Epic of GilgameshThe Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem from Mesopotamia, is amongst the earliest surviving works of literature. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five independent Sumerian poems about Gilgamesh, king of Uruk. Four of these were used as source material for a combined epic in Akkadian. This first, "Old Babylonian" version of the epic dates to the 18th century BC and is titled Shūtur eli sharrī ("Surpassing All Other Kings"). Only a few fragments of it survive. The later, Standard Babylonian version dates from the 13th to the tenth centuries and bears the title Sha naqba īmuru ("He who Saw the Deep"). Fragments of approximately two thirds of this longer, 12 tablet version have been recovered. Some of the best copies were discovered in the library ruins of the 7th-century BC Assyrian king Ashurbanipal. The story has been translated into many different languages, and he has become an icon of popular culture.

The story centers on a friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Enkidu is a wild man created by the gods as Gilgamesh's equal to distract him from oppressing the people of Uruk. Together, they journey to the Cedar Mountain to defeat Humbaba, its monstrous guardian. Later they kill the Bull of Heaven, which the goddess Ishtar sends to punish Gilgamesh for spurning her advances. As a punishment for these actions, the gods sentence Enkidu to death.

The later half of the epic focuses on Gilgamesh's distress at Enkidu's death, and his quest for immortality. In order to learn the secret of eternal life, Gilgamesh undertakes a long and perilous journey to find the immortal flood hero, Utnapishtim. He learns that "The life that you are seeking you will never find. When the gods created man they allotted to him death, but life they retained in their own keeping." His fame however lived on after his death, because of his great building projects, and his account of what Utnapishtim told him happened during the flood.

History

Many distinct sources exist over a 2,000-year timeframe. The old Sumerian poems, and a later Akkadian version, are the chief sources for modern translations, with the Sumerian version mainly used to fill in lacunae in the Akkadian version.

Although several revised versions based on new discoveries have been published, the epic remains incomplete.[1]

The earliest Sumerian poems are now generally considered to be distinct stories rather than parts of a single epic.[2]:45 They date from as early as the Third Dynasty of Ur (2150-2000 BC).[2]:41-42 The earliest Akkadian versions are dated to the early second millennium[2]:45, most probably in the eighteenth or seventeenth century BC, when one or more authors drew upon used existing literary material to create a single epic.[3] The "standard" Akkadian version, consisting of 12 tablets, was edited by Sin-liqe-unninni sometime between 1300 and 1000 BC and was found in the library of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh.

The Epic of Gilgamesh was discovered by Hormuzd Rassam in 1853 and is now widely known. The first modern translation was published in the early 1870s by George Smith.[4] Recent

translations into English include one undertaken with the assistance of the American novelist John Gardner, and John Maier, published in 1984. In 2001, Benjamin Foster produced a translation in the Norton Critical Edition Series that uses new material to fill in many of the blanks in previous editions.

The most definitive[5] translation is a two-volume critical work by Andrew George. George discusses the state of the surviving material, and provides a tablet-by-tablet exegesis, with a dual language side-by-side translation. This translation was published by Penguin Classics in 2000. Stephen Mitchell in 2004 supplied a new controversial translation, which was published by FreePress, a division of Simon and Schuster. The first direct Arabic translation from the original tablets was made in the 1960s by the Iraqi archeologist Taha Baqir.

The discovery of artifacts (ca. 2600 BC) associated with Enmebaragesi of Kish, mentioned in the legends as the father of one of Gilgamesh's adversaries, has lent credibility to the historical existence of Gilgamesh.[2]:40-41

Versions of the epic

Standard Akkadian version

The standard version was discovered by Austen Henry Layard in the library of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh in 1849. It was written in standard Babylonian, a dialect of Akkadian that was used for literary purposes. This version was compiled by Sin-liqe-unninni sometime between 1300 and 1000 BC from earlier material.

The standard version, and earlier version, have different opening words, or incipit. The older version begins with the words "Surpassing all other kings", while the standard version has "He who saw the deep" (ša nagba īmuru). The Akkadian word nagbu, "deep", probably refers to "unknown mysteries".[citation needed] Andrew George believes that the mysteries it refers to is information brought back by Gilgamesh from his meeting with Uta-Napishti (Utnapishtim) about Ea, the fountain of wisdom.[6] Gilgamesh was given knowledge of how to worship the gods, of why death was ordained for human beings, what makes a good king, and how to live a good life. The story of Utnapishtim, the hero of the flood myth, can also be found in the Babylonian Epic of Atrahasis.

The 12th tablet is a sequel to the original 11, and was probably added at a later date. It bears little relation to the well-crafted 11-tablet epic; the lines at the beginning of the first tablet are quoted at the end of the 11th tablet, giving it circularity and finality. Tablet 12 is a near copy of an earlier Sumerian tale, a prequel, in which Gilgamesh sends Enkidu to retrieve some objects of his from the Underworld, and he returns in the form of a spirit to relate the nature of the Underworld to Gilgamesh.

