humbaba. When he roars it is like the torrent
of the storm, his breath is like fire, and his jaws are death itself. He guards
the cedars so well that when the wild heifer stirs in the forest, though she is
sixty leagues distant, he hears her. What man would willingly walk into that
country and explore its depths? I tell you, weakness overpowers whoever goes
near it: it is not an equal struggle when one fights with Humbaba; he is a great
warrior, a battering-ram. Gilgamesh, the watchman of the forest never sleeps.'
Gilgamesh replied: 'Where is the man who can clamber to heaven? Only the gods
live for ever with glorious Shamash, but as for us men, our days are numbered,
our occupations are a breath of wind. How is this, already you are afraid! I
will go first although I am your lord, an4.youmay safely call out, "Forward,
there is nothing to fear!" Then if I fall I leave behind me a name that endures;
men - will say of me, "Gilgamesh has fallen in fight with ferocious Humbaba."
Long after the child has been bony in my house, they will say it, and remember.'
Enkidu spoke again to Gilgamesh, 'O my lord, if you will enter that country, go
first to the hero Shamash, tell the Sun God, for the land is his. The country
where the cedar is cut belongs to Shamash.'
Gilgamesh took up a kid, white without spot, and a brown one with it; he held
them against his breast, and he carried them into the presence of the sun. He
took in his hand his silver sceptre and he said to glorious Shamash, 'I am going
to that country, O Shamash, I am going; my hands supplicate, so let it be well
with my soul and bring me back to the quay of Uruk. Grant, I beseech, your
protection, and let the omen be good.' Glorious Shamash answered, 'Gilgamesh,
you are strong, but what is the Country of the Living to you?
'O Shamash, hear me, hear me, Shamash, let my voice be heard. Here in the city
man dies oppressed at heart, man perishes with despair in his heart. I have
looked over the wall and I see the bodies floating on the river, and that will
be my lot also. Indeed I know it is so, for whoever is tallest among men cannot
reach the heavens, and the greatest cannot encompass the earth. Therefore I
would enter that country: because I have not established my name stamped on
brick as my destiny decreed, I will go to the country where the cedar is cut. I
will set up my name where the names of famous men are written; and where no
man's name is written I will raise a monument to the gods.' The tears, ran down
his face and he said, 'Alas, it is a long journey that I must take to the Land
of Humbaba. If this enterprise is not to be accomplished, why did you move me,
Shamash, with the restless desire to perform it? How can I succeed if you will
not succour me? If I die in that country I will die without rancour, but if I
return I will make a glorious offering of gifts and of praise to Shamash.'
So Shamash accepted the sacrifice of his tears; like the compassionate man he
showed him mercy. He appointed strong allies for Gilgamesh, sons of one mother,
and stationed them in the mountain caves. The great winds he appointed: the
north wind, the whirlwind, the stone and the icy wind, the tempest and the
scorching wind. Like ' vipers, like dragons, like a scorching fire, like a
serpent that freezes the heart, a destroying flood and the lightning's fork,
such were they and Gilgamesh rejoiced.
He went to the forge and said, ..'I will give orders to the armourers; they
shall cast us our weapons while we watch them.' So they gave orders to the
armourers and the craftsmen sat down in conference. They went into the groves of
the plain and cut willow and box-wood; they cast for them axes of nine score
pounds, and great swords they cast with blades of six score pounds each one,
with pommels and hilts of thirty pounds. They cast for Gilgamesh the axe 'Might
of Heroes' and the bow of Anshan; and Gilgamesh was armed and Enkidu; and the
weight of the arms they carried was thirty score pounds.
The people collected and the counsellors in the streets and in the market-place
of Uruk; they came through the gate of seven bolts and Gilgamesh spoke to them
in the market-place: 'I, Gilgamesh, go to see that creature of whom such things
are spoken, the rumour of whose name fills the world. I will conquer him in his
cedar wood and show the strength of the sons of Uruk, all the world shall. know
of it. I am committed to this enterprise: to climb the mountain, to cut down the
cedar, and leave behind me an enduring name.' The counsellors of Uruk; the great
market, answered him, 'Gilgamesh, you are young, your courage carries you too
far, you cannot know what this enterprise means which you plan. We have heard
that Hurnbaba is not like men who die, his weapons are such that none can stand
against them; the forest stretches for ten thousand leagues in every direction;
who would willingly go down to explore its depths? As for Humbaba, when he roars
it is like the torrent of the storm, his breath is like fire and his jaws are
death itself. Why do you crave to do this thing, Gilgamesh? It is no equal
struggle when one fights with Humbaba, that battering-ram:
When he heard these words of the counsellors Gilgamesh looked at his friend and
laughed, 'How shall I answer them; shall I say I am afraid of Humbaba, I will
sit at home all the rest of my days?' Then Gilgamesh opened his mouth again and
said to Enkidu, 'My friend, let us go to the Great Palace, to Egalmah, and stand
before Ninsun the queen. Ninsun is wise with deep knowledge, she will give us
counsel for the road we must go.' They took each other by the hand as they went
to Egalmah, and they went to Ninsun the great queen. Gilgamesh approached, he
entered the palace and spoke to Ninsun. 'Ninsun, will you listen to me; I have a
long journey to go, to the Land of Humbaba, I must travel an unknown road and
fight a strange battle. From the day I go until I return, till I reach the cedar
forest and destroy the evil which Shamash abhors, pray for me to Shamash.'
Ninsun went into her room, she put on a dress becoming to her body, she put on
jewels to make her breast beautiful, she placed a tiara on her head and her
skirts swept the ground. Then she went up to the altar of the Sun, standing upon
the roof of the palace; she burnt incense and lifted her arms to Shamash as the
smoke ascended: 'O Shamash, why did you give this restless heart to Gilgamesh,
my son; why did you give it? You have moved him and now he sets out on a long
journey to the Land of Humbaba, to travel an unknown road and fight a strange
battle. Therefore from the day that he goes till the day he returns, until he
reaches the cedar forest, until he kills Humbaba and destroys the evil thing
which you, Shamash, abhor, do not forget him; but let the dawn, Aya, your dear
bride, remind you always, and when day is done give him to the watchman of the
night to keep him from harm.' Then Ninsun the mother of Gilgamesh extinguished
the incense, and she called to Enkidu with this exhortation: 'Strong Enkidu, you
are not the child of my body, but I will receive you as my adopted son; you are
my other child like the foundlings they bring to the temple. Serve Gilgamesh as
a foundling serves the temple and the priestess who reared him. In the presence
of my women, any votaries and hierophants, I declare it.' Then she placed - the
amulet for a pledge round his neck, and she said to him, 'I entrust my son to
you; bring him back to me safely.'
And now they brought to them the weapons, they put in their hands the great
swords in their golden scabbards, and the bow and the quiver. Gilgamesh took the
axe, he slung the quiver from his shoulder, and the bow of Anshan, and buckled
the sword to his belt; and so they were armed and ready for the journey. Now all
the people came and pressed on them and said, 'When will you return to the city?
The counsellors blessed Gilgamesh and warned him, 'Do not trust too much in your
own strength, be watchful, restrain your blows at first. The one who goes in
front protects his companion; the good guide who knows the way guards his
friend. Let Enkidu lead the way, he knows the road to the forest, he has seen
Humbaba and is experienced in battles; let him press first into the passes, let
him be watchful and look to himself. Let-Enkidu protect his friend, and guard
his companion, and bring him safe through the pitfalls of the road. We, the
counsellors of Uruk entrust our king to you, O Enkidu; bring him back safely to
us.' Again to Gilgamesh, they said, 'May Shamash give you your heart's desire,
may he let you see with your eyes the thing accomplished which your lips have
spoken; may he open a path for you where it is blocked, and a road for your feet
to tread. May he open the mountains for your crossing, and may the nighttime
bring you the blessings of night, and Lugulbanda, your guardian god, stand
beside you for victory. May you have victory in the battle as though you fought
with a child. Wash your feet in the river of Humbaba to which you are
journeying; in the evening dig a well, and let there always be pure water in
your water-skin. Offer cold water to Shamash and do not forget Lugulbanda.'
Then Enkidu opened his mouth and said, 'Forward, there is nothing to fear.
Follow me, for I know the place where Humbaba lives and the paths where he
walks. Let the counsellors go back. Here is no cause for fear.' When the
counsellors heard this they sped the hero on his way. 'Go, Gilgamesh, may your
guardian god protect you on the road and bring you safely back to the quay of
Uruk.'
