THE EPIC OF GILGAMISH.[1]
The narrative of the life, exploits and travels of Gilgamish, king of Erech, filled Twelve Tablets which formed theSeries called from the first three words of the First Tablet, SHA NAGBU IMURU, i.e., "He who hath seen allthings." The exact period of the reign of this king is unknown, but in the list of the Sumerian kingdoms he is fifthruler in the Dynasty of Erech, which was considered the second dynasty to reign after the Deluge. He was said tohave ruled for 126 years. The principal authorities for the Epic are the numerous fragments of the tablets that were
found in the ruins of the Library of Nebo and the Royal Library of Ashur-bani-pal at Nineveh, and are now in theBritish Museum,[2] but very valuable portions of other and older versions (including some fragments of a Hittitetranslation) have now been recovered from various sources, and these contribute greatly to the reconstruction of thestory. The contents of the Twelve Tablets may be briefly described thus--
THE FIRST TABLET.
The opening lines describe the great knowledge and wisdom of Gilgamish, who saw everything, learned everything,under stood everything, who probed to the bottom the hidden mysteries of wisdom, and who knew the history ofeverything that happened before the Deluge. He travelled far over sea and land, and performed mighty deeds, andthen he cut upon a tablet of stone an account of all that he had done and suffered. He built the wall of Erech, foundedthe holy temple of E-Anna, and carried out other great architectural works. He was a semi-divine being, for his bodywas formed of the "flesh of the gods," and "two-thirds of him were god, and one-third was man," The description ofhis person is lost. As Shepherd (i.e., King) of Erech he forced
[1. The name of Gilgamish was formerly read "Izdubar," "Gizdubar," or "Gishdubar." He is probably referred to as{Greek Gi?lgamos} in Aelian, De Natura Animalium, XII, 23: (ed. Didot, Paris, 1858, p. 210).
2. The greater number of these have been collected, grouped and published by Haupt, Das BabylonischeNimrodepos, Leipzig, 1884 and 1891; and see his work on the Twelfth Tablet in Beitra?ge zur Assyriologie, Vol. I, p.49 ff.]
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the people to toil overmuch, and his demands reduced them to such a state of misery that they cried out to the godsand begged them to create some king who should control Gilgamish and give them deliverance from him. The godshearkened to the prayer of the men of Erech, and they commanded the goddess Aruru to create a rival to Gilgamish.The goddess agreed to do their bidding, and having planned in her mind what manner of being she intended to make,she washed her hands, took a piece of clay, cast it on the ground, and made a male creature like the god En-urta. Hisbody was covered all over with hair. The hair of his head was long like that of a woman, and he wore clothing likethat of Sumuqan, the god of cattle. He was different in every way from the people of the country, and his name wasEnkidu. He lived in the forests on the hills, ate herbs like the gazelle, drank with the wild cattle, and herded with thebeasts of the field. He was mighty in stature, invincible in strength, and obtained complete mastery over all thecreatures of the forests in which he lived.
One day a certain hunter went out to snare game, and he dug pit-traps and laid nets, and made his usual preparationsfor roping in his prey. But after doing this for three days he found that his pits were filled up and his nets smashed,and he saw Enkidu releasing the beasts that had been snared. The hunter was terrified at the sight of Enkidu, andwent home hastily and told his father what he had seen and how badly he had fared. By his father's advice he went toErech, and reported to Gilgamish what had happened. When Gilgamish heard his story he advised him to act upon asuggestion which the hunter's father had already made, namely that he should hire a harlot and take her out to theforest, so that Enkidu might be ensnared by the sight of her beauty, and take up his abode with her. The hunteraccepted this advice, and having found a harlot to help him in removing Enkidu from the forests, he set out fromErech with her and in due course arrived at the forest where Enkidu lived, and sat down by the place where thebeasts came to drink.
On the second day when the beasts came to drink and Enkidu was with them, the woman carried out the instructionswhich the hunter had given her, and when Enkidu saw her cast aside her veil, he left his beasts and came to her, and{p. 43}
remained with her for six days and seven nights. At the end of this period he returned to the beasts with which he hadlived on friendly terms, but as soon as the gazelle winded him they took to flight, and the wild cattle disappeared intothe woods. When Enkidu saw the beasts forsake him his knees gave way, and he could not run as of old; but when hecame to himself he returned to the harlot. She spoke to him flattering words, and asked him why he wandered withthe wild beasts in the desert, and then told him she wished to take him back with her to Erech, where Anu and Ishtarlived, and where the mighty Gilgamish reigned. Enkidu hearkened and the harlot then told him of the glories ofErech and of Gilgamish, who, she said, had been forewarned of Enkidu's coming by two dreams, which he hadrelated to his divine mother, Nin-sun. These she had interpreted as foreshowing the approach of a strong and faithfulfriend.