Content of the standard version tablets

Tablet one

The story begins by introducing Gilgamesh, king of Uruk. Gilgamesh, two-thirds god and one-third man, is oppressing his people, who are crying out to the gods for help. For the young women of Uruk this oppression takes the form of a droit de seigneur — or "lord's right" — to sleep with newly married brides on their wedding night. For the young men (the tablet is damaged at this point) it is conjectured that Gilgamesh is exhausting them through games, tests of strength, or perhaps forced labour on building projects. The gods respond to their pleas by creating an equal to Gilgamesh in order to distract him. They create a primitive man, Enkidu, who is covered in hair and lives in the wild with the animals. He is spotted by a trapper, whose livelihood is being ruined because Enkidu is uprooting his traps. The trapper tells Gilgamesh of the man, and it is arranged for Enkidu to be seduced by a harlot. This seduction by Shamhat, a temple prostitute, is his first step towards civilization, and after seven days of making love with him, she proposes to take him back to Uruk. Gilgamesh, meanwhile, has been having dreams that relate to the imminent arrival of a loved new companion.

Tablet two

Shamhat brings Enkidu to a shepherds' camp, where he is introduced to a human diet, and becomes the night watchman. Learning from a passing stranger about Gilgamesh's treatment of new brides, Enkidu is incensed and travels to Uruk to intervene at a wedding. When Gilgamesh attempts to visit the wedding chamber, Enkidu blocks his way, and they fight. After a fierce battle, Enkidu acknowledges Gilgamesh's superior strength and they become friends. Gilgamesh proposes a journey to the Cedar Forest to slay the monstrous demi-god Humbaba, in order to gain fame and renown. Despite warnings from Enkidu, and the council of elders, Gilgamesh will not be deterred.

Tablet three

The elders give Gilgamesh advice for his journey. Gilgamesh visits his mother, the goddess Ninsun, who seeks the support and protection of the sun-god Shamash for their adventure. Ninsun adopts Enkidu as her son, and Gilgamesh leaves instructions for the governance of Uruk in his absence.

Tablet four

Gilgamesh and Enkidu journey to the Cedar Forest. Every few days they camp on a mountain, and perform a dream ritual. Gilgamesh has five terrifying dreams about falling mountains, thunderstorms, wild bulls, and a thunderbird that breathes fire. Despite similarities between his dream figures and earlier descriptions of Humbaba, Enkidu interprets these dreams as good omens, and denies that the frightening images represent the forest guardian. As they approach the cedar mountain, they hear Humbaba bellowing, and have to encourage each other not to be afraid.

Tablet five

The heroes enter the cedar forest. Humbaba, the ogre-guardian of the Cedar Forest, insults and threatens them. He accuses Enkidu of betrayal, and vows to disembowel Gilgamesh and feed his flesh to the birds. Gilgamesh is afraid, but with some encouraging words from Enkidu the battle commences. The mountains quake with the tumult and the sky turns black. The god Shamash sends 13 winds to bind Humbaba, and he is captured. The monster pleads for his life, and Gilgamesh pities him. Enkidu, however, is enraged and asks Gilgamesh to kill the beast. Humbaba curses them both and Gilgamesh dispatches him with a blow to the neck. The two heroes cut down many cedars, including a gigantic tree that Enkidu plans to fashion into a gate for the temple of Enlil. They build a raft and return home along the Euphrates with the giant tree and the head of Humbaba.

Tablet six

Gilgamesh rejects the advances of the goddess Ishtar because of her mistreatment of previous lovers like Dumuzi. Ishtar asks her father Anu to send Gugalanna the Bull of Heaven to avenge her. When Anu rejects her complaints, Ishtar threatens to raise the dead who will "outnumber the living" and "devour them". Anu becomes frightened, and gives into her. Ishtar leads the bull of heaven to Uruk, and it causes widespread devastation. It lowers the level of the Euphrates river, and dries up the marshes. It opens up huge pits that swallow 300 men. Without any divine assistance, Enkidu and Gilgamesh attack and slay it, and offer up its heart to Shamash. When Ishtar cries out, Enkidu hurls one of the hindquarters of the bull at her. The city of Uruk celebrates, but Enkidu has an ominous dream.

Tablet seven

In Enkidu's dream, the gods decide that one of the heroes must die because they killed Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven. Despite the protestations of Shamash, Enkidu is marked for death. Enkidu curses the great door he has fashioned for Enlil's temple. He also curses the trapper and Shamhat for removing him from the wild. Shamash reminds Enkidu of how Shamhat fed and clothed him, and introduced him to Gilgamesh. Shamash tells him that Gilgamesh will bestow great honors upon him at his funeral, and will wander into the wild consumed with grief. Enkidu regrets his curses and blesses Shamhat. In a second dream however he sees himself being taken captive to the Netherworld by a terrifying Angel of Death. The underworld is a "house of dust" and darkness whose inhabitants eat clay, and are clothed in bird feathers, supervised by terrifying beings. For 12 days, Enkidu's condition worsens. Finally, after a lament that he could not meet a heroic death in battle, he dies.

Tablet eight

Gilgamesh delivers a lamentation for Enkidu, in which he calls upon mountains, forests, fields, rivers, wild animals, and all of Uruk to mourn for his friend. Recalling their adventures together, Gilgamesh tears at his hair and clothes in grief. He commissions a funerary statue, and provides grave gifts from his treasury to ensure that Enkidu has a favourable reception in the realm of the dead. A great banquet is held where the treasures are offered to the gods of the Netherworld. Just

before a break in the text there is a suggestion that a river is being dammed, indicating a burial in a river bed, as in the corresponding Sumerian poem, The Death of Gilgamesh.