After twenty leagues they broke their fast; after another thirty leagues they
stopped for the night. Fifty leagues they walked in one day; in three days they
had walked as much as a journey of a month and two weeks. They crossed seven
mountains before they came to the gate of the forest. Then Enkidu called out to
Gilgamesh, 'Do not go down into the forest; when I opened the gate my hand lost
its strength.' Gilgamesh answered him, 'Dear friend, do not speak like a coward.
Have we got the better of so many dangers and travelled so far, to turn back at
last? You, who are tried in wars and battles, hold dose to me now and you will
feel no fear of death; keep beside me and your weakness will pass, the trembling
will leave your hand. Would my friend rather stay behind? No, we will, go down
together into the heart of the forest. Let your courage be roused by the battle
to come; forget death and follow me, a man resolute in action, but one who is
not foolhardy. When two go together each will protect himself and shield his
companion, and if they fall they leave an enduring name.'
Together they went down into the forest and they came to the green mountain.
There they stood still, they were struck dumb; they stood still and gazed at the
forest. They saw the height of the cedar, they saw the way into the forest and
the track where Humbaba was used to walk. The way was broad and the going was
good. They gazed at the mountain of cedars, the dwelling-place of the gods and
the throne of Ishtar. The hugeness of the cedar rose in front of the mountain,
its shade was beautiful, full of comfort; mountain and glade were green with
brushwood:
There Gilgamesh dug a well before the setting sun. He went up the mountain and
poured out fine meal on the ground and said, 'O mountain, dwelling of the gods,
bring me a favourable dream.' Then they took each other' by the hand and lay
down to sleep; and sleep that flows from the night lapped over them. Gilgamesh
dreamed, and at midnight sleep left him, and he told his dream to his friend. 'Enkidu,
what was it that woke me if you did not? My friend, I have dreamed a dream. Get
up, look at the mountain precipice. The sleep that the gods sent me is broken.
Ah, my friend, what a dream I have had! Terror and confusion; I seized hold of a
wild bull in the wilderness. It bellowed and beat up the dust till the whole sky
was dark, my arm was seized and my tongue bitten. I fell back on' my knee; then
someone refreshed me with water from his water-skin.'
Enkidu said, 'Dear friend, the god to whom we are travelling is no wild bull,
though his form is mysterious. That wild bull which you saw is Shamash the
Protector; in our moment of peril he will take our hands. The one who gave water
from his water-skin, that is your own god who cares for your good name, your
Lugulbanda. United with him, together we will accomplish a work the fame of
which will never die.'
Gilgamesh said, 'I dreamed again. We stood in a deep gorge of the mountain, and
beside it we two were like the smallest of swamp flies; and suddenly the
mountain fell, it struck me and caught my feet from under me. Then came an
intolerable light blazing out, and in it was one whose grace and whose beauty
were greater than the beauty of this world. He pulled me out from under the
mountain, he gave me water to drink and my heart was comforted, and he set my
feet on the ground.'
Then Enkidu the child of the plains said, 'Let us go down from the mountain and
talk this thing over together.' He said to Gilgamesh the young god, 'Your dream
is good, your dream is excellent, the mountain which you saw is Humbaba. Now,
surely, we will seize and kill him, and throw his body down as the mountain fell
on the plain.'
The next day after twenty leagues they broke their fast, and after another
thirty they stopped for the night. They dug a well before the sun had set and
Gilgamesh ascended the mountain. He poured out fine meal on the ground and said,
'O mountain, dwelling of the gods, send a dream for Enkidu, make him a
favourable dream.' The mountain fashioned a dream for Enkidu; it came, an
ominous dream; a cold shower passed over him, it caused him to cower tike the
mountain barley under a storm of rain. But Gilgamesh sat with his chin on his
knees till the sleep which flows over all mankind lapped over him. Then, at
midnight, sleep left him; he got up and said to his friend, 'Did you call me, or
why did I wake? Did you touch me, or why am I terrified? Did not some god pass
by, for my limbs are numb with fear? My friend, I saw a third dream and this
dream was altogether frightful. The heavens roared and the earth roared again,
daylight failed and darkness fell, lightnings flashed, fire blazed out, the
clouds lowered, they rained down death. Then the brightness departed, the fire
went out, and all was turned to ashes fallen about us. Let us go down from the
mountain and talk this over, and consider what we should do.'
When they had come down from the mountain Gilgamesh seized the axe in his hand:
he felled the cedar. When Humbaba heard the noise far off he was enraged; he
cried out, 'Who is this that has violated my woods and cut down my cedar?' But
glorious Shamash called to them out of heaven, 'Go forward, do not be afraid.'
But now Gilgamesh was overcome by weakness, for sleep had seized him suddenly,
a profound sleep held him; he lay on the ground, stretched out speechless, as
though in a dream. When Enkidu touched him he did not rise, when he spoke to him
he did not reply. 'O Gilgamesh, Lord of the plain of Kullab, the world grows
dark, the shadows have spread over it, now is the glimmer of dusk. Shamash has
departed, his bright head is quenched in the bosom of his mother Ningal. O
Gilgamesh, how long will you lie like this, asleep? Never let the mother who
gave you birth be forced in mourning into the city square.'
At length Gilgamesh heard him; lie put on his breastplate, 'The Voice of
Heroes', of thirty shekels' weight; he put it on as though it had been a light
garment that he carried, and it covered him altogether. He straddled the earth
like a bull that snuff's the ground and his teeth were clenched. 'By the life of
my mother Ninsun who gave me birth, and by the life of my father, divine
Lugulbanda, let me live to be the wonder of my mother, as when she nursed me on
her lap.' A second time he said to him, 'By the life of Ninsun my mother who
gave me birth, and by the life of my father, divine Lugulbanda, until we have
fought thus man, if man he is, this god, if god he is, the way that I took to
the Country of the Living will not turn back to the city.'
Then Enkidu, the faithful companion, pleaded, answering him, 'O my lord, you do
not know this monster and that is the reason you are not afraid. I who know him,
I am terrified. His teeth are dragon's fangs, his countenance is like a lion,
his charge is the rushing of the flood, with his look he crushes alike the trees
of the forest and reeds in the swamp. O my Lord, you may go on if you choose
into thus land, but I will go back to the city. I will tell the lady your mother
all your glorious' deeds till she shouts for joy: and then I will tell the death
that followed till she weeps for bitterness.' But Gilgamesh said, 'Immolation
and sacrifice are not yet for me, the boat of the dead shall not go down, nor
the three-ply cloth be cut for my shrouding. Not yet will my people be desolate,
nor the pyre be lit in my house and my dwelling burnt on the fire. Today, give
me your aid and you shall have mine: what then can go amiss with us two? All
living creatures born of the flesh shall sit at last in the boat of the West,
and when it sinks, when the boat of Magilum sinks, they are gone; but we shall
go forward and fix our eyes on this monster. If your heart is fearful throw away
fear; if there is terror in it throw away terror. Take your axe in your hand and
attack. He who leaves the fight unfinished is not at peace.'
Humbaba came out from his strong house of cedar. Then Enkidu called out, 'O
Gilgamesh, remember now your boasts in Uruk. Forward, attack, son of Uruk, there
is nothing to fear.' When he heard these words his courage rallied; he answered,
'Make haste, close in, if the watchman is there do not let him escape to the
woods where he will vanish. He has put on the first of his seven splendours but
not yet the other six, let us trap him before he is armed.' Like a raging wild
bull he snuffed the ground; the watchman of the woods turned full of
threatenings, he cried out. Humbaba came from his strong house of cedar. He
nodded his head and shook it, menacing Gilgamesh; and on him he fastened his
eye, the eye of death. Then Gilgamesh called to Shamash and his tears were
flowing, 'O glorious Shamash, I have followed the road you commanded but now if
you send no succour how shall I escape? Glorious Shamash heard his prayer and he
summoned the great wind, the north wind, the whirlwind, the storm and the icy
wind, the tempest and the scorching wind; they came like dragons, like a
scorching fire, like a serpent that freezes the heart, a destroying flood and
the lightning's fork. The eight winds rose up against Humbaba, they beat against
his eyes; he was gripped, unable to go forward or back. Gilgamesh shouted, 'By
the life of Ninsun my mother and divine Lugulbanda my father, in the Country of
the Living, in this Land I have discovered your dwelling; my weak arms and my
small weapons I have brought to this Land against you, and now I will enter your
house.'
So he felled the first cedar and they cut the branches and laid them at the foot
of the mountain. At the first stroke Humbaba blazed out, but still they
advanced. They felled seven cedars and cut and bound the branches and laid them
at the foot of the mountain, and seven times Humbaba loosed his glory on them.
