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2017/7/20 Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet I

The Epic of Gilgamesh


Translated by Maureen Gallery Kovacs
Electronic Edition by Wolf Carnahan, I998
Tablet I
He who has seen everything, I will make known (?) to the lands.
I will teach (?) about him who experienced all things,
... alike,
Anu granted him the totality of knowledge of all.
He saw the Secret, discovered the Hidden,
he brought information of (the time) before the Flood.
He went on a distant journey, pushing himself to exhaustion,
but then was brought to peace.
He carved on a stone stela all of his toils,
and built the wall of Uruk-Haven,
the wall of the sacred Eanna Temple, the holy sanctuary.
Look at its wall which gleams like copper(?),
inspect its inner wall, the likes of which no one can equal!
Take hold of the threshold stone--it dates from ancient times!
Go close to the Eanna Temple, the residence of Ishtar,
such as no later king or man ever equaled!
Go up on the wall of Uruk and walk around,
examine its foundation, inspect its brickwork thoroughly.
Is not (even the core of) the brick structure made of kiln-fired brick,
and did not the Seven Sages themselves lay out its plans?
One league city, one league palm gardens, one league lowlands, the open area(?) of the Ishtar Temple,
three leagues and the open area(?) of Uruk it (the wall) encloses.
Find the copper tablet box,
open the ... of its lock of bronze,
undo the fastening of its secret opening.
Take and read out from the lapis lazuli tablet
how Gilgamesh went through every hardship.
Supreme over other kings, lordly in appearance,
he is the hero, born of Uruk, the goring wild bull.
He walks out in front, the leader,
and walks at the rear, trusted by his companions.
Mighty net, protector of his people,
raging flood-wave who destroys even walls of stone!
Offspring of Lugalbanda, Gilgamesh is strong to perfection,
son of the august cow, Rimat-Ninsun;... Gilgamesh is awesome to perfection.
It was he who opened the mountain passes,
who dug wells on the flank of the mountain.
It was he who crossed the ocean, the vast seas, to the rising sun,
who explored the world regions, seeking life.
It was he who reached by his own sheer strength Utanapishtim, the Faraway,
who restored the sanctuaries (or: cities) that the Flood had destroyed!
... for teeming mankind.
Who can compare with him in kingliness?
Who can say like Gilgamesh: "I am King!"?
Whose name, from the day of his birth, was called "Gilgamesh"?
Two-thirds of him is god, one-third of him is human.
The Great Goddess [Aruru] designed(?) the model for his body,
she prepared his form ...
... beautiful, handsomest of men,
... perfect
...
He walks around in the enclosure of Uruk,
Like a wild bull he makes himself mighty, head raised (over others).
There is no rival who can raise his weapon against him.
His fellows stand (at the alert), attentive to his (orders ?),
and the men of Uruk become anxious in ...
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Gilgamesh does not leave a son to his father,


day and night he arrogant[y(?) ...
[The following lines are interpreted as rhetorical, perhaps spoken by the oppressed citizens of Uruk.]
Is Gilgamesh the shepherd of Uruk-Haven,
is he the shepherd. ...
bold, eminent, knowing, and wise!
Gilgamesh does not leave a girl to her mother(?)
The daughter of the warrior, the bride of the young man,
the gods kept hearing their complaints, so
the gods of the heavens implored the Lord of Uruk [Anu]
       "You have indeed brought into being a mighty wild bull, head raised!
       "There is no rival who can raise a weapon against him.
       "His fellows stand (at the alert), attentive to his (orders !),
       "Gilgamesh does not leave a son to his father,
       "day and night he arrogantly ...
       "Is he the shepherd of Uruk-Haven,
       "is he their shepherd...
       "bold, eminent, knowing, and wise,
       "Gilgamesh does not leave a girl to her mother(?)!"
The daughter of the warrior, the bride of the young man,
Anu listened to their complaints,
and (the gods) called out to Aruru:
      "it was you, Aruru, who created mankind(?),
      now create a zikru to it/him.
      Let him be equal to his (Gilgamesh's) stormy heart,
      let them be a match for each other so that Uruk may find peace!"
When Aruru heard this she created within herself the zikrtt of Anu.
Aruru washed her hands, she pinched off some clay, and threw it into the wilderness.
In the wildness(?) she created valiant Enkidu,
born of Silence, endowed with strength by Ninurta.
His whole body was shaggy with hair,
he had a full head of hair like a woman,
his locks billowed in profusion like Ashnan.
He knew neither people nor settled living,
but wore a garment like Sumukan."
He ate grasses with the gazelles,
and jostled at the watering hole with the animals;
as with animals, his thirst was slaked with (mere) water.
A notorious trapper came face-to-face with him opposite the watering hole.
A first, a second, and a third day
he came face-to-face with him opposite the watering hole.
On seeing him the trapper's face went stark with fear,
and he (Enkidu?) and his animals drew back home.
He was rigid with fear; though stock-still
his heart pounded and his face drained of color.
He was miserable to the core,
and his face looked like one who had made a long journey.
The trapper addressed his father saying:"
      "Father, a certain fellow has come from the mountains.
      He is the mightiest in the land,
      his strength is as mighty as the meteorite(?) of Anu!
      He continually goes over the mountains,
      he continually jostles at the watering place with the animals,
      he continually plants his feet opposite the watering place.
      I was afraid, so I did not go up to him.
      He filled in the pits that I had dug,
      wrenched out my traps that I had spread,
      released from my grasp the wild animals.
      He does not let me make my rounds in the wilderness!"
The trapper's father spoke to him saying:
      "My son, there lives in Uruk a certain Gilgamesh.
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      There is no one stronger than he,


      he is as strong as the meteorite(?) of Anu.
      Go, set off to Uruk,
      tell Gilgamesh of this Man of Might.
      He will give you the harlot Shamhat, take her with you.
      The woman will overcome the fellow (?) as if she were strong.
      When the animals are drinking at the watering place
      have her take off her robe and expose her sex.
      When he sees her he will draw near to her,
      and his animals, who grew up in his wilderness, will be alien to him."
He heeded his father's advice.
The trapper went off to Uruk,
he made the journey, stood inside of Uruk,
and declared to ... Gilgamesh:
      "There is a certain fellow who has come from the mountains--
      he is the mightiest in the land,
      his strength is as mighty as the meteorite(?) of Anu!
      He continually goes over the mountains,
      he continually jostles at the watering place with the animals,
      he continually plants his feet opposite the watering place.
      I was afraid, so I did not go up to him.
      He filled in the pits that I had dug,
      wrenched out my traps that I had spread,
      released from my grasp the wild animals.
      He does not let me make my rounds in the wilderness!"
Gilgamesh said to the trapper:
      "Go, trapper, bring the harlot, Shamhat, with you.
      When the animals are drinking at the watering place
      have her take off her robe and expose her sex.
      When he sees her he will draw near to her,
      and his animals, who grew up in his wilderness, will be alien to him."
The trapper went, bringing the harlot, Shamhat, with him.
They set off on the journey, making direct way.
On the third day they arrived at the appointed place,
and the trapper and the harlot sat down at their posts(?).
A first day and a second they sat opposite the watering hole.
The animals arrived and drank at the watering hole,
the wild beasts arrived and slaked their thirst with water.
Then he, Enkidu, offspring of the mountains,
who eats grasses with the gazelles,
came to drink at the watering hole with the animals,
with the wild beasts he slaked his thirst with water.
Then Shamhat saw him--a primitive,
a savage fellow from the depths of the wilderness!
      "That is he, Shamhat! Release your clenched arms,
      expose your sex so he can take in your voluptuousness.
      Do not be restrained--take his energy!
      When he sees you he will draw near to you.
      Spread out your robe so he can lie upon you,
      and perform for this primitive the task of womankind!
      His animals, who grew up in his wilderness, will become alien to him,
      and his lust will groan over you."
Shamhat unclutched her bosom, exposed her sex, and he took in her voluptuousness.
She was not restrained, but took his energy.
She spread out her robe and he lay upon her,
she performed for the primitive the task of womankind.
His lust groaned over her;
for six days and seven nights Enkidu stayed aroused,
and had intercourse with the harlot
until he was sated with her charms.
But when he turned his attention to his animals,
the gazelles saw Enkidu and darted off,
the wild animals distanced themselves from his body.
Enkidu ... his utterly depleted(?) body,
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his knees that wanted to go off with his animals went rigid;


Enkidu was diminished, his running was not as before.
But then he drew himself up, for his understanding had broadened.
Turning around, he sat down at the harlot's feet,
gazing into her face, his ears attentive as the harlot spoke.
The harlot said to Enkidu:
      "You are beautiful," Enkidu, you are become like a god.
      Why do you gallop around the wilderness with the wild beasts?
      Come, let me bring you into Uruk-Haven,
      to the Holy Temple, the residence of Anu and Ishtar,
      the place of Gilgamesh, who is wise to perfection,
      but who struts his power over the people like a wild bull."
What she kept saying found favor with him.
Becoming aware of himself, he sought a friend.
Enkidu spoke to the harlot:
      "Come, Shamhat, take me away with you
      to the sacred Holy Temple, the residence of Anu and Ishtar,
      the place of Gilgamesh, who is wise to perfection,
      but who struts his power over the people like a wild bull.
      I will challenge him ...
      Let me shout out in Uruk: I am the mighty one!'
      Lead me in and I will change the order of things;
      he whose strength is mightiest is the one born in the wilderness!"
[Shamhat to Enkidu:]
      "Come, let us go, so he may see your face.
      I will lead you to Gilgamesh--I know where he will be.
      Look about, Enkidu, inside Uruk-Haven,
      where the people show off in skirted finery,
      where every day is a day for some festival,
      where the lyre(?) and drum play continually,
      where harlots stand about prettily,
      exuding voluptuousness, full of laughter
      and on the couch of night the sheets are spread (!)."
      Enkidu, you who do not know, how to live,
      I will show you Gilgamesh, a man of extreme feelings (!).
      Look at him, gaze at his face--
      he is a handsome youth, with freshness(!),
      his entire body exudes voluptuousness
      He has mightier strength than you,
      without sleeping day or night!
      Enkidu, it is your wrong thoughts you must change!
      It is Gilgamesh whom Shamhat loves,
      and Anu, Enlil, and La have enlarged his mind."
      Even before you came from the mountain
      Gilgamesh in Uruk had dreams about you.""
Gilgamesh got up and revealed the dream, saying to his mother:
      "Mother, I had a dream last night.
      Stars of the sky appeared,
      and some kind of meteorite(?) of Anu fell next to me.
      I tried to lift it but it was too mighty for me,
      I tried to turn it over but I could not budge it.
      The Land of Uruk was standing around it,
      the whole land had assembled about it,
      the populace was thronging around it,
      the Men clustered about it,
      and kissed its feet as if it were a little baby (!).
      I loved it and embraced it as a wife.
      I laid it down at your feet,
      and you made it compete with me."
The mother of Gilgamesh, the wise, all-knowing, said to her Lord;
Rimat-Ninsun, the wise, all-knowing, said to Gilgamesh:
      "As for the stars of the sky that appeared
      and the meteorite(?) of Anu which fell next to you,
      you tried to lift but it was too mighty for you,
      you tried to turn it over but were unable to budge it,
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      you laid it down at my feet,