Tablet nine

Tablet nine opens with Gilgamesh roaming the wild clothed in animal skins, grieving for Enkidu. Fearful of his own death, he decides to seek Utnapishtim ("the Faraway"), and learn the secret of eternal life. Among the few survivors of the Great Flood, Utnapishtim and his wife are the only humans to have been granted immortality by the gods. Gilgamesh crosses a mountain pass at night and encounters a pride of lions. Before sleeping he prays for protection to the moon god Sin. Then, waking from an encouraging dream, he kills the lions and uses their skins for clothing. After a long and perilous journey, Gilgamesh arrives at the twin peaks of Mount Mashu at the end of the earth. He comes across a tunnel, which no man has ever entered, guarded by two terrible scorpion-men. After questioning him and recognising his semi-divine nature, they allow him to enter it, and he passes under the mountains along the Road of the Sun. In complete darkness he follows the road for 12 "double hours", managing to complete the trip before the Sun catches up with him. He arrives at a garden paradise full of jewel-laden trees.

Tablet ten

Meeting the ale wife Siduri, who assumes, because of his dishevelled appearance, that he is a murderer, Gilgamesh tells her about the purpose of his journey. She attempts to dissuade him from his quest, but sends him to Urshanabi the ferryman, who will help him cross the sea to Utnapishtim. Gilgamesh destroys some stone-giants that live with Urshanabi. He tells him his story, but when he asks for his help Urshanabi informs him that he has just destroyed the only creatures who can cross the Waters of Death, which are deadly to the touch. Urshanabi instructs Gilgamesh to cut down 300 trees, and fashion them into punting poles. When they reach the island where Utnapishtim lives, Gilgamesh recounts his story asking him for his help. Utnapishtim reprimands him, declaring that fighting the common fate of humans is futile and diminishes life's joys.

Tablet eleven

Gilgamesh observes that Utnapishtim seems no different from himself, and asks him how he obtained his immortality. Utnapishtim explains that the gods decided to send a great flood. To save Utnapishtim the god Ea told him to build a boat. He gave him precise dimensions, and it was sealed with pitch and bitumen. His entire family went aboard, together with his craftsmen and "all the animals of the field". A violent storm then arose which caused the terrified gods to retreat to the heavens. Ishtar lamented the wholesale destruction of humanity, and the other gods wept beside her. The storm lasted six days and nights, after which "all the human beings turned to clay". Utnapishtim weeps when he sees the destruction. His boat lodges on a mountain, and he releases a dove, a swallow, and a raven. When the raven fails to return, he opens the ark and frees its inhabitants. Utnapishtim offers a sacrifice to the gods, who smell the sweet savor and gather around. Ishtar vows that just as she will never forget the brilliant necklace that hangs around her neck, she will always remember this time. When Enlil arrives, angry that there are survivors, she condemns him for instigating the flood. Ea also castigates him for sending a

disproportionate punishment. Enlil blesses Utnapishtim and his wife, and rewards them with eternal life. This account matches the flood story that concludes the Epic of Atrahasis (see also Gilgamesh flood myth).

The main point seems to be that when Enlil granted eternal life it was a unique gift. As if to demonstrate this point, Utnapishtim challenges Gilgamesh to stay awake for six days and seven nights. Gilgamesh falls asleep, and Utnapishtim instructs his wife to bake a loaf of bread on each of the days he is asleep, so that he cannot deny his failure to keep awake. Gilgamesh, who is seeking to overcome death, cannot even conquer sleep! After instructing Urshanabi the ferryman to wash Gilgamesh, and clothe him in royal robes, they return back to Uruk.

As they are leaving, Utnapishtim's wife asks her husband to offer a parting gift. Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh that at the bottom of the sea there lives a boxthorn-like plant that will make him young again. Gilgamesh, by binding stones to his feet so he can walk on the bottom, manages to obtain the plant. He intends to test it on an old man when he returns to Uruk. Unfortunately, when Gilgamesh stops to bathe, it is stolen by a serpent, who sheds its skin as it departs. Gilgamesh weeps at the futility of his efforts, because he has now lost all chance of immortality. He returns to Uruk, where the sight of its massive walls prompts him to praise this enduring work to Urshanabi.

Tablet twelve

This tablet is mainly an Akkadian translation of an earlier Sumerian poem, Gilgamesh and the Netherworld (also known as "Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld" and variants), although it has been suggested that it is derived from an unknown version of that story.[2]:42 The contents of this last tablet are inconsistent with previous ones: Enkidu is still alive, despite having been killed off earlier in the epic. Because of this, its lack of integration with the other tablets, and the fact that it is almost a copy of an earlier version, it has been referred to as an 'inorganic appendage' to the epic.[7] Alternatively, it has been suggested that "its purpose, though crudely handled, is to explain to Gilgamesh (and the reader) the various fates of the dead in the Afterlife" and in "an awkward attempt to bring closure",[8] it both connects the Gilgamesh of the epic with the Gilgamesh who is the King of the Netherworld,[9] and is "a dramatic capstone whereby the twelve-tablet epic ends on one and the same theme, that of "seeing" (= understanding, discovery, etc.), with which it began."[10]

Gilgamesh complains to Enkidu that various of his possessions (the tablet is unclear exactly what — different translations include a drum and a ball) have fallen into the underworld. Enkidu offers to bring them back. Delighted, Gilgamesh tells Enkidu what he must and must not do in the underworld if he is to return. Enkidu does everything which he was told not to do. The underworld keeps him. Gilgamesh prays to the gods to give him back his friend. Enlil and Suen don’t reply but Ea and Shamash decide to help. Shamash makes a crack in the earth, and Enkidu's ghost jumps out of it. The tablet ends with Gilgamesh questioning Enkidu about what he has seen in the underworld.