As the seventh blaze died out they reached his lair. He slapped his thigh in
scorn. He approached like a noble wild bull roped on the mountain, a warrior
whose elbows are bound together. The tears started to his eyes and he was pale,
'Gilgamesh, let me speak. I have never known a mother, no, nor a father who
reared me. I was born of the mountain, he reared me, and Enlil made me the
keeper of this forest. Let me go free, Gilgamesh, and I will be your servant,
you shall be my lord; all the trees of the forest that I tended on the mountain
shall be yours. I will cut them down and build you a palace.' He took him by the
hand and led him to his house, so that the heart of Gilgamesh was moved with
compassion. He swore by the heavenly life, by the earthly life, by the
underworld itself: 'O Enkidu, should not the snared, bird return to its nest and
the captive man return to his mother's arms?' Enkidu answered, 'The strongest of
men will fall to fate if he has no judgement. Namtar, the evil fate that knows
no distinction between men, will devour him. If the snared bird returns to its
nest, if the captive man returns to his mother's arms, then you my friend will
never return to the city where the mother is waiting who gave you birth. He will
bar the mountain road against you, and make the pathways impassable.'
Humbaba said, 'Enkidu, what you have spoken is evil: you, a hireling, dependent
for your bread! In envy and for fear of a rival you have spoken evil words.'
Enkidu said, 'Do not listen, Gilgamesh: this Humbaba must die. Kill Humbaba
first and his servants after.' But Gilgamesh said, 'If we touch him the blaze
and the glory of light will be put out in confusion, the glory and glamour will
vanish, its rays will be quenched.' Enkidu said to Gilgamesh, 'Not so, my
friend. First entrap the bird, and where shall the chicks run then? Afterwards
we can search out the glory and the glamour, when the chicks run distracted
through the grass.'
Gilgamesh listened to the word of his companion, he took the axe in his hand, he
drew the sword from his belt, and he struck Humbaba with a thrust of the sword
to the neck, and Enkidu his comrade struck the second blow. At the third blow
Humbaba fell. Then there followed confusion for this was the guardian of the
forest whom they had felled to the ground. For as far as two leagues the cedars
shivered when Enkidu felled the watcher of the forest, he at whose voice Hermon
and Lebanon used to tremble. Now the mountains were moved and all the hills, for
the guardian of the forest was killed. They attacked the cedars, the seven
splendours of Humbaba were extinguished. So they pressed on into the forest
bearing the sword of eight talents. They uncovered the sacred dwellings of the
Anunnaki and while Gilgamesh felled the first of the trees of the forest Enkidu
cleared their roots as far as the banks of Euphrates. They set Humbaba before
the gods, before Enlil; they kissed the ground and dropped the shroud and set
the head before him. When he saw the head of Humbaba, Enlil raged at them. 'Why
did you do this thing? From henceforth may the fire be on your faces, may it eat
the bread that you eat, may it drink where you drink.' Then Enlil took again the
blaze and the seven splendours that had been Humbaba's: he gave the first to the
river, and he gave to the lion, to the stone of execration, to the mountain and
to the dreaded daughter of the Queen of Hell.
O Gilgamesh, king and conqueror of the dreadful blaze; wild bull who plunders
the mountain, who crosses the sea, glory to him, and from the brave the greater
glory is Enki's!
GILGAMESH Washed out his long locks and cleaned his weapons;
he flung back his hair from his shoulders; he threw off his stained clothes and
changed them for new. He put on his royal robes and made them fast. When
Gilgamesh had put on the crown, glorious Ishtar lifted her eyes, seeing the
beauty of Gilgamesh. She said, 'Come to me Gilgamesh, and be my bridegroom;
grant me seed of your body, let me be your bride and you shall be my husband. I
will harness for you a chariot of lapis lazuli and of gold, with wheels of gold
and horns of copper; and you shall have mighty demons of the storm for draft
mules. When you enter our house in the fragrance of cedar-wood, threshold and
throne will kiss your feet. Kings, rulers, and princes will bow down before you;
they shall bring you tribute from the mountains and the plain. Your ewes shall
drop twins and your goats triplets; your pack-ass shall outrun mules; your oxen
shall have no rivals, and your chariot horses shall be famous far-off for their
swiftness.'
Gilgamesh opened his mouth and answered glorious Ishtar, 'If I take you in
marriage, what gifts can I give in return? What ointments and clothing for your
body? I would gladly give you bread and all sorts of food fit for a god. I would
give you wine to drink fit for a queen. I would pour out barley to stuff your
granary; but as for making you my wife - that I will not. How would it go with
me? Your lovers have found you like a brazier which smoulders in the cold, a
backdoor which keeps out neither squall of wind nor storm, a castle which
crushes the garrison, pitch that blackens the bearer, a water-skin that chafes
the carrier, a stone which falls from the parapet, a battering-ram turned back
from the enemy, a sandal that trips the wearer. Which of your lovers did you
ever love for ever? What shepherd of yours has pleased you for all time? Listen
to me while I tell the tale of your lovers. There was Tammuz, the lover of your
youth, for him you decreed wailing, year after year. You loved the many coloured
roller, but still you struck and broke his wing; now in the grove he sits and
cries, "kappi, kappi, my wing, my wing." You have loved the lion tremendous in
strength: seven pits you dug for him, and seven. You have loved the stallion
magnificent in battle, and for him you decreed whip and spur and a thong, to
gallop seven leagues by force and to muddy the water before he drinks; and for
his mother Silili lamentations. You have loved the shepherd of the flock; he
made meal-cake for you day after day, he killed kids for your sake. You struck
and turned him into a wolf, now his own herd-boys chase him away, his own hounds
worry his flanks. And did you not love Ishullanu, the gardener of your father's
palm grove? He brought you baskets filled with dates without end; every day he
loaded your table. Then you turned your eyes on him and said, "Dearest Ishullanu,
come here to me, let us enjoy your manhood, come forward and take me, I am
yours.' Ishullanu answered, "What are you asking from me? My mother has baked
and I have eaten; why should I come to such as you for food that is tainted and
rotten? For when was a screen of rushes sufficient protection from frosts?" But
when you had beard his answer you struck him. He was changed to a blind mole
deep in the earth, one whose desire is always beyond his reach. And if you and I
should be lovers, should not I be served in the same fashion as all these others
whom you loved once?'
When Ishtar heard this she fell into a bitter rage, she went up to high heaven.
Her tears poured down in front of her father Anu, and Antum her mother. She
said, 'My father, Gilgamesh has heaped insults on me, he has told over all my
abominable behaviour, my foul and hideous acts.' Anu opened his mouth and said,
'Are you a father of gods? Did not you quarrel with Gilgamesh the king, so now
he has related your abominable behaviour, your foul and hideous acts.'
Ishtar opened her mouth and said again, 'My father, give me the Bull of Heaven
to destroy Gilgamesh. Fill Gilgamesh, I say, with arrogance to his destruction;
but if you refuse to give me the Bull of Heaven I will break in the doors of
hell and smash the bolts; there will be confusion of people, those above with
those from the lower depths. I shall bring up the dead to eat food like the
living; and the hosts of dead will outnumber the living.' Anusa d to great
Ishtar, 'If I do what you desire there will be seven years of drought throughout
Uruk when corn will be seedless husks. Have you saved grain enough for the
people and grass for the cattle? Ishtar replied. 'I have saved grain for the
people, grass for the cattle; for seven years o£ seedless husks there is grain
and there is grass enough.'
When Anu heard what Ishtar had said he gave her the Bull of Heaven to lead by
the halter down to Uruk: When they reached the gates of Uruk the Bull went to
the river; with his first snort cracks opened in the earth and, a hundred young
men fell down to death. With his second snort cracks opened and two hundred fell
down to death. With his third snort cracks opened, Enkidu doubled over but
instantly recovered, he dodged aside and leapt on the Bull and seized it by the
horns. The Bull of Heaven foamed in his face, it brushed him with the thick of
its tail. Enkidu cried to Gilgamesh, 'my friend, we boasted that we would .leave
enduring names behind us. Now thrust in your sword between the nape and the
horns.' So Gilgamesh followed the Bull, he seized the thick of its tail, he
thrust the sword between the nape and the horns and slew the Bull. When they had
killed the Bull of Heaven they cut out its heart and gave it to Shamash, and the
brothers rested.
But Ishtar rose tip and mounted the great wall of Uruk; she sprang on to the
tower and uttered a curse: 'Woe to Gilgamesh, for he has scorned me in killing
the Bull of Heaven.' When Enkidu heard these words he tore out the Bull's right
thigh and tossed it in her face saying, 'If I could lay my hands on you, it is
this I should do to you, and lash the entrails to your side.' Then Ishtar called
together her people, the dancing and singing girls, the prostitutes of the
temple, the courtesans. Over the thigh of the Bull of Heaven she set up
lamentation.