      and I made it compete with you,
      and you loved and embraced it as a wife."
      "There will come to you a mighty man, a comrade who saves his friend--
      he is the mightiest in the land, he is strongest,
      his strength is mighty as the meteorite(!) of Anu!
      You loved him and embraced him as a wife;
      and it is he who will repeatedly save you.
      Your dream is good and propitious!"
A second time Gilgamesh said to his mother:       "Mother, I have had another dream:
      "At the gate of my marital chamber there lay an axe,
      "and people had collected about it.
      "The Land of Uruk was standing around it,
      "the whole land had assembled about it,
      "the populace was thronging around it.
      "I laid it down at your feet,
      "I loved it and embraced it as a wife,
      "and you made it compete with me."
The mother of Gilgamesh, the wise, all-knowing, said to her son;
Rimat-Ninsun, the wise, all-knowing, said to Gilgamesh:
      ""The axe that you saw (is) a man.
      "... (that) you love him and embrace as a wife,
      "but (that) I have compete with you."
      "" There will come to you a mighty man,
      "" a comrade who saves his friend--
      "he is the mightiest in the land, he is strongest,
      "he is as mighty as the meteorite(!) of Anu!"
Gilgamesh spoke to his mother saying:
      ""By the command of Enlil, the Great Counselor, so may it to pass!
      "May I have a friend and adviser, a friend and adviser may I have!
      "You have interpreted for me the dreams about him!"
After the harlot recounted the dreams of Gilgamesh to Enkidu
the two of them made love.
 
EPIC OF GILGAMESH TABLET I

 
 
Kenneth Sublett, Piney.com, Hohenwald, Tennessee

 
"Gilgamesh: Fame haunts the man who visits Hell, who lives to tell my entire tale identically. So like a sage, a trickster or saint,
GILGAMESH  was  a  hero  who  knew  secrets  and  saw  forbidden  places."  The  Bible  is  best  understood  by  knowing  the
background to the myths of ancient Mesopotamia. Gilgamesh may be one of the oldest epics.

 
"Enmebaragesi fl. c. 2700 BC also spelled Enmebaragisi, also called ME­BARAGESI, king of Kish, in northern Babylonia, and
the first historical personality of Mesopotamia.

"Enmebaragesi is known from inscriptions about him on fragments of vases of his own time, as well as from later traditions. He
was the next­to­last ruler of the first dynasty of Kish. He "despoiled the weapons of the land of Elam," one inscription asserts.
His son, Agga, was the last king of the dynasty, owing to his defeat by Gilgamesh, according to the Sumerian epic Gilgamesh
and Agga of Kish.

"The fullest extant text of the Gilgamesh epic is on 12 incomplete Akkadian­language tablets found at Nineveh in the library of
the  Assyrian  king  Ashurbanipal  (reigned  668­627  BC).  The  gaps  that  occur  in  the  tablets  have  been  partly  filled  by  various
fragments found elsewhere in  Mesopotamia  and  Anatolia.  In  addition,  five  short poems  in  the  Sumerian  language  are  known
from  tablets  that  were  written  during  the  first  half  of  the  2nd  millennium  BC;  the  poems  have  been  entitled  "Gilgamesh  and
Huwawa,"  "Gilgamesh  and  the  Bull  of  Heaven,"  "Gilgamesh  and  Agga  of  Kish,"  "Gilgamesh,  Enkidu,  and  the  Nether
World," and "The Death of Gilgamesh."

 
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"The Gilgamesh of the poems and of the epic tablets was probably the Gilgamesh who ruled at Uruk in southern Mesopotamia
sometime during the first half of the 3rd millennium BC and who was thus a contemporary of Agga, ruler of Kish; Gilgamesh of
Uruk was also mentioned in the Sumerian list of kings as reigning after the flood. There is, however, no historical evidence for
the exploits narrated in poems and epic.

"The Ninevite version of the epic begins with a prologue in praise of Gilgamesh, part divine and part human, the great builder
and warrior, knower of all things on land and sea.

In order to curb Gilgamesh's seemingly harsh rule, the god Anu caused  the  creation  of  Enkidu,  a  wild  man  who  at  first  lived
among animals.

Soon, however, Enkidu was initiated into the ways of city life and traveled to Uruk, where Gilgamesh awaited him.

Tablet II describes a trial of strength between the two men in which Gilgamesh was the victor; thereafter,

Enkidu was the friend and companion (in Sumerian texts, the servant) of Gilgamesh.

In Tablets III­V the two men set out together against Huwawa (Humbaba), the divinely appointed guardian of a remote cedar
forest, but the rest of the engagement is not recorded in the surviving fragments. See Gilgamesh and Huwawa

In Tablet VI Gilgamesh, who had returned to Uruk, rejected the marriage proposal of Ishtar, the goddess of love, and then, with
Enkidu's aid, killed the divine bull that she had sent to destroy him.

Tablet  VII  begins  with  Enkidu's  account  of  a  dream  in  which  the  gods  Anu,  Ea,  and  Shamash  decided  that  he  must  die  for
slaying the bull. Enkidu then fell ill and dreamed of the "house of dust" that awaited him.

Gilgamesh's lament for his friend and the state funeral of Enkidu are narrated in Tablet VIII.

Afterward, Gilgamesh made a dangerous journey (Tablets IX and X) in search of Utnapishtim, the survivor of the Babylonian
flood, in order to learn from him how to escape death. He finally reached Utnapishtim, who told him the story of the flood and
showed him

where to find a plant that would renew youth (Tablet XI). But after Gilgamesh obtained the plant, it was seized by a serpent,
and Gilgamesh unhappily returned to Uruk.

An appendage to the epic, Tablet XII, related the loss of objects called pukku and mikku (perhaps "drum" and "drumstick") given
to Gilgamesh by Ishtar. The epic ends with the return of the spirit of Enkidu, who promised to recover the objects and then gave
a grim report on the underworld." See Britannica Online With Membership

Columns I ­ VI
 
Gilgamesh, the King
The Creation of Enkidu
The Civilization of Enkidu
Gilgamesh Dreams of Enkidu

Column I
 
Fame haunts the man who visits Hell,
who lives to tell my entire tale identically.

So like a sage, a trickster or saint,
GILGAMESH was a hero who knew secrets
and saw forbidden places,

who could even speak of the time before the
Flood because he lived long, learned much,
and spoke his life to those who first
cut into clay his bird­like words.

 
10. He commanded walls for Uruk and for Eanna,
our holy ground,
walls that you can see still; walls where weep
the weary widows of dead soldiers.

Go to them and touch their immovable presence
with gentle fingers to find yourself.

No one else ever built such walls.
Climb Uruk's Tower and walk abut on a
windy night. Look. Touch. Taste. Sense.
What force created such mass?

 
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20. Open up the special box that's hidden in the wall
and read aloud the story of Gilgamesh's life.

Learn what sorrow taught him; learn of the those
he overcome by wit or force or fear as he,
a town's best child, acted nobly in the way
one should to lead and acted wisely too
as one who sought no fame.

Child of Lugal banda's wife and some great force,
Gilgamesh is a fate alive, the
finest babe of Ninsun, she who never

 
30. let a man touch her, indeed
so sure and heavenly, so without sin.

He knew the secret paths that reached the eagle's
nest above the mountain and and knew too how
just to drop a well into the chilly earth.

He sailed the sea to where Shamash comes,
explored the world, sought life, and came at last
to Utnapishtim far away who did bring
back to life the flooded earth.

Is there anywhere a greater king

 
40. how can say, as Gilgamesh may
"I am supreme"?
 
Column II
The bigger part of him was made in heaven

and the smaller part somewhere on earth.

She­who­must­be­obeyed fashioned his body's self.
She endowed him.

Gilgamesh watches the flocks of Uruk himself
as if he were a loose bull, nose up in open field.
No one else could come close to fighting like that.
His clan is roused by howling dreams

 
50. And with them all he goes howling through sanctuaries.
But would he ever let his child come

To see him ravish others?
"Is this shepherd of Uruk's flocks,
our strength, our light, our reason,
who hoards the girls of other men
for his own purpose?"
....line break

When Anu in the sky heard this,
 
70. he said to Aruru, great goddess of creation that she is:
"You created humans; create again in the
image of Gilgamesh and let this imitation be
as quick in heart and as strong in arm
so that these counterforces might first engage,
then disengage,
and finally let Uruk's children live in peace."

Hearing that, Aruru thought of Anu. Then she
wet her creative fingers, fashioned a rock, and tossed it
as far as she could into the woods.

 
80. Thus she fathered Enkidu, a forester, and gave birth
in terror and in fright without a single cry of pain,
bringing forth another likeness of Ninurta, god of war.

Hair covered his body and his curls resembled
those of any good girl, growing swiftly like the
fair hair of Nisaba­giver­of­grain.

This Enkidu had neither clan nor race. He went
clothed as one who shepherds well, eating the food
of grass, drinking from the watery holes of herds

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2017/7/20 Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet I
and racing swift as wind or silent water.

 
90. Then Enkidu met a hunter at the watery hole
on three consecutive days.

And each time the face of the hunter signaled
recognition of Enkidu.