Old-Babylonian versions

All tablets except for the second and third are from different origins than the above, so this summary is made up out of different versions.

1. Tablet missing2. Gilgamesh tells his mother Ninsun about two dreams he had. His mother explains that they

mean that a new companion will soon arrive at Uruk. In the meanwhile Enkidu and the harlot (here called Shamkatum) are making love. She civilizes him in company of the shepherds by offering him bread and beer. Enkidu helps the shepherds by guarding the sheep. They travel to Uruk where Gilgamesh and Enkidu finally meet. Enkidu and Gilgamesh battle but Gilgamesh breaks off the fight. Enkidu praises Gilgamesh.

3. The tablet is broken here, but it seems that Gilgamesh has suggested going to the Pine Forest to cut down trees and kill Humbaba (known here as Huwawa). Enkidu protests, he knows Huwawa and is aware of his power. Gilgamesh talks Enkidu into it with some words of encouragement but Enkidu remains reluctant. They prepare, and call for the elders. The elders also protest, but after Gilgamesh talks to them they wish him good luck.

4. 1(?) tablet missing5. Fragments from two different versions/tablets tell how Enkidu encourages Gilgamesh to slay

Humwawa. Mention is made of Huwawa's "seven auras" which are not referred to in the standard version. When Gilgamesh kills Huwawa they chop down part of the forest. Enkidu cuts a door for Enlil and lets it float down the Euphrates.

6. Tablets missing7. Gilgamesh argues with Shamash about the futility of his quest. The tablet is damaged. We then

find Gilgamesh talking with Siduri about his quest and his journey to meet Ut-Napishtim (here called Uta-na’ishtim). Siduri also questions his goals. Gilgamesh smashes the stone creatures and talks to the ferryman Urshanabi (here called Sur-sunabu). After a short discussion Sur-sunabu asks him to carve 300 oars so that they may cross the waters of death without needing the crew of stone creatures. The rest of the tablet is damaged.

8. Tablet(s)

The Sumerian poems

There are five extant Gilgamesh poems in Sumerian. These probably circulated independently, rather than being in the form of a unified epic. Some of the names of the main characters in these poems differ slightly from later Akkadian names, and that there are some differences in the underlying stories (e.g. in the Sumerian version Enkidu is Gilgamesh's servant):

1. Gilgamesh and Huwawa (corresponds to the Cedar Forest episode (tablets 3–5) in the Akkadian version).

2. Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven (corresponds to the Bull of Heaven episode (tablet 6) in the Akkadian version. The Bull's voracious appetite causes drought and hardship in the land).

3. Gilgamesh and Aga (Gilgamesh vs. Aga of Kish, has no corresponding episode in the epic, but the themes of whether to show mercy to captives, and counsel from the city elders, also occur in the standard version of the Humbaba story).

4. Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Netherworld (corresponds to tablet 12 in the Akkadian version).5. The Death of Gilgamesh (this is the story of Gilgamesh's, rather than Enkidu's, death).

Relationship to the BibleFurther information: Panbabylonism

Various themes, plot elements, and characters in the Epic of Gilgamesh can also be found in the Bible, notably in the stories of the Garden of Eden and Noah's Flood.

The parallels between the stories of Enkidu/Shamhat and Adam/Eve have been long recognized by scholars.[11] In both, a man is created from the earth by a creator God, and lives in a natural setting amongst the animals. He is introduced to a woman who tempts him.[12] In both stories the man accepts food from the woman, covers his nakedness, and must leave his former realm, unable to return. The presence of a snake that steals a plant of immortality from the hero later in the epic is another point of contact.

Andrew R. George submits that the flood story in Gen. 6–8 matches the Gilgamesh flood myth so closely, 'few doubt' that it derives from the Mesopotamian account.[13] What is particularly noticeable is the way the Genesis flood story follows the Gilgamesh flood tale "point by point and in the same order", even when the story permits other alternatives.[14]

Other parallels

Matthias Henze suggests that Nebuchadnezzar's madness in the biblical book of Daniel draws on the Epic of Gilgamesh. He claims that the author uses elements from the description of Enkidu to paint a sarcastic and mocking portrait of the king of Babylon.[15]

Many scholars note an influence on the book of Ecclesiastes.[16] The speech of Sidhuri in an old Babylonian version of the epic is so similar to Ecclesiastes 9:7–10 that direct influence is a genuine possibility. A rare proverb about the strength of a triple-stranded rope is also common to both books.

Influence on later literature

Numerous scholars have drawn attention to various themes, episodes, and verses, that indicate a substantial influence of the Epic of Gilgamesh on both of the epic poems ascribed to Homer. These influences are detailed by Martin Litchfield West in The East Face of Helicon: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth.[17]

Summary of the standard version of Gilgamesh by Sin-liqe-uninni c. 1200 BCE:

"He who saw the Deep"   Tablet 1: Gilgamesh's reign, his prowess and tyranny; Creation of his rival Enkidu

The story begins as if by a narrator of a later era. Gilgamesh had all knowledge and wisdom, he was "he who saw the Deep" [Deep=nagbu, the cosmic domain of the god of wisdom, Ea], "surpassing all other kings". He built the walls of the great city of Uruk/Erech (in Sumeria, near Ur and modern Basra), and the temple Eanna within dedicated to Ishtar and Anu.  He had all his labors and exploits carved in a lapis lazuli tablet.  The tablet invites us to view the greatness of this city, its high walls, the foundations laid by the Seven Sages, etc.  The story begins when Gilgamesh is a young king:

He is the son of [the now deified] King Lugalbanda and Ninsun ("Lady/Queen of the Wild Cow", a minor goddess), "2/3 of him god", with human form given by Lady of the Gods (Aruru, Belet-ili, Mother Goddess) and perfected by Nudimmud (Ea).  He is a man of great beauty and physical prowess.  He dug wells [oases] and restored the cult worship centers destroyed by the Flood.