But Gilgamesh called the smiths and the armourers, all of them together. They
admired the immensity of the horns. They were plated with lapis lazuli two
fingers thick. They were thirty pounds each in weight, and their capacity in oil
was six measures, which he gave to his guardian god, Lugulbanda. But he carried
the horns into the palace and hung them on the wall. Then they washed their
hands in Euphrates, they embraced each other and went away. They drove through
the streets of Uruk where the heroes were gathered to see them, and Gilgamesh
called to the singing girls, 'Who is most glorious of the heroes, who is most
eminent among men?' 'Gilgamesh is the most glorious of heroes, Gilgamesh is most
eminent among men.' And now there was feasting, and celebrations and joy in the
palace, till the heroes lay down saying, 'Now we will rest for the night.'
When the daylight came Enkidu got up and cried to Gilgamesh, 'O my brother, such
a dream I had last night. Anu, Enlil, Ea and heavenly Shamash took counsel
together, and Anu said to Enlil, "Because they have killed the Bull of Heaven,
and because they have killed Humbaba who guarded the Cedar Mountain one of the
two must , die." Then glorious Shamash answered the hero Enlil, "It was by your
command they killed the Bull of Heaven, and killed Humbaba, and must Enkidu die
although innocent?" Enlil flung round in rage at glorious Shamash, "You dare to
say this, you who went about with them every day like one of themselves!"'
So Enkidu lay stretched out before Gilgamesh; his tears ran down in streams and
he said to Gilgamesh, ' O my brother, so dear as you are to me, brother, yet
they will take me from you.' Again he said, 'I must sit down on the threshold of
the dead and never again will I see my dear brother with my eyes.'
While Enkidu lay alone in his sickness he cursed the gate as though it was
living flesh, 'You there, wood of the gate, dull and insensible, witless, I
searched for you over twenty leagues until I saw the towering cedar. There is no
wood like you in our land. Seventy-two cubits high and twenty-four wide, the
pivot and the ferrule and the jambs are perfect. A master craftsman from Nippur
has made you; but O, if I had known the conclusion! If I had known that this was
all the good that would come of it, I would have raised the axe and split you
into little pieces and set up here a gate of wattle instead. Ah, if only some
future king had brought you here, or some god- had fashioned you. Let him
obliterate my name and write his own, and the curse fall on him instead of on
Enkidu.'
With the first brightening of dawn Enkidu raised his head and wept before the
Sun God, in the brilliance of the sunlight his tears streamed down. 'Sun God, I
beseech you, about that vile Trapper, that Trapper of nothing because of whom I
was to catch less than my comrade; let him catch least, make his game scarce,
make him feeble, taking the smaller of every share, let his quarry escape from
his nets.'
When he had cursed the Trapper to his heart's content he turned on the harlot.
He was roused to curse her also. 'As for you, woman, with a great curse I curse
you! I will promise you a destiny to all eternity. My curse shall come on you
soon and sudden. You shall be without a roof for your commerce, for you shall
not keep house with other girls in the tavern, but do your business in places
fouled by the vomit of the drunkard. Your hire will be potter's earth, your
thievings will be flung into the hovel, you will sit at the cross-roads in the
dust of the potter's quarter, you will make your bed on the dunghill at night,
and by day take your stand in the wall's shadow. Brambles and thorns will tear
your feet, the drunk and the dry will strike your cheek and your mouth will
ache. Let you be stripped of your purple dyes, for I too once in the wilderness
with my wife had all the treasure I wished.'
When Shamash heard the words of Enkidu he called to him from heaven: 'Enkidu,
why are you cursing the woman, the mistress who taught you to eat bread fit for
gods and drink wine of kings? She who put upon you a 'magnificent garment, did
she not give you glorious Gilgamesh for your companion, and has not Gilgamesh,
your own brother, made you rest on a 'royal bed and recline on a couch at his
left hand? He has made the princes of the earth kiss your feet, and now all the
people of Uruk lament and wail over you. When you are dead he will let his hair
grow long for your sake, he will wear a lion's pelt and wander through the
desert.'
When Enkidu heard glorious Shamash his angry heart grew quiet, he called back
the curse and said, 'Woman, I promise you another destiny. The mouth which
cursed you shall bless you! Kings, princes and nobles shall adore you. On your
account a man though twelve miles off will clap his hand to his thigh and his
hair will twitch. For you he will undo his belt and open his treasure and you
shall have your desire; lapis lazuli, gold and' carnelian from the heap in the
treasury. A ring for your hand and a robe shall be yours. The priest will lead
you into the presence of the gods. On your account a wife, a mother of seven,
was forsaken.'
As Enkidu slept alone in his sickness, in bitterness of spirit he poured out his
heart to his friend. 'It was I who cut down the cedar, I who levelled the
forest, I who slew Humbaba and now see what has become of me. Listen, my friend,
this is the dream I dreamed last night. The heavens roared, and earth rumbled
back an answer; between them stood I before an awful being, the sombre-faced
man-bird; he had directed on me his purpose. His was a vampire face, his foot
was a lion's foot, his hand was an eagle's talon. He fell on me and his claws
were in my hair, he held me fast and I smothered; then he transformed me so that
my arms became wings covered with feathers. He turned his stare towards me, and
he led me away to the palace of Irkalla, the Queen of Darkness, to the house
from which none who enters ever returns, down the road from which there is no
coming back.
'There is the house whose people sit in darkness; dust is their food and clay
their meat. They are clothed like birds with wings for covering, they see no
light, they sit in darkness. I entered the house of dust and I saw the kings of
the earth, their crowns put away for ever; rulers and princes, all those who
once wore kingly crowns and ruled the world in the days of old. They who had
stood in the place of the gods like Ann and Enlil stood now like servants to
fetch baked meats in the house of dust, to carry cooked meat and cold water from
the water-skin. In the house of dust which I entered were high priests and
acolytes, priests of the incantation and of ecstasy; there were servers of the
temple, and there was Etana, that king of Dish whom the eagle carried to heaven
in the days of old. I saw also Samuqan, god of cattle, and there was Ereshkigal
the Queen of the Underworld; and Befit-Sheri squatted in front of her, she who
is recorder of the gods and keeps the book of death. She held a tablet from
which she read. She raised her head, she saw me and spoke: "Who has brought this
one here?" Then I awoke like a man drained of blood who wanders alone in a waste
of rashes; like one whom the bailiff has seized and his heart pounds with
terror.'
Gilgamesh had peeled off his clothes, he listened to his words and wept quick
tears, Gilgamesh listened and his tears flowed. He opened his mouth and spoke to
Enkidu: 'Who is there in strong-walled Uruk who has wisdom like this? Strange
things have been spoken, why does your heart speak strangely? The dream was
marvellous but the terror was great; we must treasure the dream whatever the
terror; for the dream has shown that misery comes at last to the healthy man,
the end of life is sorrow.' And Gilgamesh lamented, 'Now I will pray to the
great gods, for my friend had an ominous dream.'
This day on which Enkidu dreamed came to an end and be lay stricken with
sickness. One whole day he lay on his bed and his suffering increased. He said
to Gilgamesh, the friend on whose account he had left the wilderness, 'Once I
ran for you, for the water of life, and I now have nothing:' A second day he lay
on his bed and Gilgamesh watched over him but the sickness increased. A third
day he lay on his bed, he called out to Gilgamesh, rousing him up. Now he was
weak and his eyes were blind with weeping. Ten days he lay and his suffering
increased, eleven and twelve days he lay on his bed of pain. Then he called to
Gilgamesh, 'My friend, the great goddess cursed me and I must die in shame. I
shall not die like a man fallen in battle; I feared to fall, but happy is the
man who falls in the battle, for I must die in shame.' And Gilgamesh wept over
Enkidu. With the first light of dawn he raised his voice and said to the
counsellors of Uruk:
'Hear me, great ones of Uruk,
I weep for Enkidu, my friend,
Bitterly moaning like a woman mourning
I weep for my brother.
O Enkidu, my brother,
You were the axe at my side,
My hand's strength, the sword in my belt,
The shield before me,
A glorious robe, my fairest ornament;
An evil Fate has robbed me.
The wild ass and the gazelle
That were father and mother,
All long-tailed creatures that nourished you
Weep for you,
All the wild things of the plain and pastures;
The paths that you loved in the forest of cedars
Night and day murmur.