For the herds were uninvited at
the hunter's oasis and the hunter was
disturbed by this intrusion. His quiet heart
rushed up in trouble. His eyes darkened.
Fear leaped forth onto a face that looks
as if it expects to doubt for a long, long time.

 
Column III
100. Then with trembling lips the hunter told his father this complaint:
"Sir, one has come to my watery hole from afar and he
is the biggest and best throughout the land. He feels power.
His is a strength like that of Anu's swift star, and
tirelessly does he roam across the land.

He eats the food of beasts and, like the beasts,
he comes at will to drink from my watery hole.
In fear do I see him come to undo
what I have done by wrecking traps, by
bursting mounds, by letting animals slip through my

 
110. grasp, beasts that I would bind."
Then with hateful lips, the father told the hunter his reply:

"Boy, your answer lies in Uruk where
there stalks a man of endless strength named Gilgamesh.
He is the biggest and best throughout the land. He feels power.
His is a strength like that of Anu's swift star.

Start out toward Uruk's ancient palace
and tell your tale to Gilgamesh.
In turn he'll say to set a trap, take back with
you a fine lover, some sacred temple girl,

 
120. who might let him see what force and charm a girl can have.
Then as Enkidu comes again to the watery hole,

let her strip in nearby isolation to show him all her grace.
If he is drawn toward her, and leaves the herd to mate,
his beasts on high will leave him then behind."

The hunter heard his father well and went that very night
to Uruk where he said this to Gilgamesh:
"There is someone from afar whose
force is great throughout our land.

 
130. His is a strength throughout the land. He feels power.
His is a strength like that of Anu's swift star, and
tirelessly does he roam across the land.

He eats the food of beasts and, like the beasts,
he comes at will to drink from my watery hole.
In fear do I see him come to undo
what I have done by wrecking traps, by
bursting mounds, by letting animals slip through my
grasp, beasts that I would bind."

So Gilgamesh replied:
"Go set a trap; take back with

 
140. you a fine lover, Shamhat, the sacred temple girl,
who might let him see what charm and force a girl can have.

Then as Enkidu comes again to the watery hole,
let her strip in nearby isolation to show him all her grace.
If he is drawn toward her, and leaves the herd to mate,
his beasts on high will leave him then behind."
The hunter returned, bringing with him the sacred temple girl,
and swift was their journey.

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2017/7/20 Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet I
Three days later, at the watery hole, they set their
trap for Enkidu and spoke no word for two

 
150. whole days waiting and waiting and waiting.
Then the herd came slowly in to drink.
 
Column IV
Beasts arose and sleepy limbs began to flutter then.

Enkidu, the boy who walked on mountains,
who eats the food of beasts and, like the beasts,
comes down at will to drink from the watery hole,
with the beasts arose and stretched
his tired limbs to start the day.

She beheld him then, as he was in his beginning,
the one who gave and took life from the far woods.

 
160. "Here is he, fine lover; be set to wet him with
your tongue and chest and loins.
Spread forth your happiness. Display your hidden charm.
jump him fast and kneel upon his shoulders.
Without his wind then, he'll enter near your entrance.
Take off your robe to let him in.
Let him see what force a girl can have.
The friends he has from on wild will exile him

if he presses his person, as he will, into your scented bush.
"Shamhat let her garments loose and spread forth

 
170. her happiness which Enkidu entered as gusts of wind
enter tunnels bound for Hell.

Hot and swollen first, she jumped him fast
knocking out his rapid breath with
thrust after loving thrust.
She let him see what force a girl can have,
and he stayed within her scented bush for
seven nights, leaping, seeping, weeping, and sleeping there.

After that week of pleasure,
Enkidu returned to the herds

 
180. but the beasts fled from him in haste.
They stampeded away from his new self.

He could no longer race as he had once,
legs soft now and ankles stiff. The beasts
left him behind and he grew sad
that he could no longer speed with them.

But he enjoyed the memory that no virgin has
and, returning to his fine lover, he once
more knelt between her legs
as she spoke these words to him:

 
190. "Now you are as if a god, my boy,
with no more need of dumb beasts, however fair.

We can now ascend the road to Uruk's palace,
the immaculate domicile, where Anu and Ishtar dwell,

and there we will see Gilgamesh, the powerful,
who rides over the herd like any great king."
These words he heard and he stared at her.

For the first time he wished for just one friend.
Then Enkidu asked the love who was so fine:
"Please come with me and be my love

 
200. at the immaculate domicile, where Anu and Ishtar dwell,
and there we will see Gilgamesh, the powerful,
who rides over the herd like any great king.

I wish to call on him; to proclaim all things
aloud and find a friend in him."

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Column V
Enkidu continued:
"Uruk will hear me say, 'I am the strongest.

I alone can do all I wish.'
Forester that I am, a mountainous power is mine.

 
210. We should march together, face­by­face,
so I can promote your fame."
Then fine lover said these words in invitation:

"Enter Uruk of the herds, Enkidu,
where costumes bright are worn,
where it is always time to party,

where merry music never fades,
where graceful girls do ever play
with toys and boys and men;

for in the night these revelers do
their best to rule the town.

220. There, with a smile, Enkidu
will see his other self, great Gilgamesh.

Watch him all, please. Note his
face, his fists, his fairest sword,
and all the strength that dwells in him.

Could he be greater than you,
this one who's up and down all day and night?
Fear your own anger, boy; for great Gilgamesh
adores fair Shamash and is adored in turn.
Anu of the blue sky, Enlil from the clouds

 
230. and clever Ea have empowered him.
And before he even sees you,
this great Gilgamesh will have first envisioned you
in Uruk as a rival in a dream."

Gilgamesh awakens to ask his mother, Ninsun,
to leave off the dream.

"Mother," says he, "I saw a star
within my head in sleep just now
that fell at me like Anu's dart
and I could not escape.

 
240. Uruk was on high of it,
our people did applaud,
and gathered Lip to praise his force.

Men clenched fists; women danced.
And I too embraced this rising star,
as a man does the woman he loves best,
then took the new one here to you
so that you could see us both at once."

Gilgamesh's mother, who is wise in all and worries not, replied:
"This bright, new star is your true friend

 
250. who fell at you like Anu's dart,
whom you could not escape."
 
Column VI
Then she who is wise in all and worries not continued:
"So say this friend is one who is almighty,
with strength renowned around the world,
like Anu's dart his force is real
so that he draws you in, as does a wife,
though he is sure to race away, like
that most distant star, with the secrets of your origin.
This dissolves your sleep."
 
260. Then again, Gilgamesh said to her in reply:

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2017/7/20 Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet I
"Mother, I slept when some with axes then
attacked the herds of Uruk."

So Ninsun reassured the frightened king:
"Enkidu will help.
He will guard his loves
or rescue them from danger;
he is your most faithful friend.
Expect him to shepherd you
and to be sure that all goes well."
 

270. Gilgamesh said to his fond source:
"I pray for fortune and for fate
to send me such a one
that I may have a friend who's as kind
and patient as a brother."

Then in sleep full of repose
the temple girl enchanted Enkidu
where they lay smiling.

 
The Epic of Gilgamesh
 
Tablet II
 
Enkidu sits in front of her. 

[The next 30 lines are missing; some of the fragmentary lines from 35 on are restored 
from parallels in the Old Babylonian.] 

"Why ..."(?) 
His own counsel ... 
At his instruction ... 
Who knows his heart... 
Shamhat pulled off her clothing, 
and clothed him with one piece 
while she clothed herself with a second. 
She took hold of him as the gods do' 
and brought him to the hut of the shepherds. 
The shepherds gathered all around about him, 
they marveled to themselves: 
"How the youth resembles Gilgamesh­­ 
tall in stature, towering up to the battlements over the wall! 
Surely he was born in the mountains; 
his strength is as mighty as the meteorite(!) of Anu!" 
They placed food in front of him, 
they placed beer in front of him; 
Enkidu knew nothing about eating bread for food, 
and of drinking beer he had not been taught. 
The harlot spoke to Enkidu, saying: 
  "Eat the food, Enkidu, it is the way one lives. 
  Drink the beer, as is the custom of the land." 
Enkidu ate the food until he was sated, 
he drank the beer­seven jugs!­­ and became expansive and sang with joy! 
He was elated and his face glowed. 
He splashed his shaggy body with water, 
and rubbed himself with oil, and turned into a human. 
He put on some clothing and became like a warrior(!). 
He took up his weapon and chased lions so that the shepherds could eat 
He routed the wolves, and chased  the lions. 
With Enkidu as their guard, the herders could lie down. 
A wakeful man, a singular youth, he was twice as tall (?) (as normal men 

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2017/7/20 Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet I
[The next 33 lines are missing in the Standard Version; lines 57­86 are taken from the 
Old Babylonian.] 

Then he raised his eyes and saw a man. 
He said to the harlot: 
  "Shamhat, have that man go away! 
  Why has he come'? I will call out his name!" 
The harlot called out to the man 
and went over to him and spoke with him. 
  "Young man, where are you hurrying! 
  Why this arduous pace!" 
The young man spoke, saying to Enkidu: 
  "They have invited me to a wedding, 
  as is the custom of the people. 
  ... the selection(!) of brides(!) ..  
  I have heaped up tasty delights for the wedding on the ceremonial(!) platter. 
  For the King of Broad­Marted Uruk, 
  open is the veil(!) of the people for choosing (a girl). 
  For Gilgamesh, the King of Broad­Marted Uruk, 
  open is the veil(?) of the people for choosing. 
  He will have intercourse with the 'destined wife,' 
  he first, the husband afterward. 
  This is ordered by the counsel of Anu, 
  from the severing of his umbilical cord it has been destined 
  for him." 
At the young man's speech his (Enkidu's) face flushed (with anger). 
[Several lines are missing.] 
Enkidu walked in front, and Shamhat after him. 
[The Standard Version resumes.] 
 He (Enkidu) walked down the street of Uruk­Haven, 
... mighty... 
He blocked the way through Uruk the Sheepfold. 
The land of Uruk stood around him, 
the whole land assembled about him, 
the populace was thronging around him, 
the men were clustered about him, 
and kissed his feet as if he were a little baby(!). 
Suddenly a handsome young man ... 
For Ishara the bed of night(?)/marriage(?) is ready, 
for Gilgamesh as for a god a counterpart(!) is set up. 
Enkidu blocked the entry to the marital chamber, 
and would not allow Gilgamreh to be brought in. 
They grappled with each other at the entry to the marital chamber, 
in the street they attacked each other, the public square of the land. 
The doorposts trembled and the wall shook, 

[About 42 lines are missing from the Standard Version; lines 103­129 are taken from 
the Old Babylonian version.] 