THE SECOND TABLET.
Having related these dreams of Gilgamish, the harlot again urged Enkidu to go with her to Erech, and they set outtogether. On the way she brought him to a shepherds' village, where she instructed him how to eat the bread and beerwhich was set before him; for until then he had only sucked the milk of cattle. By virtue of eating and drinking this
human fare Enkidu became a man instead of a beast, and, taking weapons, he hunted the lions and wolves whichpreyed upon the shepherds' flocks. A messenger from Gilgamish now appeared with a summons to the city. Heannounced that the king offered entertainment, but that he would expect the customary present from a stranger, andwould exercise his privilege over the woman who accompanied him. The entrance of Enkidu into the city caused ageneral excitement, all being amazed at his surpassing strength and his conversion from savagery. The first meetingof Gilgamish and Enkidu took place when the king came in the night to claim his right to the strange woman. Enkiduviolently resisted him, and the two heroes in the doorway "grappled and snorted (?) like bulls; they shattered thethreshold, the wall quivered" in their strife. Gilgamish was finally worsted, but the result of this combat was that thetwo became fast friends and allies.
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THE THIRD TABLET.
Owing to mutilation of the text this section begins obscurely, but it seems that the harlot had deserted Enkidu, for helaments his association with her. Gilgamish then opened to him his design to go on an expedition to the Cedar Forestand fight with a fearful ogre named Khumbaba, who had been appointed by the gods as warden of the forest. Enkidusought to dissuade his friend from this rash project, saying that he himself, when he lived with the beasts, used topenetrate into the skirts of the forest, where he had learned to dread the roaring breath and flames emitted byKhumbaba. To this Gilgamish seems to have replied that he must go to the Cedar Forest to fetch the wood heneeded, and when Enkidu still objected, he concluded with the reflection that death was inevitable to mortals, andthat he would therefore meet it in a glorious enterprise which should win fame for him among his children for ever.The craftsmen were then ordered to cast weapons for the pair, and this they did, making gigantic axes and gold-ornamented swords, so that each of the warriors was equipped with an armament weighing in all ten talents.Attracted by these preparations, the people of Erech gathered at the gate, and Gilgamish announced his project to theelders of the city, who in turn sought to dissuade him, but in vain. Gilgamish commended his life to the Sun-god, andthe two put on their armour. The last words of the elders were a warning to the king against rash presumption in hisown strength. Setting out on their journey, the two warriors first visited the temple of Nin-sun, the divine mother ofGilgamish, who, at the earnest prayer of her son, besought the Sun-god to prosper him on his journey and in the fightagainst the ogre, and to bring him safely back to Erech. The latter part of this Tablet is missing.
THE FOURTH TABLET.
So much of this Tablet is missing that only a very general notion can be obtained of its contents. The two heroes hadby now reached the Gate of the Forest wherein Khumbaba dwelt. Enkidu was amazed at the gigantic size and beautyof this gate, fashioned out of the timbers of the forest. When the text begins again, the two are found encouragingeach other to
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their enterprise, and Gilgamish burst through the gate. Soon afterwards Enkidu was overcome either by sickness orby dread of the combat, and lay inert for twelve days, apparently as the result of evil dreams which had visited him.In his weakness he strove again to turn back from their desperate adventure, but again Gilgamish overcame his fearwith encouragements.
THE FIFTH TABLET.