However, he is young and oppresses his people harshly with tyranny, claiming the jus primae noctis with each bride, and constantly staging contests that apparently harass or humiliate the young men.  The people call out to the sky-god Anu, the chief god of the city (and Father of the gods), to help them.  In response, Anu tells the people to summon Aruru (Belet-ili, the Mother Goddess) to create a wild man, Enkidu, out in the harsh and wild forests surrounding Gilgamesh's lands.  This brute Enkidu is equal in strength to Gilgamesh and is to serve as his rival to give Uruk some rest.

A hunter/trapper soon discovers Enkidu running naked roaming, grazing, and gathering at the water hole with the wild animals.  The hunter's father advises him to go into the city and take the temple harlot Shamhat with him to the forest.  When she sees Enkidu, she is to offer herself to the wild man.  If he submits to her, the trapper says, he will lose his strength and his wildness and the animals will abandon him.

The hunter goes to Uruk and tells this story to Gilgamesh--he gives him the same advice as his father had, to take Shamhat to entice Enkidu.

Shamhat, encouraged by the hunter, meets Enkidu at the watering-hole where all the wild animals gather; she offers herself to him and he partakes nonstop for 6 days and 7 nights.  The animals then shun him and he feels weakened and defiled, but he has gained reason and understanding.  She offers to take him to Uruk and its temple to see all the joys of civilization--she offers to show him Gilgamesh, whom divine Shamash (the sun god) loves.

Shamhat tells Enkidu of Gilgamesh's two dreams which anticipated the arrival of Enkidu-Gilgamesh related these to his mother Ninsun: In the first a meteorite falls to earth which is so great that Gilgamesh can neither lift it nor turn it.  The people gather around the meteorite, and Gilgamesh embraces it as he would a wife.  His mother interprets that a comrade will come to him who will save him and whom she will make his equal.  In the second, Gilgamesh dreams that an axe appears in a street.  The people gather around the axe, and Gilgamesh embraces it as he would a wife.  His mother again prophesies that a comrade will come to him who will save him and whom she will make his equal. Gilgamesh welcomes receiving the man who will counsel him.

Tablet 2: The taming of Enkidu; his fight and friendship with Gilgamesh; the proposed journey to the Forest of Cedar

Enkidu and Shamhat have coupled for 6 days and 7 nights. The shepherds in their camp teach him how to tend flocks, and give him bread to eat, ale to drink, and clothes.  He is also cleaned up and shorn by a barber.

A man tells him of an upcoming wedding banquet.  Gilgamesh will make his customary claim to the first night with the bride, which makes Enkidu angry.  Enkidu enters the city of Uruk and the people recognize his similarity to Gilgamesh.  As Enkidu enters the city, Gilgamesh is about to exert his claim to the bride's first night.  Infuriated, Enkidu stands in front of the door of the marital chamber and blocks Gilgamesh's way.  They fight furiously until Gilgamesh wins out; the two embrace and become devoted friends. Gilgamesh introduces Enkidu to his mother. Enkidu, who is an orphan and has no brother, weeps.

Gilgamesh proposes a quest (seemingly out of the blue): they are to journey to the great Forest of Cedar and cut down all the cedar trees (or a single great cedar).  To do this, they will need to kill its guardian, the great demon Humbaba, created by Enlil (ruler of earth and men) to terrify men away.  Enkidu knows about Humbaba from his days running wild in the forest, and fears him ("his voice is the Deluge, his speech is fire, and his breath is death"--he is second in fearfulness only to Adad, the Storm god).  He tries in vain to convince Gilgamesh not to undertake this folly. Gilgamesh says "as for man, [his days] are numbered, whatever he may do, it is but wind". Enkidu reluctantly consents, and they forge great hatchets, axes, and daggers for the fight.

Gilgamesh announces to the crowd and the elders of Uruk his plans to cut down the cedar and win an eternal name for himself.  They will all celebrate on his return.  Enkidu asks the elders to stop Gilgamesh, who also fail to sway him.

Tablet 3: Preparations for the journey to the Forest of Cedar

The elders of the city protest Gilgamesh's endeavor, but agree reluctantly.  They place his life in Enkidu's hands.  Gilgamesh goes to ask his mother's blessing.  She laments her son's fate in a prayer to Shamash (the sun-god and patron of travelers), asking why he had put such a restless spirit in her son and asking him for his protection, for his path to be well lit, for him to send winds against Humbaba, etc.  She hopes that Gilgamesh will someday be made a god.  Ninsun also adopts Enkidu as her son, and asks him to guard Gilgamesh's life.

Enkidu and Gilgamesh perform rituals to aid a safe journey.  Gilgamesh instructs the officers in how to run the city in his absence.  They again advise him to keep Enkidu out in front.

In panic, Enkidu again tries to convince Gilgamesh not to undertake this journey, but Gilgamesh is confident of success.