Gilgamesh bent his knees, with his other foot on the ground, 
his anger abated and he turned his chest away. 
After he turned his chest Enkidu said to Gilgamesh: 
  "Your mother bore you ever unique(!), 
  the Wild Cow of the Enclosure, Ninsun, 
  your head is elevated over (other) men, 
  Enlil has destined for you the kingship over the people." 
[19 lines are missing here.] 

 They kissed each other and became friends. 
[The Old Babylonian becomes fragmentary. The Standard Version resumes] 
  "His strength is the mightiest in the land! 
  His strength is as mighty as the meteorite(?) of Anu, 
The mother of Gilgamesh spoke to Gilgamesh, saying; 
Rimat­Ninsun said to her son: 
  "(I!), Rimar­Ninsun... 
  My son...
  Plaintively ... 
 She went up into his (Shamash's) gateway, 
plaintively she implored ...: 
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2017/7/20 Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet I
  "Enkidu has no father or mother, 
  his shaggy hair no one cuts. 
  He was born in the wilderness, no one raised him." 
Enkidu was standing there, and heard the speech. 
He ... and sat down and wept, 
his eyes filled with tears, 
his arms felt limp, his strength weakened. 
They took each other by the hand, 
and.., their hands like ... 
 Enkidu made a declaration to (Gilgamesh'). 
[32 lines are missing here.] 
  "in order to protect the Cedar Forest 
  Enlil assigned (Humbaba) as a terror to human beings, 
  Humbaba's roar is a Flood, his mouth is Fire, and his breath is Death! 
  He can hear 100 leagues away any rustling(?) in his forest! 
  Who would go down into his forest! 
  Enlil assigned him as a terror to human beings, 
  and whoever goes down into his forest paralysis(?) will strike!" 
Gilgamesh spoke to Enkidu saying: 
  "What you say .. ." 
[About 42 lines are missing here in the Standard Version; lines 228­249 are taken from 
the Old Babylonian.] 
  "Who, my Friend, can ascend to the heavens!" 
  (Only) the gods can dwell forever with Shamash. 
  As for human beings, their days are numbered, 
  and whatever they keep trying to achieve is but wind! 
  Now you are afraid of death­­ 
  what has become of your bold strength! 
  I will go in front of you, 
  and your mouth can call out: 'Go on closer, do not be afraid!' 
  Should I fall, I will have established my fame. 
  (They will say:)'It was Gilgamesh who locked in battle with Humbaba the Terrible!' 
  You were born and raised in the wilderness, 
  a lion leaped up on you, so you have experienced it all!' 
[5 lines are fragmentary] 
  I will undertake it and I will cut down the Cedar. 
  It is I who will establish fame for eternity! 
  Come, my friend, I will go over to the forge 
  and have them cast the weapons in our presence!" 
Holding each other by the hand they went over to the forge. 
[The Standard Version resumes at this point.] 
The craftsmen sat and discussed with one another. 
  "We should fashion the axe... 
  The hatchet should he one talent in weight ... 
  Their swords should be one talent... 
  Their armor one talent, their armor ..." 
Gilgamesh said to the men of Uruk: 
  "Listen to me, men... 
[5 lines are missing here. 
You, men of Uruk, who know ... 
  I want to make myself more mighty, and will go on a distant(!) journey! 
  I will face fighting such as I have never known, 
  I will set out on a road I have never traveled! 
  Give me your blessings! ... 
  I will enter the city gate of Uruk ... 
  I will devote(?) myself to the New Year's Festival. 
  I will perform the New Year's (ceremonies) in... 
  The New Year's Festival will take place, celebrations ... 
  They will keep shouting 'Hurrah!' in..."" 
Enkidu spoke to the Elders: 
  "What the men of Uruk... 
Say to him that he must nor go to the Cedar Forest­­ 
the journey is not to be made! 
A man who... 
The Guardian of the Cedar Forest ... 
The Noble Counselors of Uruk arose and  
delivered their advice toGilgamesh: 
"You are young, Gilgamesh, your heart carries you off 
you do not know what you are talking about! 
file:///Users/litong/Downloads/%E5%90%89%E5%B0%94%E4%BC%BD%E7%BE%8E%E4%BB%80%E5%8F%B2%E8%AF%97+12%E6%B3%A5%E6… 13/88
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...gave birth to you. 
Humbaba's roar is a Flood, 
his mouth is Fire, his breath Death! 
He can hear any rustling(!) in his forest 100 leagues away! 
Who would go down into his forest! 
Who among (even!) the Igigi gods can confront him? 
In order to keep the Cedar safe, Enlil assigned him as a terror 
to human beings." 
Gilgamesh listened to the statement of his Noble Counselors. 
[About 5 lines are missing to the end of Tablet II.]

 
EPIC OF GILGAMESH TABLET II

 
 
Kenneth Sublett, Piney.com, Hohenwald, Tennessee

 
 
 

 
The Meeting of Gilgamesh and Enkidu
 
Columns I - VI

Column I
Then Gilgamesh explained his dream to Ninsun:

"Last night a vision filled my head


with sights of stars and one sent down from heaven.
At first I tried and failed to carry forth
these signs with me. Then all citizens
of Uruk here assisted in my efforts.
So I was able then to bring these omens near to you."

And she said in reply:

"Wisely done, fair son, and rightly so

 
10. for one well reared as you were.
All others too will soon acclaim
this god-sent gift to you."
Then Gilgamesh concluded:

"In another dream I saw an ax


and bent toward it with manly interest;
so fair was its appearance
that it seemed wholesome, young and
ready as a woman."

 
Column II
Soon the day came when the fine lover of Enkidu said:
20. "Now come with me to enter into Uruk
where we shall meet the mighty king,
enormous Gilgamesh.

Now you are as if a god, my boy,


with no more need of dumb beasts, however fair.

We can ascend the road to Uruk's palace,


the immaculate domicile, where Anu and Ishtar dwell

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and there we will see Gilgamesh, the powerful,
who rides over the herd like any great king.
You will see in him a power rare

 
30. and fairly learn to love him like yourself."
They journeyed from the forest far and wide
to venture on toward Uruk.

The girl led forth the naked boy


as gently as a mother would,
tearing her garment right in two

to hide their native beauty


and clothed his splendid body then
with her own cloak as they approached.

 
Column III
Along the way he learned new human ways
40. tracking down the gentle sheep

and using weapons for the first time


to fight away the savage beasts
that do attack the herds and
farms of men.

 
Column IV
Along the way he also learned to eat and drink
as men and women do. The girl did
teach all these things too for Enkidu's first lessons.

And with a man upon the road they spoke


to learn of customs new. to one from

 
50. far off woods. So Enkidu came then
to know of Gilgamesh who harshly
ruled and was not loved by those men whose girls
he often played with all night long.

And before they entered through the


gates of Uruk's mighty, walls, Enkidu
was hailed as one who might
be sent to rival any king who
might treat gentle folk unfairly.

 
Column V
In the alleys of Uruk
60. during a display of force
the approach of Enkidu stopped everything.

Uruk rose before him.


The mountain beyond stretched skyward.
All creatures worshiped him.
Youths rallied round.
People adored him as they adore a newborn babe.

For so it is when one comes from nowhere


to do what no one thought could be done.
For Ishara then a wedding bed is set this night

 
70. because a guest has come who is as strong as any king.
And Enkidu stood before the gate where new lovers go
and stopped Gilgamesh from coming with nighttime girls.
It is there where they first fight

throughout the night and round about Urukís walls


which they chipped and wrecked in places.

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Column VI
So the mighty brothers fought at first
pushing and shoving each other
for hours and hours enraged.
Then a calm force gently soothed
 
80. then well-matched spirits
to bring a peace and rest their strife.

It was Enkidu who sued for rest saying:


"Gilgamesh, enough! I am here to
match some fate with you, not
to destroy or rival any king."

The Epic of Gilgamesh


 
Tablet III
 
The Elders spoke to Gilgamesh, saying: 
  "Gilgamesh, do not put your trust in (just) your vast strength, 
  but keep a sharp eye out, make each blow strike in mark! 
  'The one who goes on ahead saves the comrade." 
  'The one who knows the route protects his friend.' 
  Let Enkidu go ahead of you; 
  he knows the road to the Cedar Forest, 
  he has seen fighting, has experienced battle. 
  Enkidu will protect the friend, will keep the comrade safe. 
  Let his body urge him back to the wives ())." 
  "in our Assembly we have entrusted the King to you (Enkidu), 
  and on your return you must entrust the King back to us!" 
Gilgamesh spoke to Enkidu, raying: 
  "Come on, my friend, let us go to the Egalmah Temple, 
  to Ninsun, the Great Queen; 
  Ninsun is wise, all­knowing. 
  She will put the advisable path at our feet." 
Taking each other by the hand, 
Gilgamesh and Enkidu walked to the Egalmah ("Great Palace"), 
to Ninsun, the Great Queen. 
Gilgamesh arose and went to her. 
  "Ninsun, (even though) I am extraordinarily strong (!)... 
  I must now travel a long way to where Humbaba is, 
  I must face fighting such as I have not known, 
  and I must travel on a road that I do not know! 
  Until the time that I go and return, 
  until I reach the Cedar Forest, 
  until I kill Humbaba the Terrible, 
  and eradicate from the land something baneful that Shamash hates, 
  intercede with Shamash on my behalf' (!) 
  If I kill Humbaba and cut his Cedar 
  let there be rejoicing all over the land , 
  and I will erect a monument of the victory (?) before you!" 
 The... words of Gilgamesh, her son, 
grieving, Queen Ninsun heard over and over. 
Ninsun went into her living quarters. 
She washed herself with the purity plant, 
she donned a robe worthy of her body, 
she donned jewels worthy of her chest, 
she donned her sash, and put on her crown. 
She sprinkled water from a bowl onto the ground. 
She... and went up to the roof. 
She went up to the roof and set incense in front of Shamash, 
.I she offered fragrant cuttings, and raised her arms to Shamash. 
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  "Why have you imposed­­nay, inflicted!­­a restless heart on 
  my son, Gilgamesh! 
  Now you have touched him so that he wants to travel 
  a long way to where Humbaba is! 
  He will face fighting such as he has not known, 
  and will travel on a road that he does not know! 
  Until he goes away and returns, 
  until he reaches the Cedar Forest, 
  until he kills Humbaba the Terrible, 
  and eradicates from the land something baneful that you hate, 
  on the day that you see him on the road(?) 
  may Aja, the Bride, without fear remind you, 
  and command also the Watchmen of the Night, 
  the stars, and at night your father, Sin." 
_________________
She banked up the incense and uttered the ritual words.' 
She called to Enkidu and would give him instructions: 
  "Enkidu the Mighty, you are not of my womb, 
  but now I speak to you along with the sacred votaries of Gilgamesh, 
  the high priestesses, the holy women, the temple servers." 
She laid a pendant(?) on Enkidu's neck, 
the high­priestesses took... 
and the "daughters­of­the­gods" ... 
  "I have taken ... Enkidu... 
  Enkidu to... Gilgamesh I have taken." 
  "Until he goes and returns, 
  until he reaches the Cedar Forest, 
  be it a month ... 
  be it a year.. ." 
[About 11 lines are missing here, and the placement of the following fragment is uncertain.] 
... the gate of cedar... 
Enkidu ... in the Temple of Shamash, 
(and) Gilgamesh in the Egalmah. 
He made an offering of cuttings ... 
... the sons of the king(!) ... 
[Perhaps some 60 lines are missing here.] 
  "Enkidu will protect the friend, will keep the comrade safe, 
  Let his body urge him back to the wives (?). 
  In our Assembly we have entrusted the King to you, 
  and on your return you must entrust the King back to us!" 
Enkidu spoke to Gilgamesh saying: 
  "My Friend, turn back!... 
  The road..." 
[The last lines are missing.] 