Let the great ones of strong-walled Uruk
Weep for you;
Let the finger of blessing
Be stretched out in mourning;
Enkidu, young brother. Hark,
There is an echo through all the country
Like a mother mourning.
Weep all the paths where we walked together;
And the beasts we hunted, the bear and hyena,
Tiger and panther, leopard and lion,
The stag and the ibex, the bull and the doe.
The river along whose banks we used to walk,
Weeps for you,
Ula of Elam and dear Euphrates
Where once we drew water for the water-skins.
The mountain we climbed where we slew the Watchman,
Weeps for you.
The warriors of strong-walled Uruk
Where the Bull of Heaven was killed,
Weep for you.
All the people of Eridu
Weep for you Enkidu.
Those who brought grain for your eating
Mourn for you now;
Who rubbed oil on your back
Mourn for you now;
Who poured beer for your drinking
Mourn for you now.
The harlot who anointed you with fragrant ointment
Laments for you now;
The women of the palace, who brought you a wife,
A chosen ring of good advice,
Lament for you now.
And the young men your brothers
As though they were women
Go long-haired in mourning.
What is this sleep which holds you now?
You are lost in the dark and cannot hear me.'
He touched his heart but it did not beat, nor did he lift his
eyes again. When Gilgamesh touched his heart it did not beat. So Gilgamesh laid
a veil, as one veils the bride, over his friend. He began to rage like a lion,
like a lioness robbed of her whelps. This way and that he paced round the bed,
he tore out his hair and strewed it around. He dragged of his splendid robes and
flung them down as though they were abominations.
In the first light of dawn Gilgamesh cried out, 'I made you rest on a royal bed,
you reclined on a couch at my left hand, the princes of the earth kissed your
feet. I will cause all the people of Uruk to weep over you and raise the dirge
of the dead. The joyful people will stoop with sorrow; and when you have gone to
the earth I will let my hair grow long for your sake, I will wander through the
wilderness in the skin of a lion.' The next day also, in the first light,
Gilgamesh lamented; seven days and seven nights he wept for Enkidu, until the
worm fastened on him. Only then he gave him up to the earth, for the Anunnaki,
the judges, had seized him.
Then Gilgamesh issued a proclamation through the land, he summoned them all, the
coppersmiths, the goldsmiths, the stone-workers, and commanded them, 'Make a
statue of my friend.' The statue was fashioned with a great weight of lapis
lazuli for the breast and of gold for the body. A table of hard-wood was set
out, and on it a bowl of carnelian filled with honey, and a bowl of lapis lazuli
filled with butter. These he exposed and offered to the Sun; and weeping he went
away.
BITTERLY Gilgamesh wept for his friend Enkidu; he wandered
over the wilderness as a hunter, he roamed over the plains; in his bitterness he
cried, 'How can I rest, how can I be at peace? Despair is in my heart. What my
brother is now, that shall I be when I am dead. Because I am afraid of death I
will go as best I can to find Utnapishtim whom they call the Faraway, for he has
entered the assembly of the gods.' So Gilgamesh travelled over the wilderness,
he wandered over the grasslands, a long journey, in search of Utnapishtim, whom
the gods took after the deluge; and they set him to live in the land of Dilmun,
in the garden of the sun; and to him alone of men they gave everlasting life.
At night when he came to the mountain passes Gilgamesh prayed: 'In these
mountain passes long ago I saw lions, I was afraid and I lifted my eyes to the
moon; I prayed and my prayers went up to the gods, so now, O moon god Sin,
protect me.' When he had prayed he lay down to sleep, until he was woken from
out of a dream. He saw the lions round him glorying in life; then he took his
axe in his hand, he drew his sword from his belt, and he fell upon them like an
arrow from the string, and struck and destroyed and scattered them.
So at length Gilgamesh came to Mashu, the great mountains about which he had
heard many things, which guard the rising and the setting sun. Its twin peaks
are as high as the wall of heaven and its paps reach down to the underworld. At
its gate the Scorpions stand guard, half man and half dragon; their glory is
terrifying, their stare strikes death into men, their shimmering halo sweeps the
mountains that guard the rising sun. When Gilgamesh saw them he shielded his
eyes for the length of a moment only; then he took courage and approached. When
they saw him so undismayed the Man-Scorpion called to his mate, 'This one who
comes to us now is flesh of the gods.' The mate of the Man-Scorpion answered,
'Two thirds is god but one third is man.'
Then he called to the man Gilgamesh, he called to the child of the gods: ' Why
have you come so great a journey; for what have you travelled so far, crossing
the dangerous waters; tell me the reason for your coming?' Gilgamesh answered,
'For Enkidu; I loved him dearly, together we endured all kinds of hardships; on
his account I have come, for the common lot of man has taken him. I have wept
for him day and night, I would not give up his body for burial, I thought my
friend would come back because of my weeping. Since he went, my life is nothing;
that is why I have travelled here in search of Utnapishtim my father; for men
say he has entered the assembly of the gods, and has found everlasting life: I
have a desire to question him, concerning the living and the dead.' The
Man-Scorpion opened his mouth and said, speaking to Gilgamesh, 'No man born of
woman has done what you have asked, no mortal man has gone into the mountain;
the length of it is twelve leagues of darkness; in it there is no light, but the
heart is oppressed with darkness. From the rising of the sun to the setting of
the sun there is no light.' Gilgamesh said, 'Although I should go in sorrow and
in pain, with sighing and with weeping, still I must go. Open the gate ' of the
mountain:' And the Man-Scorpion said, 'Go, Gilgamesh, I permit you to pass
through the mountain of Mashu and through the high ranges; may your feet carry
you safely home. The gate of the mountain is open.'
When Gilgamesh heard this he did as the Man-Scorpion had said, he followed the
sun's road to his rising, through the mountain. When he had gone one league the
darkness became thick around him, for there was no light, he could see nothing
ahead and nothing behind him. After two leagues the darkness was thick and there
was no light, he could see nothing ahead and nothing behind him. After three
leagues the darkness was thick, and there was no w light, he could see nothing
ahead and nothing behind him. After four leagues the darkness was thick and
there was no light, he could see nothing ahead and nothing behind him. At the
end of five leagues the darkness was thick and there was no light, he could see
nothing ahead and nothing behind him. At the end of six leagues the darkness was
thick and there was no light, he could see nothing ahead and nothing behind him.
When he had gone seven leagues the darkness was thick and there was no light, he
could see nothing ahead and nothing behind him. When he had gene eight leagues
Gilgamesh gave a great cry, for the darkness was thick and he could see nothing
ahead and nothing behind him. After nine leagues he felt the north-wind on his
face, but the darkness was thick and there was no light, he could see nothing
ahead and nothing behind him. After ten leagues the end was near: After eleven
leagues the dawn light appeared. At the end of twelve leagues the sun streamed
out.
There was the garden of the gods; all round him stood bushes bearing gems.
Seeing it he went down at once, for there was fruit of carnelian with the vine
hanging from it, beautiful to look at; lapis lazuli leaves hung thick with
fruit, sweet to see. For thorns and thistles there were haematite and rare
stones, agate, and pearls from out of the sea. While Gilgamesh walked in the
garden by the edge of the sea Shamash saw him, and he saw that he was dressed in
the skins of animals and ate their flesh. He was distressed, and he spoke and
said, 'No mortal man has gone this way before, nor will, as long as the winds
drive over the sea.' And to Gilgamesh he said, 'You will never find the life for
which you are searching.' Gilgamesh said to glorious Shamash, 'Now that I have
toiled and strayed so far over the wilderness, am I to sleep, and let the earth
cover my head for ever? Let my eyes see the sun until they are dazzled with
looking. Although I am no better than a dead man, still let me see the light of
the sun.'
Beside the sea she lives, the woman of the vine, the maker, of wine; Siduri sits
in the garden at the edge of the sea, with the golden bowl and the golden vats
that the gods gave her. She is covered with a veil; and where she sits she sees
Gilgamesh coming towards her, wearing skins, the flesh of the gods in his body,
but despair in his heart, and his face like the face of one who has made a long
journey. She looked, and as she scanned the distance she said in her own heart,
'Surely this is some felon; where is he going now? And she barred her gate
against him with the cross-bar and shot home the bolt. But Gilgamesh, hearing
the sound of the bolt, threw up his head and lodged his foot in the gate; he
called to her, 'Young woman, maker of wine, why do you bolt your door; what did
you see that made you bar your gate? I will break in your door and burst in your
gate, for I am Gilgamesh who seized and killed the Bull of Heaven, I killed the
watchman of the cedar forest, I overthrew Humbaba who lived in the forest, and I
killed the lions in the passes of the mountain.'