The two warriors were now in the forest, and this Tablet begins with a description of its wonders. They saw a straightroad running between its tall cedars, along which Khumbaba trod; they saw also the mountain of the cedars, thedwelling of the gods, and the pleasant shade and perfume which the trees spread around. After this they seem to havefallen asleep, for Gilgamish is next found relating to Enkidu a dream which he had had: the two were standingtogether on the top of a mountain, when the peak fell away, leaving them unharmed. Enkidu interprets this as aforecast that they were to over-throw the gigantic Khumbaba. At the sixtieth league they stayed to rest, andGilgamish besought the mountain to send him another dream. Falling asleep at once, he woke in terror at midnightand began to tell how he dreamed that the earth was darkened, amid loud roarings and flames of fire, which graduallydied away. (This seems to be a description of a volcanic eruption, and some have thought that Khumbaba was thepersonification of a volcano known to the ancient Sumerians.) This dream too was interpreted by Enkidu, no doubtfavourably, but nothing more remains of this Tablet before the end, when Khumbaba has been fought and defeated,and his head cut off. A fragment of another version shews that he was defeated by the help of the Sun-god, who senteight evil winds against him on every side so that he could not move. Thus entrapped, he surrendered to Gilgamishand offered submission in return for his life. This Gilgamish was disposed to grant, but Enkidu warned him of thedanger of letting the giant live.
THE SIXTH TABLET.
The scene now returns to Erech, whither the heroes returned after their glorious exploit. As Gilgamish was washinghimself
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and dressing himself in splendid attire the goddess Ishtar saw his comeliness and desired him to be her lover, saying,
Go to, Gilgamish, do thou be (my) bridegroom,
Give me freely the fruit (of thy body).
Be thou my husband, I will be thy wife,
(So) will I make them yoke for thee a chariot of lapis-lazuli and gold,Its wheels of gold, and its horns of electrum.
Every day shalt thou harness great mules thereto.Enter (then) our house with the perfume of cedar.When thou enterest our house
Threshold and dais shall kiss thy feet,
Beneath thee shall kings, lords and princes do homage,Bringing thee as tribute the yield of the mountains and plains,Thy she-goats shall bring forth abundantly, thy ewes bear twins,Thine asses shall be (each) as great as a mule,
Thy horses in the chariot shall be famous for their swiftness,Thy mules in the yoke shall not have a peer.
In answer to this invitation, Gilgamish made a long speech, in which he reviewed the calamities of those who hadbeen unfortunate enough to attract the love of the goddess. To be her husband would be a burdensome privilege, andher love was deceptive, a ruin that gave no shelter, a door that let in the storm, a crazy building, a pitfall, defilingpitch, a leaky vessel, a crumbling stone, a worthless charm, an ill-fitting shoe. "Who was ever thy lord that hadadvantage thereby? Come, I will unfold the tale of thy lovers." He refers to Tammuz, the lover of her youth, forwhom year by year she causes wailing. Every creature that fell under her sway suffered mutilation or death; the bird'swings were broken, the lion destroyed, the horse driven to death with whip and spur. Her human lovers fared nobetter, for a shepherd, once her favourite, was turned by her into a jackal and torn by his own dogs, and Ishullanu,her father's gardener, was turned into a spider (?) because he refused her advances. "So, too," said Gilgamish,"would'st thou love me, and (then) make me like unto them."
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When Ishtar heard these words she was filled with rage, and went up to heaven, and complained to Anu her fatherand Antu her mother that Gilgamish had blasphemed her, and revealed all her iniquitous deeds. Anu replied, ineffect, that it was her own fault, but she insisted in the request that he should create a heavenly bull to destroyGilgamish. This he finally agreed to do, and the bull appeared before the citizens of Erech, and destroyed one, twoand three hundred men who were sent out against him. At length Enkidu and Gilgamish attacked the bull themselves,and after a hard fight: the details of which are lost, they slew him, and offered his heart together with a libation to
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the Sun-god. As soon as Ishtar heard of the bull's death she rushed out on the battlements of the wall of Erech andcursed Gilgamish for destroying her bull. When Enkidu heard what Ishtar said, he tore out the member of the bulland threw it before the goddess, saying, "Could I but get it at thee, I would serve thee like him; I would hang his itentrails about thee." Then Ishtar gathered together all her temple-women and harlots, and with them madelamentation over the member of the bull.
And Gilgamish called together the artisans of Erech, who came and marvelled at the size of the bull's horns, for eachof them was in bulk equal to 30 minas of lapis-lazuli, their thickness two finger-breadths, and together theycontained six kur measures of oil. These Gilgamish dedicated in the temple of his god Lugalbanda, to hold the god'sunguent, and, having made his offering, he and Enkidu washed their hands in the Euphrates, took their way back tothe city, and rode through the streets of Erech, the people thronging round to admire them. Gilgamish put forth aquestion to the people, saying
Who is splendid among men?