The Epic of Gilgamesh


 
Tablet IV
 
At twenty leagues they broke for some food, 
at thirty leagues they stopped for the night, 
walking Fifty leagues in a whole day, 
a walk of a month and a half. 
On the third day they drew near to the Lebanon. 
They dug a well facing Shamash (the setting sun), 
Gilgamesh climbed up a mountain peak, 
made a libation of flour, and said: 
"Mountain, bring me a dream, a favorable message from 
Shamash." 
Enkidu prepared a sleeping place for him for the night; 
a violent wind passed through so he attached a covering. 
He made him lie down, and... in a circle. 
file:///Users/litong/Downloads/%E5%90%89%E5%B0%94%E4%BC%BD%E7%BE%8E%E4%BB%80%E5%8F%B2%E8%AF%97+12%E6%B3%A5%E6… 17/88
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they... like grain from the mountain... 
While Gilgamesh rested his chin on his knees, 
sleep that pours over mankind overtook him. 
in the middle of the night his sleep came to an end, 
so he got up and said to his friend: 
"My friend, did you not call out to me? Why did I wake up? 
Did you not touch me? Why am I so disturbed? 
Did a god pass by? Why are my muscles trembling? 
Enkidu, my friend, I have had a dream­­ 
and the dream I had was deeply disturbing(?) 
in the mountain gorges... 
the mountain fell down on me (us?) ... 
Wet(?)... like flies(?)... 
He who was born in the wilderness, 

Enkidu, interpreted the dream for his friend: 
"My friend, your dream is favorable. 
The dream is extremely important. 
My friend, the mountain which you saw in the dream is 
Humbaba. 
"It means we will capture Humbaba, and kill him 
and throw his corpse into the wasteland. 
In the morning there will be a favorable message from Shamash. 
At twenty leagues they broke for some food, 
at thirty leagues they stopped for the night, 
walking fifty leagues in a whole day, 
a walk of a month and a half. 
They dug a well facing Shamash 
Gilgamesh climbed up a mountain peak, 
made a libation of flour, and said, 
"Mountain, bring me a dream, a favorable message from 
Shamash." 
Enkidu prepared a sleeping place for him for the night; 
a violent wind passed through so he attached a covering. 
He made him lie down, and... in a circle. 
They ... like grain from the mountain... 
While Gilgamesh rested his chin on his knees, 
sleep that pours over mankind overtook him. 
,, in the middle of the night his sleep came to an end, 
so he got up and said to his friend: 
My friend, did you not call out to me? Why did I wake up? 
Did you not touch me? Why am I so disturbed? 
Did a god pass by? Why are my muscles trembling? 
Enkidu, my friend, I have had a dream, 
besides my first dream, a second. 
And the dream I had­­so striking, so...,so disturbing!' I was grappling with a wild bull of the wilderness, 
with his bellow he split the ground, a cloud of dust...to 
the sky. 
I sank to my knees in front of him. 
He holds... that encircled(?) my arm. 
(My?) tongue(?) hung out(?) ... 
My temples throbbed(?) ... 
He gave me water to drink from his waterskin." 
"My friend, the god to whom we go 
is not the wild bull? He is totally different? 
The wild bull that you saw is Shamash, the protector, 
in difficulties he holds our hand. 
The one who gave you water to drink from his waterskin 
is your personal) god, who brings honor to you, Lugalbanda. 
We should join together and do one thing, 
a deed such as has never (before) been done in the land." 
 At twenty leagues they broke for some food, 
at thirty leagues they stopped for the night, 
walking fifty leagues in a whole day, 
a walk of a month and a half. 
They dug a well facing Shamash, 
Gilgamesh climbed up a mountain peak, 
made a libation of flour, and said: 
"Mountain, bring me a dream, a favorable message from 
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Shamash." 
Enkidu prepared a sleeping place for him for the night; 
a violent wind passed through so he attached a covering. 
He made him lie down, and... in a circle. 
They... like grain from the mountain... 
While Gilgamesh rested his chin on his knees, 
sleep that pours over mankind overtook him. 
In the middle of the night his sleep came to an end, 
so he got up and said to his friend: 
"My friend, did you nor call out to me? Why did I wake up? 
Did you not touch me? Why am I so disturbed? 
Did a god pass by) Why are my muscles trembling? 
Enkidu, my friend, I have had a third dream, 
and the dream I had was deeply disturbing. 
,,         The heavens roared and the earth rumbled; 
(then) it became deathly still, and darkness loomed. 
A bolt of lightning cracked and a fire broke out, 
and where(?) it kept thickening, there rained death. 
Then the white­hot name dimmed, and the fire went out, 
and everything that had been falling around turned to ash. 
Let us go down into the plain so we can talk it over." 
,,, Enkidu heard the dream that he had presented and said to Gilgamesh 
(About 40 lines are missing here.)  
At twenty leagues they broke for some food, at thirty leagues they stopped for the night, 
walking fifty leagues in a whole day, 
a walk of a month and a half. 
They dug a well facing Shamash, 
Gilgamesh climbed up a mountain peak, made a libation of flour, and said: 
"Mountain, bring me a dream, a favorable message from 
Shamash." 
Enkidu prepared a sleeping place for him for the night; 
a violent wind passed through so he attached a covering. 
He made him lie down, and... in a circle. 
They... like grain from the mountain... 
While Gilgamesh rested his chin on his knees, 
sleep that pours over mankind overtook him. 
in the middle of the night his sleep came to an end, so he got up and said to his friend: 
"My friend, did you not call out to me? Why did I wake up? 
Did you nor touch me? Why am I so disturbed? 
Did a god pass by? Why are my muscles trembling) 
Enkidu, my friend, I have had a fourth dream, 
and the dream I had was deeply disturbing (?). 
(About 11 lines are missing) 
"He was... cubits tall... 
... Gilgamesh 
Enkidu listened to his dream 
"The dream that you had is favorable, it is extremely important? My friend, this... 
Humbaba Eke... 
Before it becomes light... 
We will achieve (victory?) over him, 
Humbaba, against whom we rage, 
we will.., and triumph over him. 
In the morning there will be a favorable message from Shamash. 
At twenty leagues they broke for some food, at thirty leagues they stopped for the night, 
walking fifty leagues in a whole day, 
a walk of a month and a half. 
They dug a well facing Shamash, 
Gilgamesh climbed up a mountain peak, made a libation of flour, and said: 
"Mountain, bring me a dream, a favorable message from 
Shamash." 
Enkidu prepared a sleeping place for him for the night; 
a violent wind passed through so he attached a covering. 
He made him lie down, and... in a circle. They... like grain from the mountain ... 
While Gilgamerh rested his chin on his knees, 
sleep that pours over mankind overtook him. 
,, in the middle of the night his sleep came to an end, 
so he got up and said to his friend: 
"My friend, did you not call out to me? Why did I wake up? Did you not touch me? Why am I so disturbed? 
Did a god pass by? Why are my muscles trembling? 
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Enkidu, my friend, I had a fifth(?) dream, 
and the dream I had was deeply disturbing (?). 
...His tears were running in the presence of Shamash. 'What you said in Uruk..., 
be mindful of it, stand by me... ?" 
Gilgamesh, the offspring of Uruk­Haven, 
Shamash heard what issued from his mouth, 
and suddenly there resounded a warning sound from the sky. 
"Hurry, stand by him so that he (Humbaba) does nor enter 
the forest, 
and does not go down into the thickets and hide (?) 
He has not put on his seven coats of armor(?) 
he is wearing only one, but has taken off six." 
,,, They(Gilgamesh and Enkidu ')... 
They lunge at each other like raging wild bulls... 
One name he bellowed full of... 
The Guardian of the Forest bellowed ...Humbaha like... 
..."'One alone cannot 
'Strangers ... 
'A slippery path is not feared by two people who help each 
other.' 
'Twice three times... 
'A three­ply rope cannot be cut.' 
'The mighty lioness cubs can roll him over."' 
Enkidu spoke to Gilgamesh, saying: 
"As soon as we have gone down into the Cedar Forest, 
let us split open the tree (?) and strip off its branches(?)." 
Gilgamesh spoke to Enkidu, saying: 
"Why, my friend, we...so wretchedly (?) 
We have crossed over all the mountarns together, 
in front of us, before we have cut down the Cedar. 
My friend, you who are so experienced in battle, 
who... fighting, 
you...' and (need) not fear death. 
Let your voice bellow forth like the kettledrum, let the stiffness in your arms depart, 
let the paralysis in your legs go away. 
Take my hand, my friend, we will go on together. 
Your heart should burn to do battle 
­­pay no heed to death, do not lose heart! 
The one who watches from the side is a careful man, 
but the one who walks in front protects himself and saves his 
comrade, 
and through their fighting they establish fame'" 
As the two of them reached the evergreen forest 
they cut off their talk, and stood still.