Tablet 4: Journey to the Forest of Cedar

The journey to the cedar forest takes 1 1/2 months, 50 leagues a day. On every 3rd day, they pitch camp and dig a well [an oasis]. Gilgamesh climbs to a mountain top and prays to Shamash to bring him a dream, and Enkidu makes a House of the Dream God to encourage these dreams. He guards the doorway to the house as Gilgamesh dreams.  Shamash sends Gilgamesh prophetic dreams in the middle of the night.  After each dream, Gilgamesh awakens sensing that a god has gone by.  These dreams all seem ominous, but are given favorable interpretations by Enkidu:

(1) The first is only partially preserved and deals with a mountain that falls... (2) In the second, Gilgamesh dreams that a mountain threw him down, but a man saves him--Enkidu says the mountain is not Humbaba.(3) Gilgamesh dreams of the earth rumbling, a storm, darkness, lightning, fire...  Enkidu interprets that the battle draws near, that they will see radiant auras of Humbaba, that Lugalbanda (Gilgamesh's father) will help him lock horns like a bull with Humbaba.(4) Gilgamesh has seen a Thunderbird (Anzu, a lion-headed eagle or flying stallion) in the sky with mouth of fire, its breath death, as well as a man...  Enkidu explains the man was Shamash and that they will bind the wings of the Thunderbird.(5) Gilgamesh dreams of a bull he takes hold of and a [man] who gives him water.  Enkidu says the bull represents Shamash who will aid them in their time of peril, and the man with water was Lugalbanda.

Near the entrance to the Forest of Cedar, Gilgamesh begins to cry with fear.  Shamash calls to him, ordering him to hurry and enter the forest while Humbaba is not wearing all 7 cloaks of his armor [auras], but only one.  Enkidu loses his courage and wants to withdraw, but Gilgamesh encourages him onward. Humbaba bellows.  [They may begin fighting Humbaba here--a large part of the tablet is missing.]

Tablet 5: Combat with Humbaba

Gilgamesh and Enkidu admire the beautiful Forest of Cedar and the Mountain of Cedar where the gods and goddesses have their secret abode and throne.  Enkidu encourages Gilgamesh. Hearing their sounds, Humbaba comes roaring up to them and warns them threateningly. Gilgamesh is fearful and considers retreating, but Enkidu encourages him to confront Humbaba head on.  The fight begins.  Shamash sends violent winds against Humbaba, and the men get the upper hand.  Humbaba pleads for his life, offers Gilgamesh all his trees, but Enkidu insists that Gilgamesh kill him to establish his fame, even though the gods will be angry.  Humbaba mockingly asks if Gilgamesh the king takes orders from his servant, and asks Enkidu to request his life be spared.  Humbaba curses Enkidu, foretelling that Enkidu will not grow old. Gilgamesh draws his dirk and smites Humbaba in the neck, cutting off his head.  The mountains

quake and tremble.  [Some of the following is from the older Old Babylonian version.] Gilgamesh also slays all 7 of Humbaba's auras.  Gilgamesh and Enkidu cut down some of the trees of the cedar forest and in particular the tallest of the cedar trees, to make a great cedar gate for the city of Uruk.  They build a raft out of the cedar and float down the Euphrates river to their city, bringing Humbaba's head.

Tablet 6: Ishtar and the Bull of Heaven

Back in Uruk, Gilgamesh cleans up and is dressed in his royal cloaks and crown.  He attracts the attention of the goddess of sexual love Ishtar, who asks him to be her husband--she will grant his animals great fertility and strength, etc.  But Gilgamesh refuses her with insults, citing all the mortal lovers that Ishtar has had, and recounting their dire fates. These included Dumuzi (Tammuz), the lover of her youth now doomed [to spend 6 months of the year in the Netherworld], the allalu-bird, the lion, the horse, the shepherd, the grazier, the herdsman, and even her father's gardener Ishullanu who she turned into a dwarf.  Insulted and enraged at the slander, Ishtar ascends to her parents in heaven: the sky-god Anu and Antu [in other myths, she is the daughter of Sin the moon god].  She begs her father to let her have the Bull of Heaven [the constellation Taurus] to wreak vengeance on Gilgamesh and his city, saying otherwise she will release the dead from the Netherworld to eat the living.  Anu gives her the nose-rope of the bull, and she leads it down into Uruk.  The bull goes on a rampage, drying up the woods and the river, etc.  When the bull snorts, pits are opened up in the earth and hundreds of people fall through to their deaths.  Even Enkidu is almost killed.  He seizes the bull by the tail and instructs Gilgamesh to kill it with his knife directed to a certain spot behind the horns, which Gilgamesh does.  They offer the heart to Shamash.  Ishtar laments, and Enkidu says that he and Gilgamesh might have killed her next.  He rips off one of the haunches of the bull and hurls it toward her.  Ishtar holds rites of mourning over the haunch while men admire Gilgamesh's bull trophy and he makes offerings to Lugalbanda.  He boasts of his success and makes merry.