Then Siduri said to him, 'If you are that Gilgamesh who seized and killed the
Bull of Heaven, who killed the watchman of the cedar forest, who overthrew
Humbaba that lived in the forest, and killed the lions in the passes of the
mountain, why are your cheeks so starved and why is your face so drawn? Why is
despair in your heart and your face like the face of one who has made a long
journey? Yes, why is your face burned from heat and cold, and why do you come
here wandering over the pastures in search of the wind?
Gilgamesh answered her, 'And why should not my cheeks be starved and my face
drawn? Despair is in my heart and my face is the face of one who has made a long
journey, it was burned with heat and with cold. Why should I not wander over the
pastures in search of the wind? My friend, my younger brother, he who hunted the
wild ass of the wilderness and the panther of the plains, nay friend, my younger
brother who seized and killed the Bull of Heaven and overthrew Humbaba in the
cedar forest, my friend who was very dear to me and who endured dangers beside
me, Enkidu my brother, whom I laved, the end of mortality has overtaken him. I
wept far him seven days and nights till the worm fastened on him. Because of my
brother I am afraid of death, because of my brother I stray through the
wilderness and cannot rest. But now, young woman, maker of wine, since I have
seen your face do not let me see the face of death which I dread so much.'
She answered, 'Gilgamesh, where are you hurrying to? You will never find that
life for which you are looking. When the gods created man they allotted to him
death, but life they retained in their own keeping. As for you, Gilgamesh, fill
your belly with good things; day and night, night and day, dance and be merry,
feast and rejoice. Let your clothes be fresh, bathe yourself in water, cherish
the little child that holds your hand, and make your wife happy in your embrace;
for this too is the lot of man.'
But Gilgamesh said to Siduri, the young woman, 'How can I be silent, how can I
rest, when Enkidu whom I love is dust, and I too shall die and be laid in the
earth. You live by the sea-shore and look into the heart of it; young woman,
tell me now, which is the way to Utnapishtim, the son of Ubara-Tutu? What
directions are there for the passage; give me, oh, give me directions. I will
cross the Ocean if it is possible; if it is not I will wander still farther in
the wilderness.' The wine-maker said to him, 'Gilgamesh, there is no crossing
the Ocean; whoever has come, since the days of old, has not been able to pass
that sea. The Sun in his glory crosses the Ocean, but who beside Shamash has
ever crossed it? The place and the passage are difficult, and the waters of
death are deep which flow between. Gilgamesh, how will you cross the Ocean? When
you come to the waters of death what will you do? But Gilgamesh, down in the
woods you will find Urshanabi, the ferryman of Utnapishtim; with him are the
holy things, the things of stone. He is fashioning the serpent prow of the boat.
Look at him well, and if it is possible, perhaps you will cross the waters with
him; but if it is not possible, then you must go back.'
When Gilgamesh heard this he was seized with anger. He took his axe in his hand,
and his dagger from his belt. He crept forward and he fell on them like a
javelin. Then he went into the forest and sat down. Urshanabi saw the dagger
flash and heard the axe, and he beat his head, for Gilgamesh had shattered the
tackle of the boat in his rage. Urshanabi said to him, 'Tell me, what is your
name? I am Urshanabi, the ferryman of Utnapishtim the Faraway.'' He replied to
him, 'Gilgamesh is my name, I am from Uruk, from the house of Anu.' Then
Urshanabi said to him, 'Why are your cheeks so starved and your face drawn? Why
is despair in your heart and your face like the face of one who has made a long
journey; yes, why is your face burned with heat and with cold, and why do you
come here wandering over the pastures in search of the wind?
Gilgamesh said to him, 'Why should not my cheeks be starved and my face drawn?
Despair is in my heart, and my face is the face of one who has made a long
journey. I was burned with heat and with cold. Why should I not wander over the
pastures? My friend, my younger brother who seized and killed the Bull of
Heaven, and overthrew Humbaba in the cedar forest, my friend who was very dear
to me, and who endured dangers beside me, Enkidu my brother whom I loved, the
end of mortality has overtaken him. I wept for him seven days and nights till
the worm fastened on him. Because of my brother I am afraid of death, because of
my brother I stray through the wilderness. His fate lies heavy upon me. How can
I be silent, how can I rest? He is dust and I too shall die and be laid in the
earth for ever. I am afraid of death, therefore, Urshanabi, tell me which is the
road to Utnapishtim? If it is possible I will cross the waters of death; if not
I will wander still farther through the wilderness.'
Urshanabi said to him, 'Gilgamesh, your own hands have prevented you from
crossing the Ocean; when you destroyed the tackle of the boat you destroyed its
safety.' Then the two of them talked it over and Gilgamesh said, 'Why are you so
angry with me, Urshanabi, for you yourself cross the sea by day and night, at
all seasons you cross it' 'Gilgamesh, those things you destroyed, their property
is to carry me over the water, to prevent the waters of death from touching me.
It was for this reason that I preserved them, but you have destroyed them, and
the urnu snakes with them. But now, go into the forest, Gilgamesh; with
your axe cut poles, one hundred and twenty, cut them sixty cubits long, paint
them with bitumen, set on them ferrules and bring them back.'
When Gilgamesh heard this he went into the forest, he cut poles one hundred and
twenty; he cut them sixty cubits long, he painted them with bitumen, he set on
them ferrules, and he brought them to Urshanabi. Then they boarded the boat,
Gilgamesh and Urshanabi together, launching it out on the waves of Ocean. For
three days they ran on as it were a journey of a month and fifteen days, and at
last Urshanabi brought the boat to the waters of death: Then Urshanabi said to
Gilgamesh, 'Press on, take a pole and thrust it in, but do not let your hands
touch the waters. Gilgamesh, take a second pole, take a third, take a fourth
pole. Now, Gilgamesh, take a fifth, take a sixth and seventh pole. Gilgamesh,
take an eighth, and ninth, a tenth pole. Gilgamesh, take an eleventh, take a
twelfth pole.' After one hundred and twenty thrusts Gilgamesh had used the last
pole. Then he stripped himself, he held up his arms for a mast and his covering
for a sail. So Urshanabi the ferryman brought Gilgamesh to Utnapishtim, whom
they call the Faraway, who lives in Dihnun at the place of the sun's transit,
eastward of the mountain. To him alone of men the gods had given everlasting
life.
Now Utnapishtim, where he lay at ease, looked into the distance and he said in
his heart, musing to himself, 'Why does the boat sail here without tackle and
mast; why are the sacred stones destroyed, and why does the master not sail the
boat? That man who comes is none of mine; where I look I see a man whose body is
covered with skins of beasts. Who is this who walks up the shore behind
Urshanabi, for surely he is no man of mine? So Utnapishtim looked at him and
said, 'What is your name, you who come here wearing the skins of beasts, with
your cheeks starved and your face drawn? Where are you hurrying to now? For what
reason have you made this great journey, crossing "the seas whose passage is
difficult? Tell me the reason for your coming.'
He replied, 'Gilgamesh is my name. I am from Uruk, from the house of Anu.' Then
Utnapishtim said to him, 'If you are Gilgamesh, why are your cheeks so starved
and your face drawn? Why is despair in your heart and your face like the face of
one who has made a long journey? Yes, why is your face burned with heat and
cold; and why do you come here, wandering over the wilderness in search of the
wind?
Gilgamesh said to him, 'Why should not my cheeks be starved and my face drawn?
Despair is in my heart and my face is the face of one who has made a long
journey. It was burned with heat and with cold. Why should I not wander over the
pastures? My friend, my younger brother who seized and killed the Bull of Heaven
and overthrew Humbaba in the cedar forest, my friend who was very dear to me and
endured dangers beside me, Enkidu, my brother whom I loved, the end of mortality
has overtaken him. I wept for him seven days and nights till the worm fastened
on him. Because of my brother I am afraid of death; because of my brother I
stray through the wilderness. His fate lies heavy upon me. How can I be silent,
how can I rest? He is dust and I shall die also and be laid in the . earth for
ever.' Again Gilgamesh said, speaking to Utnapishtim, 'It is to see Utnapishtim
whom we call the Faraway that I have come this journey. For. this I have
wandered over the world, I have crossed many difficult ranges, I have crossed
the seas, I have wearied myself with travelling; my joints are aching, and I
have lost acquaintance with sleep which is sweet. My clothes were worn out
before I came to the house of Siduri. I have killed the bear and hyena, the lion
and panther, the tiger, the stag and the ibex, all sorts of wild game and the
small creatures of the pastures. I ate their flesh and I wore their skins; and
that was how I came to the gate of the young woman, the maker of wine, who
barred her gate of pitch and bitumen against me. But from her I had news of the
journey; so then I came to Urshanabi the ferryman, and with him I crossed over
the waters of death. Oh, father Utnapishtim, you who have entered the assembly
of the gods, I wish to question you concerning the living and the dead, how
shall I find the life for which I am searching?