 
EPIC OF GILGAMESH TABLETIV

 
A Mother's Prayer, Journy to the Cedar Forest, An Ominous Wound
 
 
 
Columns I - VI
 
 

Column I, II
Ten miles into the march, they stopped to eat,
After thirty miles, they rested,
then finished another twenty miles that day.
Within three days they covered
what would take others a month and a half to travel.

They dug for water where


there appeared to be none
in the dry desert on their way
to challenge Humbaba.

 
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2017/7/20 Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet I
Column III, IV
10. Onward ventured Gilgamesh and Enkidu
And they both knew where danger lurked
at their first destination.

As up they climbed upon the final hill,


they saw a guard put out by Humbaba
as fierce as any watchdog.
Gilgamesh pursued first.

 
Column V
Gilgamesh heard shouts from
Enkidu who said to his companion:
"Remember promises we made
 
20. in the city where we live. Recall
the courage and the force
we vowed to bring upon this mission."

These words dispelled the fear felt


in his heart and Gilgamesh in
return then shouted back:
"Quick. Grab the guard
and don't let go.
Race fearlessly and don't let go.
Our enemy, Humbaba, has set out seven uniforms

 
30. but has only dressed in one
so far. So six layers of strength
are yet unused by him."

As one mad brute he is enraged,


bellowing loudly while the foresters warn each other
what he's like.

 
Column VI
Wounded in combat with the guard they killed,
Enkidu uses words to say:

"I lost my strength in this crushed hand when the gate


slammed shut.
What shall I do?"

 
40. Then Gilgamesh spoke: "Brother,
as a man in tears would, you transcend all the rest who've gathered,
for you can cry and kill
with equal force.

Hold my hand in yours,


and we will not fear what hands like ours can do
Scream in unison, we will ascend
to death or love, to say in song what we shall do.
Our cry will shoot afar so

 
50. this new weakness, awful doubt,
will pass through you.
Stay, brother, let us ascend as one."

The Epic of Gilgamesh


 
Tablet V
 
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2017/7/20 Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet I

... They stood at the forest's edge, 
gazing at the top of the Cedar Tree, 
gazing at the entrance to the forest. 
Where Humbaba would walk there was a trail, 
the roads led straight on, the path was excellent. 
Then they saw the Cedar Mountain, the Dwelling of the Gods, the 
throne dais of Imini. 
Across the face of the mountain the Cedar brought forth luxurious 
foliage, 
its shade was good, extremely pleasant. 
The thornbushes were matted together, the woods(?) were a thicket 
... among the Cedars,... the boxwood, 
the forest was surrounded by a ravine two leagues long, 
... and again for two­thirds (of that distance), 
...Suddenly the swords..., 
and after the sheaths ..., 
the axes were smeared... 
dagger and sword... 
alone ... 
Humbaba spoke to Gilgamesh saying:"He does not come (?) ... 
... 
Enlil.. ." 
Enkidu spoke to Humbaba, saying: 
"Humbaba...'One alone.. 
'Strangers ... 
'A slippery path is not feared by two people who help each other. 
'Twice three times... 
'A three­ply rope cannot be cut. 
'The mighty lion­­two cubs can roll him over."' 
... 
Humbaba spoke to Gilgamesh, saying: 
..An idiot' and a moron should give advice to each other, 
but you, Gilgamesh, why have you come to me! 
Give advice, Enkidu, you 'son of a fish,' who does not even 
know his own father, 
to the large and small turtles which do not suck their mother's milk! 
When you were still young I saw you but did not go over to you; 
... you,... in my belly. 
...,you have brought Gilgamesh into my presence, 
... you stand.., an enemy, a stranger. 
... Gilgamesh, throat and neck, 
I would feed your flesh to the screeching vulture, the eagle, and 
the vulture!" 
Gilgamerh spoke to Enkidu, saying: "My Friend, Humbaba's face keeps changing!? 
Enkidu spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:' 
"Why, my friend, are you whining so pitiably, hiding behind your whimpering? 
Now there, my friend,... 
in the coppersmith's channel ..., 
again to blow (the bellows) for an hour, the glowing (metal)(?) 
...for an hour. 
To send the Flood, to crack the Whip." 
Do not snatch your feet away, do not turn your back, 
... strike even harder!" 
 ... may they be expelled.... head fell ... and it/he confronted him... 
The ground split open with the heels of their feet, 
as they whirled around in circles Mt. Hermon and Lebanon split. 
The white clouds darkened, 
death rained down on them like fog. 
Shamash raised up against Humbaba mighty tempests'­­ 
Southwind, Northwind, Eastwind, Westwind, Whistling Wind, Piercing Wind, Blizzard, Bad Wind, Wind of Simurru, 
Demon Wind, Ice Wind, Storm, Sandstorm­­ 
thirteen winds rose up against him and covered Humbaba's face. 
He could nor butt through the front, and could not scramble out 
the back, 
so that Gilgamesh'a weapons were in reach of Humbaba. 
Humbaba begged for his life, saying to Gilgamesh: 
"You are young yet, Gilgamesh, your mother gave birth to you, 
and you are the offspring of Rimnt­Nlnsun (?) ... 
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2017/7/20 Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet I
(It was) at the word of Shamash, Lord of the Mountain, 
that you were roused (to this expedition). 
O scion of the heart of Uruk, King Gilgamesh! 
... Gilgamesh... 
Gilgamesh, let me go (?), I will dwell with you as your servant (?) 
As many trees as you command me I will cut down for you, 
I will guard for you myrtle wood..., 
wood fine enough for your palace!" 
Enkidu addressed Gilgamesh, saying: 
"My friend, do not listen to Humbaba, 
[io lines are misring Apparently Humbaba sees thar Gilgamrsh is influenced by Enkidu, and moves to dissuade Enkidu.] 
"You understand the rules of my forest, the rules..., 
further, you are aware of all the things so ordered (by Enlil)." 
I should have carried you up, and killed you  
at the very entrance to the branches of my forest. 
I should have fed your flesh to the screeching vulture, the eagle, 
and the vulture. 
So now, Enkidu, clemency is up to you. 
Speak to Gilgamesh to spare my life!" 
Enkidu addressed Gilgamesh, saying: 
My friend, Humbaba, Guardian of the Cedar Forest, 
grind up, kill, pulverize(?), and destroy him! 
Humbaba, Guardian of the Forest, grind up, kill, pulverize(?), 
and destroy him! 
Before the Preeminent God Enlil hears... 
and the ...gods be filled with rage against us. 
Enlil is in Nippur, Shamash is in Sippar. 
Erect an eternal monument proclaiming... 
how Gilgamesh killed(?) Humbaba." 
When Humbaba heard... 
[Abour l0 linrs are misiing.] 
... the forest. 
and denunciations(?) have been made. 
But you are sitting there like a shepherd... 
and like a 'hireling of his mouth.' 
Now, Enkidu, clemency is up to you. 
Speak to Gilgamesh that he spare my life!" 
Enkidu spoke to Gilgamesh, saying: 
"My friend, Humbaba, Guardian of the Forest, 
grind up, kill, pulverize(?), and destroy him! 
Before the Preeminent God Enlil hears, 
and the ... gods are full of rage at us. 
Enlil is in Nippur, Shamash is in Sippar. 
Erect an eternal monument proclaiming... 
how Gilgamesh killed(?) Humbaba." 
Humbaba heard ... 
[About 10 lines are missing.] 
"May he not live the longer of the two, 
may Enkidu not have any 'share'(?) more than his friend 
Gilgamesh!" 
Enkidu spoke to Gilgamesh, saying: 
"My friend, 1 have been talking to you but you have not been 
listening to me," 
You have been listening to the curse of Humbaba!" 
... his friend 
... by his side
.. they pulled out his insides including his tongue. 
... he jumped(?). 
...abundance fell over the mountain, 
...abundance fell over the mountain. 
They cut through the Cedar, 
While Gilgamesh cuts down the trees, Enkidu searches through 
the urmazallu. 
Enkidu addressed Gilgamesh, saying: 
"My friend, we have cut down the towering Cedar whose top 
scrapes the sky. 
Make from it a door 72 cubits high, 24 cubits wide, 
one cubit thick, its fixture, its lower and upper pivots will be out of one piece. 
Let them carry it to Nippur, the Euphrates will carry it down, Nippur will rejoice. 
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2017/7/20 Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet I
..." 
They tied together a raft... 
Enkidu steered it... 
while Gilgamesh held the head of Humbaba. 

 
EPIC OF GILGAMESH TABLET V

 
 
 
A Dream of Battle, Humbaba Slain
 
 
 
Columns I, III, IV, VI

Column I
Gilgamesh and Enkidu froze and stared into the woods'
great depth and height. When they spied

Humbaba's path, they found the opening toward


straight passage. Then they were able to find and see

the home of the gods, the paradise of Ishtar's other self,


called Imini-most-attra'ctive.
All beauty true is ever there
where gods do dwell, where there is
cool shade and harmony and

10. sweet-odored food to match their mood.


 
Column III
Then Gilgamesh envisioned yet again
another dream

high up in the hills where boulders crashed.


Again Enkidu said to his brother,
as he unraveled this dreary story for his king:

"Brother, your song is a fine omen.


This dream will make you well.
Brother, that vision you saw is rich

 
20. for on that mountain top
we can capture Humbaba and
hurl his earthly form from
towering cliffs through sky to
earth, making his shape
as flat and wide as it is round and high."
 

"Mountain, mountain in the sky,


Break the god and make him die."

 
Column IV
Mountain-on-high then sent the myth into Enkidu's sleep,
and a chill from the high winds forced him to rest,
 
30. since he was blown around as grain is on open field.
Curled up in a ball, Gilgamesh rested
in blessed sleep, the best of friends at the worst of times.