Tablet 7: Enkidu's vision of the Netherworld and his own death

Enkidu has a dream about a council of the gods.  In it Enlil declares that one of the two men who have killed the Bull of Heaven and Humbaba must die.  Shamash speaks up in their defense, and Enlil rebukes him.  Enkidu tells Gilgamesh he knows that he is to die, and in a delirium he speaks to the door [city gate?] made from the great cedar, as if it were a man.  He is blasphemous: had he known his fate, he would have used the cedar instead at Shamash's temple at Larsa, Ebabbara.  Now as he weeps with Gilgamesh, he considers tearing it down.  Gilgamesh chastises his friend, and says he will be left in sorrow by Enkidu's death.  Gilgamesh will pray to Anu, Enlil, and Ea.  Enkidu asks Gilgamesh not to make any material offerings.  Enkidu then prays directly to Shamash for his life.  Enkidu curses the hunter/trapper who found him, and especially the cultic harlot, Shamhat, foretelling a miserable and lonely fate for her--she who had weakened him and left him defiled.

But Shamash reminds Enkidu that Shamhat treated him well and introduced him to his friend. Gilgamesh will honor Enkidu in death.  Enkidu relents and blesses the harlot--he predicts she will have many lovers including a wealthy man who abandon his wife.

Enkidu recounts a dream: a great demon comes to him, turns him into a dove, and drags him to "the house of darkness" Irkalla (the Netherworld and home of Ereshkigal), where all the dead end up.  The House of Dust has various types of priests, former kings, the queen of the Netherworld Ereshkigal, her scribe Belet-seri, etc.  She asks who has brought him there. [the rest is lost].

Enkidu asks Gilgamesh not to forget him and all they went through together.  Enkidu lays sick for twelve days, expressing regret he does not die in combat and shall not make his name, finally dies.

Tablet 8: The funeral of Enkidu

Gilgamesh mourns deeply, and utters a long lament, ordering all to mourn his dead friend: the paths of the Forest of Cedar, the elders, the people, the hills and mountains, the pastures, trees, animals, rivers, the young men of Uruk, the shepherds, the brewer, Shamhat, etc.  He compares Enkidu to a trusted weapon at his side, a wild ass, a donkey, and a panther.  What is this sleep that has come over him?  He covers the face of Enkidu, pulls out his own hair, and rips off his clothes.

At dawn, he calls for the artisans to construct an elaborate and ornate statue of Enkidu.  Enkidu will be honored in the underworld.  Gilgamesh will provide jewels, precious stones, gold, ivory, weapons, oxen and sheep, and other treasures to gain him favor with the gods and inhabitants of the underworld.  He makes an offering to Ishtar, and to the moon god Namra-Sit [Sin], to Ereshkigal, to Dumuzi "the shepherd beloved of Ishtar", to Namtar [vizier of the Netherworld], Hushbisha (the stewardess), to Qassu-tabat [the sweeper], to Ninshuluhha (cleaner of the house), to Bibbu (the butcher), to Dumuzi-abzu (scapegoat of the Netherworld), ... [missing parts].

Gilgamesh considers damning the river [Euphrates, to construct a tomb in the river bed].  [The remaining description of the funeral is missing.]

Tablet 9: The wanderings of Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh continues to mourn, and wanders in the wild, contemplating that he will also die.  He fears death, and seeks eternal life through Uta-napishti, son of Ubar-Tutu. [His tale of the Flood is told below.]

He comes to a mountain pass, sees lions, prays to the moon god Sin.  Later that night he grows glad of life and kills the lions, eats them and clothes himself in their skins.  He digs wells [oases] that have not existed before.

Shamash asks him where he is wandering, and Gilgamesh wonders if he will be able to rest in the Netherworld.  Gilgamesh asks when the dead will see the rays of the sun again.

He arrives at the twin mountains of Mashu which guards the sun at sunrise and sunset [?] and support the heavens. Scorpion men, whose glance is death, guard its gates as well as the sun at sunrise and sunset.  Gilgamesh covers his face.  They realize that Gilgamesh is part god and ask

him why he has come, observing that no man has reached these mountains before.  Gilgamesh says he is seeking Upa-napishti, who found eternal life and may be able to tell him the secret. Unable to deter him, they describe an underground route or dark tunnel under the mountains, the path of the Sun-God [when the sun returns to the east at night?]... They wish him a safe passage [warning him that he must get to the end before the sun catches up with him]. In darkness he hurries through the passage and emerges in advance of the Sun.  He has entered a garden of jewels, with carnelian trees in bloom, a lapis lazuli tree, other trees made of precious stone, jewels, and coral.  He is seen by a female figure [Shiduri?].

Tablet 10: Gilgamesh travels to Uta-napishti at the edge of the world

Shiduri is a wise old tavern keeper who lives by the sea-shore.  She sees him coming and bars the gate.  He threatens to smash down the door, and she allows him in.  He tells of his friend Enkidu, how they slew Humbaba, etc.  She wonders why he now appears so gaunt, why he sorrows so. He laments again the loss of his friend.  He did not relinquish his body until maggots dropped from his nostril!  He tells of his own intense fear of death, of turning to clay like Enkidu.  He asks for the way to Upa-napishti the Distant across the ocean.  Shiduri says there is no longer a way for humans to make this journey--only Shamash can cross the ocean, it is a perilous journey, and midway lie the Waters of Death.  She tells him of Ur-shanabi, Uta-napishti's boatman, who with the Stone Ones is the only one who can travel across the Water's of Death and survive. Gilgamesh rushes and attacks the Stone Ones, smashing them and throwing them into the river. He then encounters Ur-shanabi.  Ur-shanabi also asks why he appears so gaunt, and he again tells of losing his friend, of their exploits, and his own fear of death and desire for immortality.  He asks him about the way to Uta-napishti.  The ferryman tells him that this has been prevented, since the Stone Ones, who were essential, have been destroyed by Gilgamesh. Soon, apparently changing his mind, he advises Gilgamesh to cut several trees down to serve as punting-poles of great length and thus an alternative form of propulsion. With the many punting poles, Gilgamesh can push the boat and never touch the dangerous Waters of Death.  They make the journey in 3 days. After Gilgamesh used up all the poles, he makes a sail out of Ur-shanabi's garments.