Utuapishtim said, 'There is no permanence. Do we build a house to stand for
ever, do we seal a contract to hold for all time? Do brothers divide an
inheritance to keep for ever, does the flood-time of rivers endure? It is only
the nymph of the dragon-fly who sheds her larva and sees the sun in his glory.
From the days of old there is no permanence. The sleeping and the dead, how
alike they are, they are like a painted death. What is there between the master
and the servant when both have fulfilled their doom? When the Anunnaki, the
judges, come together, and Mammetun the mother of destinies, together they
decree the fates of men. Life and death they allot but the day of death they do
not disclose.'
Then Gilgamesh said to Utnapishtim the Faraway, 'I look at you now, Utnapishtim,
and your appearance is no different from mine; there is nothing strange in your
features. I thought I should find you like a hero prepared for
battle, but you he here taking your ease on your back. Tell me truly, how was it
that you came to enter the company of the gods and to possess everlasting life?'
Utnapishtim said to Gilgamesh, 'I will reveal to you a mystery, I will tell you
a secret of the gods.'
'You know the city Shurrupak, it stands on the banks of
Euphrates? That city grew old and the gods that were in it were old. There was
Anu,-lord of the firmament, their father, and warrior Enlil their counsellor,
Ninurta the helper, and Ennugi watcher over canals; and with them also was Ea.
In those days the world teemed, the people multiplied, the world bellowed like a
wild bull, and the great god was aroused by the clamour. Enlil heard the clamour
and he said to the gods in council, "The uproar of mankind is intolerable and
sleep is no longer possible by reason of the babel." So the gods agreed to
exterminate mankind. Enlil did this, but Ea because of his oath warned me in a
dream. He whispered their words to my house of reeds, "Reed-house, reed-house!
Wall, O wall, hearken reed-house, wall reflect; O man of Shurrupak, son of Ubara-Tutu;
tear down your house and build a boat, abandon possessions and look for life,
despise worldly goods and save your soul alive. Tear down your house, I say, and
build a boat. These are the measurements of the barque as you shall build her:
let hex beam equal her length, let her deck be roofed like the vault that covers
the abyss; then take up into the boat the seed of all living creatures."
'When I had understood I said to my lord, "Behold, what you have commanded I
will honour and perform, but how shall I answer the people, the city, the
elders?" Then Ea opened his mouth and said to me, his servant, "Tell them this:
I have learnt that Enlil is wrathful against me, I dare no longer walk in his
land nor live in his city; I will go down to the Gulf to dwell with Ea my lord.
But on you he will rain down abundance, rare fish and shy wild-fowl, a rich
harvest-tide. In the evening the rider of the storm will bring you wheat in
torrents."
'In the first light of dawn all my household gathered round me, the children
brought pitch and the men whatever was necessary. On the fifth day I laid the
keel and the ribs, then I made fast the planking. The ground-space was one acre,
each side of the deck measured one hundred and twenty cubits, making a square. I
built six decks below, seven in all, I divided them into nine sections with
bulkheads between. I drove in wedges where needed, I saw to the punt poles, and
laid in supplies. The carriers brought oil in baskets, I poured pitch into the
furnace and asphalt and oil; more oil was consumed in caulking, and more again
the master of the boat took into his stores. I slaughtered bullocks for the
people and every day I killed sheep. I gave the shipwrights wine to drink as
though it were river water, raw wine and red wine and oil and white wine. There
was feasting then as there is at the time of the New Year's festival; I myself
anointed my head. On the seventh day the boat was complete.
'Then was the launching full of difficulty; there was shifting of ballast above
and below till two thirds was submerged. I loaded into her all that 1 had of
gold and of living things, my family, my kin, the beast of the field both wild
and tame, and all the craftsmen. I sent them on board, for the time that Shamash
had ordained was already fulfilled when he said, "in the evening, when the rider
of the storm sends down the destroying rain, enter the boat and batten her
down." The time was fulfilled, the evening came, the rider of the storm sent
down the rain. I looked out at the weather and it was terrible, so I too boarded
the boat and battened her down. All was now complete, the battening and the
caulking; so I handed the tiller to Puzur-Amurri the steersman, with the
navigation and the care of the whole boat.
'With the first light of dawn a black cloud came from the horizon; it thundered
within where Adad, lord of the storm was riding. In front over hill and plain
Shullat and Hanish, heralds of the storm, led on. Then the gods of the abyss
rose up; Nergal pulled out the dams of the nether waters, Ninurta the war-lord
threw down the dykes, and the seven judges of hell, the Annunaki, raised their
torches, lighting the land with their livid flame. A stupor of despair went up
to heaven when the god of the storm turned daylight to darkness, when he smashed
the land like a cup. One whole day the tempest raged, gathering fury as .it
went, it poured over the people like the tides of battle; a imam could not see
his brother nor the people be seen from heaven. Even the gods were terrified at
the flood, they fled to the highest heaven, the firmament of Ann; they crouched
against the walls, cowering like curs. Then Ishtar the sweet-voiced Queen of
Heaven cried out like a woman in travail: "Alas the days of old are turned to
dust because I commanded evil; why did I command thus evil in the council of all
the gods? I commanded wars to destroy the people, but are they not my people,
for I brought them forth? Now like the spawn of fish they float in the ocean."
The great gods of heaven and of hell wept, they covered their mouths.
'For six days and six nights the winds blew, torrent and tempest and flood
overwhelmed the world, tempest and flood raged together like warring hosts. When
the seventh day dawned the storm from the south subsided, the sea grew calm,
the, flood was stilled; I looked at the face of the world and there was silence,
all mankind was turned to clay. The surface of the sea stretched as flat as a
roof-top; I opened a hatch and the light fell on my face. Then I bowed low, I
sat down and I wept, the tears streamed down my face, for on every side was the
waste of water. I looked for land in vain, but fourteen leagues distant there
appeared a mountain, and there the boat grounded; on the mountain of Nisir the
boat held fast, she held fast and did not budge. One day she held, and a second
day on the mountain of Nisir she held fast and did not budge. A third day, and a
fourth day she held fast on the mountain and did not budge; a fifth day and a
sixth day she held fast on the mountain. When the seventh day dawned I loosed a
dove and let her go. She flew away, but finding no resting-place she returned.
Then I loosed a swallow, and she flew away but finding no resting-place she
returned. I loosed a raven, she saw that the waters had retreated, she ate, she
flew around, she cawed, and she did not come back. Then I threw everything open
to the four winds, I made a sacrifice and poured out a libation on the mountain
top. Seven and again seven cauldrons I set up on their stands, I heaped up wood
and cane and cedar and myrtle. When the gods smelled the sweet savour, they
gathered like flies over the sacrifice. Then, at last, Ishtar also came, she
lifted her necklace with the jewels of heaven that once Anu had made to please
her. "O you gods here present, by the lapis lazuli round my neck I shall
remember these days as I remember the jewels of my throat; these last days I
shall not forget. Let all the gods gather round the sacrifice, except Enlil. He
shall not approach this offering, for without reflection he brought the flood;
he consigned my people to destruction."
'When Enlil had come, when he saw the boat, he was wrath and swelled with anger
at the gods, the host of heaven, "Has any of these mortals escaped? Not one was
to have survived the destruction." Then the god of the wells and canals Ninurta
opened his mouth and said to the warrior Enlil, "Who is there of the gods that
can devise without Ea? It is Ea alone who knows all things." Then Ea opened his
mouth and spoke to warrior Enlil, "Wisest of gods, hero Enlil, how could you so
senselessly bring down the flood?
Lay upon the sinner his sin,
Lay upon the transgressor his transgression,
Punish him a little when he breaks loose,
Do not drive him too hard or he perishes,
Would that a lion had ravaged mankind
Rather than the f loud,
Would that a wolf had ravaged mankind
Rather than the flood,
Would that famine had wasted the world
Rather than the flood,
Would that pestilence had wasted mankind
Rather than the flood.
It was not I that revealed the secret of the gods; the wise
man learned it in a dream. Now take your counsel what shall be done with him."
'Then Enlil went up into the boat, he took me by the hand and my wife and made
us enter the boat and kneel down on either side, he standing between us. He
touched our foreheads to bless us saying, "In time past Utnapishtim was a mortal
man; henceforth he and his wife shall live in the distance at the mouth of the
rivers." Thus it was that the gods took me and placed me here to live in the
distance, at the mouth of the rivers.'