But by the moon's half way course, he rose


and then began to speak:

"Brother, if you made no noise, what sound woke me?


If you didn't jostle me, what shook my body?
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2017/7/20 Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet I
There was no god nearby, so why am I so stunned?

Brother, I've had a third vision in sleep


and I am deeply frightened to recall it all.

 
40. Sky screamed. And Mother Earth moaned.
Sun went out of light and blackest night
enveloped the heavens.

Then came flashes of lightning, source of fire.


Storm clouds raced nearby and swept all life away
from out of the sky above our heads.

Brightness dissolved, light evaporated;


cinders turned to ash.

When we leave the mountain, this is what we will remember."


When Enkidu learned this myth as told,

 
50. he replied to Gilgamesh:
"Shamash, your god, creates a great attraction
for both of us. Shamash now approves
of this attack upon Humbaba. Take the sign
as some divine dream to urge us on."

Shamash himself said such words to Gilgamesh


as if in prayer:

"Do not balk now, favored one.


Brace yourself for battle and proceed."
Heavenly winds blasted down from out of the sky

 
60. about and all around Humbaba. From east and
west, with sand and grain, they blew him
back and forth. His giant self became
fatigued. His awesome strength dwindled.

Not even his great right foot could step away in flight.
So in this way, by Shamash's intervention,
Humbaba-the-awful beast was brought so low.

 
Column VI
The dying beast called out for mercy once
and part of what he said could still be heard over the howling winds:

"Please, Gilgamesh! Have mercy on me, wounded.

 
70. I shall freely give you all the lumber of my mighty realm
and work for you both day and night."

It was Enkidu then who shouted louder


than the beast and with his words he
urged a swift conclusion:

"Kill the beast now, Gilgamesh. Show


no weak or silly mercy toward so sly a foe."
Taking his companionís mean advice, Gilgamesh
swiftly cut the beast, splattering blood upon
his cloak and sandals then. Soiled by this

 
80. violent conflict, the friends began their
journey back to Uruk's towering walls
expecting now to be received as heroes who
had fought and won a legendary battle.

The Epic of Gilgamesh


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2017/7/20 Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet I

 
Tablet VI
 
He washed out his marred hair and cleaned up his equipment(?),  
shaking out his locks down over his back, 
throwing off his dirty clothes and putting on clean ones. 
He wrapped himself in regal garments and fastened the sash. 
When Gilgamesh placed his crown on his head, 
a princess Ishtar raised her eyes to the beauty of Gilgamesh. 
"Come along, Gilgamesh, be you my husband, 
to me grant your lusciousness.' 
Be you my husband, and I will be your wife. 
I will have harnessed for you a chariot of lapis lazuli and gold, 
with wheels of gold and 'horns' of electrum(?). 
It will he harnessed with great storming mountain mules! 
Come into our house, with the fragrance of cedar. 
And when you come into our house the doorpost(?) and throne dais(?)'will kiss your feet. 
Bowed down beneath you will be kings, lords, and princes. 
The Lullubu people' will bring you the produce of the mountains and countryside as tribute. 
Your she­goats will bear triplets, your ewes twins, 
your donkey under burden will overtake the mule, 
your steed at the chariot will be bristling to gallop, 
your ax at the yoke will have no match." 
Gilgamesh addressed Princess Ishtar saying: 
"What would I have to give you if I married you! 
Do you need oil or garments for your body! Do you lack anything for food or drink! 
I would gladly feed you food fit for a god, 
I would gladly give you wine fit for a king, 
... may the street(?) be your home(?), may you be clothed in a garment, 
and may any lusting man (?) marry you! 
...an oven who... ice, 
a half­door that keeps out neither breeze nor blast, 
a palace that crushes down valiant warriors, 
an elephant who devours its own covering, 
pitch that blackens the hands of its bearer, 
a waterskin that soaks its bearer through, 
limestone that buckles out the stone wall, 
a battering ram that attracts the enemy land, 
a shoe that bites its owner's feet! 
Where are your bridegrooms that you keep forever' 
Where is your 'Little Shepherd' bird that went up over you! 
See here now, I will recite the list of your lovers. 
Of the shoulder (?)  ... his hand, 
Tammuz, the lover of your earliest youth, 
for him you have ordained lamentations year upon year! 
You loved the colorful 'Little Shepherd' bird 
and then hit him, breaking his wing, so 
now he stands in the forest crying 'My Wing'! 
You loved the supremely mighty lion, 
yet you dug for him seven and again seven pits. 
You loved the stallion, famed in battle, 
yet you ordained for him the whip, the goad, and the lash, 
ordained for him to gallop for seven and seven hours, 
ordained for him drinking from muddled waters,' 
you ordained far his mother Silili to wail continually. 
You loved the Shepherd, the Master Herder, 
who continually presented you with bread baked in embers, 
 and who daily slaughtered for you a kid. 
Yet you struck him, and turned him into a wolf, 
so his own shepherds now chase him 
and his own dogs snap at his shins.
You loved Ishullanu, your father's date gardener, 
who continually brought you baskets of dates, 
and brightened your table daily. 
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You raised your eyes to him, and you went to him: 
'Oh my Ishullanu, let us taste of your strength, 
stretch out your hand to me, and touch our vulva. 
Ishullanu said to you: 
'Me! What is it you want from me! 
Has my mother not baked, and have I not eaten 
that I should now eat food under contempt and curses 
and that alfalfa grass should be my only cover against 
the cold? 
As you listened to these his words 
you struck him, turning him into a dwarf(?), 
and made him live in the middle of his (garden of) labors, 
where the mihhu do not go up, nor the bucket of dates (?) down. 
And now me! It is me you love, and you will ordain for me as 
for them!" 
When Ishtar heard this, in a fury she went up to the heavens, 
going to Anu, her father, and crying, 
going to Anrum, her mother, and weeping: 
"Father, Gilgamesh has insulted me over and over, 
Gilgamesh has recounted despicable deeds about me, 
despicable deeds and curses!" 
Anu addressed Princess Ishtar, saying: "What is the matter?
Was it not you who provoked King Gilgamesh?
So Gilgamesh recounted despicable deeds about you, 
despicable deeds and curses!" 
Ishtar spoke to her father, Anu, saying: 
"Father, give me the Bull of Heaven, 
so he can kill Gilgamesh in his dwelling. 
If you do not give me the Bull of Heaven, 
I will knock down the Gates of the Netherworld, 
I will smash the door posts, and leave the doors flat down, 
and will let the dead go up to eat the living! 
And the dead will outnumber the living!" 
Anu addressed princess Ishtar, saying: 
"If you demand the Bull of Heaven from me, 
there will be seven years of empty husks for the land of Uruk. 
Have you collected grain for the people! 
Have you made grasses grow for the animals?" 
Ishtar addressed Anu, her father, saying: 
"I have heaped grain in the granaries for the people, 
I made grasses grow for the animals, 
in order that they might eat in the seven years of empty husks. 
I have collected grain for the people, 
I have made grasses grow for the animals." 
When Anu heard her words, he placed the noserope of the Bull of Heaven in her hand. 
 Ishtar led the Bull of Heaven down to the earth. 
When it reached Uruk It climbed down to the Euphrates... 
At the snort of the Bull of Heaven a huge pit opened up, 
and 100 Young Men of Uruk fell in. 
At his second snort a huge pit opened up, 
and 200 Young Men of Uruk fell in. 
At his third snort a huge pit opened up, 
and Enkidu fell in up to his waist. 
Then Enkidu jumped out and seized the Bull of Heaven by its horns. 
the Bull spewed his spittle in front of him, 
with his thick tail he flung his dung behind him (?). 
Enkidu addressed Gilgamesh, saying: 
"My friend, we can be bold(?) ... 
How shall we respond... 
My friend, I saw... 
And my strength... 
I will rip out... 
I and you, we must share (?) 
I shall grasp the Bull 
I will fill my hands (?) .. 
In front... 
... 
between the nape, the horns, and... thrust your sword." 
Enkidu stalked and hunted down the Bull of Heaven. 
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He grasped it by the thick of its tail 
and held onto it with both his hands (?), 
while Gilgamesh, like an expert butcher, 
boldly and surely approached the Bull of Heaven. 
Between the nape, the horns, and... he thrust his sword. 
After they had killed the Bull of Heaven, 
they ripped out its heart and presented it to Shamash. 
They withdrew bowing down humbly to Shamash. 
Then the brothers sat down together. 
Ishtar went up onto the top of the Wall of Uruk­Haven, 
cast herself into the pose of mourning, and hurled her woeful curse: 
"Woe unto Gilgamesh who slandered me and killed the Bull of 
Heaven!" 
When Enkidu heard this pronouncement of Ishtar, 
he wrenched off the Bull's hindquarter and flung it in her face: 
"If I could only get at you I would do the same to you! 
I would drape his innards over your arms!" 
Ishtar assembled the (cultic women) of lovely­locks, joy­girls, and harlots, 
and set them to mourning over the hindquarter of the Bull. 
Gilgamesh summoned all the artisans and craftsmen. 
(All) the artisans admired the thickness of its horns, 
each fashioned from 30 minas of lapis lazuli! 
Two fingers thick is their casing(?). 
Six vats of oil the contents of the two 
he gave as ointment to his (personal) god Lugalbanda. 
He brought the horns in and hung them in the bedroom of the family 
head (Lugalbanda?). 
They washed their hands in the Euphrates, 
and proceeded hand in hand, 
striding through the streets of Uruk. 
The men of Uruk gathered together, staring at them. 
Gilgamesh said to the palace retainers: 
"Who is the bravest of the men) 
Who is the boldest of the males! 
Gilgamesh is the bravest of the men, 
the boldest of the males! 
She at whom we flung the hindquarter of the Bull of Heaven in 
anger, 
Ishtar has no one that pleases her... in the street (?) 
Gilgamesh held a celebration in his palace. 
The Young Men dozed off, sleeping on the couches of the night. 
Enkidu was sleeping, and had a dream. 
He woke up and revealed his dream to his friend. 

 
EPIC OF GILGAMESH TABLET VI

 
 

Ishtar's Proposal, A scathing Rejection, Ishtar's Revenge: The Bull of Heaven,


The Slaughter of the Bull, Enkidu's Ominous Dream

 
Gilgamesh bathed himself and cleaned his hair,
as beautiful as it was long.