At last, they approach the distant shore. Uta-napishti wonders who Gilgamesh is.  Uta-napishti asks him why he is so gaunt and Gilgamesh again tells of losing Enkidu, their exploits, his fear of dying, his grieving, etc.  He has had little sleep, has scourged himself, etc.  Uta-napishti tells him not to chase sorrow, that his lot when a well-fed and clothed king was better than that of the fool [probably suggesting his present state].  He speaks words of wisdom: the responsibility of a king to provide for his people and the temples, etc.; man is destined to die, to be "snapped off like a reed in a canebrake", death is inevitable for all men; the river rises and the flood washes away the houses of men; the dead are like the abducted.  He tells of the assembly of the Anunnaki, the great gods [mostly of the Netherworld], how they established Death and Life with Mammitum (Aruru/Mother Goddess).

Tablet 11: Uta-napishti denies him immortality; Gilgamesh returns to Uruk

Gilgamesh asks Uta-napishti how he came to be immortal, and Uta-napishti recounts the story of how he and his wife were the sole human survivors of the Deluge and Flood:

He was the king of Shuruppak, on the banks of the Euphrates.  The gods decided to send down the Deluge (apparently Enlil especially wished to punish mankind).  Ea slyly warned Uta-napishti to build a boat, abandon his wealth, and take aboard the seed of all living things.  He obeyed Ea, and deceptively told his fellow citizens, as instructed, that he was hated by Enlil and could no longer live on his ground, but must go to Ocean Below (Apsu) to live with Ea.  He also deceived them, saying that abundant rain, birds, fishes, bread-cakes, and wheat would come to them.  The carpenter, ship-wright, and reed-worker assembled at dawn and began construction. The ship [actually a barge] was to be one acre in area, square in shape, with 6 decks, well sealed with pitch and tar.  He fed the workers well.  They oiled the boat.  At last he went aboard the boat with all his wordily wealth, silver and gold, many creatures, and his kin, and he sealed the hatch.  He gave his palace to the shipwright.  At dawn, the Storm God Adad brought up great clouds.  The god of wanton devastation Errikal [a manifestation of Nergal] uprooted mooring poles, Ninurta [Enlil's son] made the weirs overflow, and the Anunnaki started fires over the countryside.  Adad then smashed the land to pieces with powerful winds.  Then the Deluge came, which was so intense it even frightened the gods, who fled to Anu in heaven.  Belet-ili [Mother Goddess] cried out in despair, lamenting that her speaking out in the god's assembly had brought this punishment on to the very humans to whom she had given birth.  The Anunnaki gods also wept.  The storm, wind, and Deluge all lasted 6 days and 7 nights, then came to an end. All the people had turned to clay, the flood plain flattened.  The boat ran aground [i.e., perched above the submerged peak] of Mount Nimush [in the Zagros mountains ? of Kurdistan].  Uta-napishti released a dove, the next day a swallow, the next day a raven--when the latter does not return, he knew that he was near land.  He made sacrifices which pleased the gods, who gathered like flies (since the absence of humans had left them starved for sacrifices).  Belet-ili blamed Enlil for causing this destruction.  Enlil arrived angry, wanting to be sure that there was not even a single survivor.  Ea accused him of a lack of good counsel, that he could have used other means to punish and diminish the numbers of men without destroying them completely.  Enlil debated what to do with Uta-napishti, and Ea acknowledged that he was responsible for warning him.  Enlil decided to make Uta-napishti and his wife immortal.

Uta-napishti now challenges Gilgamesh to stay awake for 7 nights [presumably as a test of how worthy for immortality he is], but the exhausted Gilgamesh quickly falls asleep.  Uta-napishti has his wife bake a loaf of bread and place it by Gilgamesh each day he sleeps.  Thus, by means of the varying states of decay of the loaves, he proves to Gilgamesh when he awakens how long he has slept (initially, Gilgamesh thinks it has only been a moment).  Gilgamesh again expresses his fear of Death.  Uta-napishti banishes Ur-shanabi for bringing the forbidden visitor.  He asks Ur-shanabi to clean Gilgamesh up, cast off the pelts and dress him in royal robes, and return him to his kingdom.  They prepare to return by boat.  Uta-napishti offers Gilgamesh a parting gift in the form of instructions for finding a prickly plant, the "Plant of Heartbeat" that will restore youth. Gilgamesh burrows down to the Ocean Below and retrieves the plant [coral?].  Gilgamesh plans to test it's effectiveness on an old man first.  But on their way back, they stop by a pool and bathe, and a snake sneaks up and steals the plant, youthfully shedding its skin in the process. Gilgamesh weeps at losing the only treasure he brings from the trip--and he lacks the tools to reopen the channel to the Ocean Below, even if he did turn back.

Back at last in Uruk, he tells Ur-shanabi to climb the walls and admire the foundations laid by the Seven Sages, etc. [just as the first tablet had urged].

(Note: What used to be considered a twelfth tablet for this work is an Akkadian translation of part of one of the Sumerian Bilgames poems, Bilgames and the Netherworld.)