UTNAPISHTIM said, 'As for you, Gilgamesh, who will assemble
the gods for your sake, so that you may find that life for which you are
searching? But if you wish, come and put into the test: only prevail against
sleep for six days and seven nights.' But while Gilgamesh sat there resting on
his haunches, a mist of sleep like soft wool teased from the fleece drifted over
him, and Utnapishtim said to his wife, 'Look at him now, the strong man who
would have everlasting life, even now the mists of sleep are drifting over him.'
His wife replied, 'Touch the man to wake him, so that he may return to his own
land in peace, going back through the gate by which he came.' Utnapishtim said
to his wife, 'All men are deceivers, even you he will attempt to deceive;
therefore bake loaves of bread, each day one loaf, and put it beside his head;
and make a mark on the wall to number the days he has slept.'
So she baked loaves of bread, each day one loaf, and put it beside his head, and
she marked on the wall the days that he slept; and there came a day when the
first loaf was hard, the second loaf was like leather, the third was soggy, the
crust of the fourth had mould, the fifth was mildewed, the sixth was fresh, and
the seventh was still on the embers. Then Utnapishtim touched him and he woke.
Gilgamesh said to Utnapishtim the Faraway, 'I hardly slept when you touched and
roused me.' But Utnapishtim said, 'Count these loaves and learn how many days
you slept, for your first is hard, your second like leather, your third is
soggy, the crust of your fourth has mould, your fifth is mildewed, your sixth is
fresh and your seventh was still over the glowing embers when I touched and woke
you.' Gilgamesh said, 'What shall I do, O Utnapishtim, where shall I go? Already
the thief in the night has hold of my limbs, death inhabits my room; wherever my
foot rests, there I find death.'
Then Utnapishtim spoke to Urshanabi the ferryman: 'Woe to you Urshanabi, now and
for ever more you have become hateful to this harbourage; it is not for you, nor
for you are the crossings of this sea. Go now, banished from the shore. But this
man before whom you walked, bringing him here, whose body is covered with
foulness and the grace of whose limbs has been spoiled by wild skins, take him
to the washing-place. There he shall wash his long hair clean as snow in the
water, he shall throve off his skins and let the sea carry them away, and the
beauty of his body shall be shown, the fillet on his forehead shall be renewed,
and he shall be given clothes to cover his nakedness. Till he reaches his own
city and his journey is accomplished, these clothes will show no sign of age,
they will wear like a new garment.' So Urshanabi took Gilgamesh and led him to
the washing-place, he washed his long hair as clean as snow in the water, he
threw off his skins, which the sea carried away, and showed the beauty of his
body. He renewed the fillet on his forehead, and to cover his nakedness gave him
clothes which would show no sign of age, but would war like a new garment till
he reached his own city, and his journey was accomplished.
Then Gilgamesh and Urshanabi launched the boat on to the water and boarded it,
and they made ready to sail away; but the wife of Utnapishtim the Faraway said
to him, `Gilgamesh came here wearied out, he is worn out; what will you give him
to carry him back to his own country? So Utnapishtim spoke, and Gilgamesh took a
pole and brought the boat in to the bank. `Gilgamesh, you came here a man
wearied out, you have worn yourself out; what shall I give you to carry you back
to your own country? Gilgamesh, I shall reveal a secret thing, it is a mystery
of the gods that I am telling you. There is a plant that grows under the water,
it has a prickle like a thorn, like a rose; it will wound your hands, but if you
succeed in taking it, then your hands will hold that which restores his lost
youth to a man:
When Gilgamesh heard this he opened the sluices so that a sweet water current
might carry him out to the deepest channel; he tied heavy stones to his feet and
they dragged him down to the water-bed. There he saw the plant growing;;
although it pricked him he took it in his hands; then he cut the heavy stones
from his feet, and the sea carried him and threw him on to the shore. Gilgamesh
said to Urshanabi the ferryman, `Come here, and see this marvellous plant. By
its virtue a man may win back all his former strength. I will take it to Uruk of
the strong walls; there I will give it to the old men to eat. Its name shall be
"The Old Men Are Young Again"; and at last I shall eat it myself and have back
all my lost youth.' So Gilgamesh returned by the gate through which he had come,
Gilgamesh and Urshanabi went together. They travelled their twenty leagues and
then they broke their fast; after thirty leagues they stopped for the night.
Gilgamesh saw a well of cool water and he went down and bathed; but deep in the
pool there was lying a serpent, and the serpent sensed the sweetness of the
flower. It rose out of the water and snatched it away, and immediately it
sloughed its skin and returned to the well. Then Gilgamesh sat down and wept,
the tears ran down his face, and he took the hand of Urshanabi; 'O Urshanabi,
was it for this that I toiled with my hands, is it for this I have wrung out my
heart's blood? For myself I have gained nothing; not I, but the beast of the
earth has joy of it now. Already the stream has carried it twenty leagues back
to the channels where I found it. I found a sign and now I have lost it. Let us
leave the boat on the bank and go.'
After twenty leagues they broke their fast, after thirty leagues they stopped
for the night; in three days they had walked as much as a journey of a month and
fifteen days. When the journey was accomplished they arrived at Uruk, the
strong-walled city. Gilgamesh spoke to him, to Urshanabi the ferryman, 'Urshanabi,
climb up on to the wall of Uruk, inspect its foundation terrace, and examine
well the brickwork; see if it is not of burnt bricks; and did not the seven wise
men lay these foundations? One third of the whole is city, one third is garden,
and one third is field, with the precinct of the goddess Ishtar. These parts and
the precinct are all Uruk.'
This too was the work of Gilgamesh, the king, who knew the countries of the
world. He was wiseä he saw mysteries and knew secret things, he brought us a
tale of the days before the flood. He went a long journey, was weary, worn out
with labour, and returning engraved on a stone the whole story.
THE destiny was fulfilled which the father of the gods, Enlil of the mountain, had decreed for Gilgamesh: 'In nether-earth the darkness will show him a light: of mankind, all that are known, none will leave a monument for generations to come to compare with his. The heroes, the wise men, like the new moon have their waxing and waning. Men will say, "Who has ever ruled with might and with power like him?" As in the dark month, the month of shadows, so without him there is no light. O Gilgamesh, this was the meaning of your dream. You were given the kingship, such was your destiny, everlasting life was not your destiny. Because of this do not be sad at heart, do not be grieved or oppressed; he has given you power to bind and to loose, to be the darkness and the light of mankind. He has given unexampled supremacy over the people, victory in battle from which no fugitive returns, in forays and assaults from which there is no going back. But do not abuse this power, deal justly with your servants in the palace, deal justly before the face of the Sun.'
The king has laid himself down and will not rise again,
The Lord of Kullab will not rise again;
He overcame evil, he will not come again;
Though he was strong of arm he will not rise again;
He had wisdom and a comely face, he will not come again;
He is gone into the mountain, he will not come again;
On the bed of fate he lies, he will not rise again,
Front the couch of many colours he will not come again.
The people of the city, great and small, are not silent; they
lift up, the lament, all men of flesh and blood lift up the lament. Fate has
spoken; like a hooked fish he lies stretched on the bed, like a gazelle that is
caught in a noose. Inhuman Namtar is heavy upon him, Namtar that has neither
hand nor foot, that drinks no water and eats no meat.
For Gilgamesh, son of Ninsun, they weighed out their offerings; his dear wife,
his son, his concubine, his musicians, his jester, and all his household; his
servants, his stewards, all who lived in the palace weighed out their offerings
for Gilgamesh the son of Ninsun, the heart of Uruk. They weighed out their
offerings to Ereshkigal, the Queen of Death, and to all the gods of the dead. To
Namtar, who is fate, they weighed out the offering. Bread for Ned the Keeper of
the Gate, bread for Ningizzida the god of the serpent, the lord of the Tree of
Life; for Dumuzi also, the young shepherd, for Enki and Ninki, for Endukugga and
Nindukugga, for Enmul and Nimnul, all the ancestral gods, forbears of Enlil. A
feast for Shulpae the god of feasting. For Samuqan, god of the herds, for die
mother Ninhursag, and the gods of creation in the place of creation, for the
host of heaven, priest and priestess weighed out the offering of the dead.
Gilgamesh, the son of Ninsun, lies in the tomb. At the place of offerings he
weighed the bread-offering, at the place of libation he poured out the wine. In
those days the lord Gilgamesh departed, the son of Ninsun, the kung, peerless,
without an equal among men, who did not neglect Enlil his master. O Gilgamesh,
lord of Kullab, great is thy praise.
THE END