Who is glorious among heroes?And the answer was:
[Gilgamish] is splendid among men,
[Enkidu] is glorious among heroes.
Gilgamish made a great feast in his palace, and after it all lay down to sleep. Enkidu also slept and had a vision, sohe rose up and related it to Gilgamish.
THE SEVENTH TABLET.
From fragments of a version of the Gilgamish Epic translated into the Hittite language, which have more recentlybeen discovered, it is possible to gain some notion of the contents of this Tablet, the earlier part of which is almostentirely missing from the Assyrian version. It appears that Enkidu beheld in his dream the gods Enlil, Ea, and theSun-god taking counsel together. Enlil was greatly incensed at the exploits of Gilgamish and Enkidu, and hadresolved that Enkidu must die, though Gilgamish might be spared. This was finally decreed,
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in spite of the attempted opposition of the Sun-god. In consequence Enkidu soon afterwards fell sick, though nothingis preserved concerning the circumstances of this. But he seems to have attributed his misfortune for some reason tothe harlot who had first brought him to Erech, for he is found heaping curses upon her. While he thus spoke the Sun-god heard him, and, calling from heaven, rebuked him for ingratitude to the woman, who had taught him all the waysof civilized life and had been the means of introducing him to Gilgamish, by whom he had been raised to great placeand would be given signal honours at his death. Admonished thus, Enkidu repented of his anger and now bestowedas many blessings on the harlot as he had before uttered curses. He then lay down again, with sickness heavy uponhim, and dreamed a dream which he told to Gilgamish. He saw a monster with lion's claws which attacked andovercame him, and led him away to the Underworld, where he saw the miserable plight of the dead inhabitants, andancient kings now acting as servants, and priests and sages who served before Ereshkigal, the queen of Hades. Howthe dream ended, and how Enkidu died, is unknown, for the text breaks off here.
THE EIGHTH TABLET.
This Tablet was entirely occupied by a description of the mourning of Gilgamish over his dead companion. Helamented to himself, and lamented to the elders of the city, recalling how they had together overthrown Khumbaba,and slain the heavenly bull, and shared in many another exploit. Repeating the words of the Sun-god in the precedingTablet, he promised that he would cause all his subjects to join with himself in the lament for Enkidu. The funeralhonours seem to have been described in the latter part of the Tablet, which is missing.
THE NINTH TABLET.
In bitter grief Gilgamish wandered about the country uttering lamentations for his beloved companion, Enkidu. As hewent about he thought to himself,
"I myself shall die, and shall not I then be as Enkidu?Sorrow hath entered into my soul,
Because I fear death do I wander over the country."
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His fervent desire was to escape from death, and remembering that his ancestor Uta-Napishtim, the son of Ubara-Tutu, had become deified and immortal, Gilgamish determined to set out for the place where he lived in order toobtain from him the secret of immortality. Where Uta-Napishtim lived was unknown to Gilgamish, but he seems tohave made up his mind that he would have to face danger in reaching the place, for he says, "I will set out and travelquickly. I shall reach the defiles in the mountains by night, and if I see lions, and am terrified at them, I shall lift upmy head and appeal to the Moon-god, and to (Ishtar, the Lady of the Gods), who is wont to hearken to my prayers."After Gilgamish set out to go to the west he was attacked either by men or animals, but he overcame them and wenton until he arrived at Mount Mashu, where it would seem the sun was thought both to rise and to set. The approachto this mountain was guarded by Scorpion-men, whose aspect was so terrible that the mere sight of it was sufficientto kill the mortal who beheld them; even the mountains collapsed under the glance of their eyes. When Gilgamishsaw the Scorpion-men he was smitten with fear, and under the influence of his terror the colour of his face changed,and he fell prostrate before them. Then a Scorpion-man cried out to his wife, saying, "The body of him that comethto us is the flesh of the gods," and she replied, "Two-thirds of him is god, and the other third is man." The Scorpion-man then received Gilgamish kindly, and warned him that the way which he was about to travel was full of dangerand difficulty. Gilgamish told him that he was in search of his ancestor, Uta-Napishtim, who had been deified andmade immortal by the gods, and that it was his intention to go to him to learn the secret of immortality. TheScorpion-man in answer told him that it was impossible for him to continue his journey through that country, for noman had ever succeeded in passing through the dark region of that mountain, which required twelve double-hours totraverse.
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