He cast off bloodied robes and put on his favorite gown,


secured the cincture and stood royal.
Then Gilgamesh put on his crown.

Ishtar looked up at Gilgamesh's handsome pride.


"Come to me," she whispered. "Come to me and be my groom.
Let me taste all parts of you,
treat you as husband, be treated as your wife.

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10. And as a gift I'd give to you
one regal coach of gold and blue
with wheels of yellow and all so new
that I would flatter all your might
with the sight of demons driven off
by my own god, by my own man.

Come to my home, most sweetly scented of all places,


where holy faces wash your feet with tears as
do the priests and priestesses of gods like Anu.
All mighty hands of kings and queens

 
20. will open doors for you.
So too will all the countryside donate
in duplicate to your fold.

And the slow will race ahead for you,


so that by association, all that you touch
will turn to gold."

Gilgamesh replied to mighty Ishtar thus:


"But how could I repay you as a wife
and still avoid the bitterness and strife that follow you?
Is it perfume for a dress you want, or me?

 
30. My self or something wrapped around a tree?
Do I offer you food, sweet nuts or grapes?

Are those for gods or for the savage apes?


And who will pour a treat to us in bed,
you dressed for life and me as if I'm dead?
Here's a song I made for you

Ishtar's the hearth gone cold,


a broken door, without the gold;
a fort that shuts its soldiers out,

 
40. a water well that's filled with doubt;
tar that can't be washed away,
a broken cup, stained and gray;
rock that shatters to dust and sand,
a useless weapon in the hand;
and worse than that or even this,
a god's own sandal filled with piss.

You've had your share of boys, that's true,


but which of them came twice for you?
Let me now list the ones that you just blew away.

 
50. First was Tammuz, the virgin boy you took
after a three-year-long seductive look.

Then you lusted for a fancy, colored bird


and cut its wing so it could not herd.
Thus in the lovely woods at night
bird sings, 'I'm blind. I have no sight.'

You trapped a lion, too, back then.


Its cock went in your form-as-hen.
And then you dug him seven holes
in which to fall on sharpened poles.

 
60. You let a horse in your back door
by laying on a stable floor;

but then you built the world's first chain

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to choke his throat and end his reign.
You let him run with all his might,
as boys will sometimes do at night,
before you harnessed his brute force
with labor fierce, a mean divorce.

So did his mother weep and wail


to see her child's foot set with a nail.

 
70. You fondled once a shepherd boy
who baked buns for your tongue's joy
and daily killed his lambs so coy.

So in return for gifts like those


you chose to lupinize his toy.
And when his brothers saw his penis
they knew you'd done something heinous.
Ishullanu trimmed your father's trees
and brought you carrots, dates and peas.
So mighty you sat down to feasts,

 
80. then turned your thoughts to raping beasts.
You saw him naked once and said:

'Come, Ishullanu, into my bed


and force your force into my head.
Place your fingers where men dread
to touch a girl who's dead.'
And he in turn said this to you:
'What is it that you'd have me do?
I know, kind mother, I won't eat
if I can't match your female heat.

 
90. But would you have me sing and sin
as my whistle goes both out and in?'
So since he balked to play that role,
you switched his jewel into a mole;
stuck in the muck of a marshy town
his pleasure can't go up or down.
And that is how you'd deal with me
if we got friendly, warm, and free."
When Ishtar heard his words so cruel,
she lost her cool and played the fool
loo by blasting off for daddy's distant star,
where she said: "Daddy, daddy, daddy, please,
Gilgamesh called me a tease."
"Gilgamesh said I sinned and lived
without faith in myself or others," she pouted.
Her father, Anu, said these exact words to Ishtar:
"Now, daughter, did you first insult him,
this Gilgamesh who then began to taunt you
with jibes about your inclinations?"
Ishtar shouted back at him-who-is-her-father:
 
110. "You! Now! Make him stop! Loose the
bull who could trample him at once.
Let the bull spill his blood.
And you'd better do this now or I'll
wreak havoc of my own right down to Hell.
I'll loose the goddamn devil. I'll rain corpses.
I'll make zombies eat infants and there will be
more dead souls than living ones!".
Her father, Anu, said these exact words to Ishtar:
"But if I do what you seem now to want,
 
120. there would be long years of drought
and sorrow. Have you stored enough

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reserve to feed the people who
deserve your close protection?"
And she said:

"Yes, I have reserved a plan for those I love. Now do as I demand


and punish all who insult me."
Then her father, Anu, heard Ishtar's cry
and Ishtar forced her will.

 
130. Anu set loose a bull from out of the sky and,
at the bull's proclamation, there cracks the
earth to swallow up nine dozen citizens of Uruk!

An earthquake fixed a grave for nine dozen citizens of Uruk.


Two or three or four hundred victims,
maybe more than that, fell into Hell.
And when the quake returned for a third time,
it was near to Enkidu,
he who fell upon the Abyss so wide and grim.
Enkidu collapsed near the earth-shaking bull.

 
140. Then he leaped to grab the bull by his long horns
even with spit upon his face from out the savage mouth, .
even with the stench of bowels near his nose.

Then Enkidu said to Gilgamesh:


"Brother, you and I are now hailed as one.
How could we defeat a god?
Brother, I see great challenge here, but can we dare defy such force?
Let's kill it if we can right now.
Be unrelenting and hope that god
gives us the strength.

 
150. We must be cold and strong
to cut our enemy's weak neck."
Enkidu surrounds the bull, pursuing Heaven's beast
and finally catches him.

So Gilgamesh, like a bull dancer,


svelte and mighty then,
plunged his sword into the throat held fast by Enkidu.
They butchered and bled the bull and then cut out its heart
to offer as sacrifice before Shamash.
Then Gilgamesh and Enkidu retreated

 
160. from the altar itself and stood afar
in deep respect as they did pray.
At last the two sat down, bound by war, bound by worship.

Ishtar appeared upon Uruk's walls


looking like a wailing widow.
She shrieked this curse aloud:

"Damn Gilgamesh, who injured me,


by slaughtering a divine bull."
Enkidu reacted to these words of Ishtar quick
by hurling at her head a hunk of meat from the bull's thigh.

 
170. And from afar he shouted up to her:
"This bloody mess of a plain bull would
be about what I could make of you
if you came near. I'd tie
your hands with these rope-like intestines."

Ishtar signaled then for her attendants:


coiffured bishops, cantors, and girls
whose charms keep worshippers coming.
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Then atop the great wall above the city high
standing by the severed part of its right thigh,

 
180. she had them shriek laments for the bull who'd died.
So to complete this ritual and adorn his throne

Gilgamesh summoned artisans of all kinds.


Some measured the diameter of the bull's horns,
each containing thirty pounds of lapis lazuli.
Together those horns could hollow hold
half a dozen quarts of oil.

And that is what Gilgamesh brought as potion


to the altar of Lugalbanda, his special protector.
He carried the horns and enshrined them in a palace

 
190. of honor where his clan held rites.
Then Enkidu and Gilgamesh absolved their
bloody hands in the forgiving river,
the deep, eternal Euphrates that does not change.

At last relieved of such a stain, the friends renew


their vows with a brief embrace
before riding through Ur-uk's crowded streets
amid acclaim. There Gilgamesh stops to
give this speech to gathered girls:
"What man is most impressive now?

 
200. Who is finest, firmest, and most fair?
Isn't Gilgamesh that man above men
and isn't Enkidu the strongest of all?"

Then they party loudly throughout the day


so that, come night, they drop down dead in sleep.
But Enkidu is resurrected quickly
to relieve his soul of fright
and sadly he asks Gilgamesh in tears:
"Oh brother, why would I dream that gods sat round to set my fate?"

The Epic of Gilgamesh


 
Tablet VII
 
 
"My friend, why are the Great Gods in conference? 
(In my dream) Anu, Enlil, and Shamash held a council, 
and Anu spoke to Enlil: 
'Because they killed the Bull of Heaven and have also slain 
Humbaba, 
the one of them who pulled up the Cedar of the Mountain 
must die!' 
Enlil said:'Let Enkidu die, but Gilgamesh must not die!' 
Bur the Sun God of Heavenl replied to valiant Enlil: 
'Was it not at my command that they killed the Bull of 
Heaven and Humbaba! 
Should now innocent Enkidu die!' 
Then Enlil became angry at Shamash, saying: 
'it is you who are responsible  because you traveled daily 
with them as their friend!"' 
Enkidu was lying (sick) in front of Gilgamesh. 
His tears flowing like canals, he (Gilgamesh) said: 
"O brother, dear brother, why are they absolving me instead of 
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my brother)" 
Then Enkidu said:) "So now must 1 become a ghost, 
to sit with the ghosts of the dead, to see my dear brother 
nevermore!" 
In the Cedar Forest where the Great (Gods dwell, I did not kill the Cedar." 
 Enkidu addressed Gilgamesh, 
saying to Gilgamesh, his Friend: 
"Come, Friend,... 
The door... 
 Enkidu raised his eyes,...and spoke to the door as if it were human: 
"You stupid wooden door, 
with no ability to understand... ! 
Already at 10 leagues I selected the wood for you, 
until I saw the towering Cedar ... 
Your wood was without compare in my eyes. 
Seventy­two cubits was your height, 14 cubits your width, one 
cubit your thickness, 
your door post, pivot stone, and post cap ... 
I fashioned you, and I carried you; to Nippur... 
Had I known, O door, that this would he your gratitude 
and this your gratitude..., 
I would have taken an axe and chopped you up, 
and lashed your planks into...  
 in its ... I erected the... 
and in Uruk...they heard 
But yet, O door, I fashioned you, and I carried you to Nippur! 
May a king who comes after me reject you, may the god... 
may he remove my name and set his own name there!" 
He ripped out.., threw down. 
He(Gilgamesh) kept listening to his words, and retorted quickly, 
Gilgamesh listened to the words of Enkidu, his Friend, and his tears flowed. 
Gilgamesh addressed Enkidu, raying: 
'Friend, the gods have given you a mind  broad and ... 
Though it behooves you to be sensible, you keep uttering 
improper things! 
Why, my Friend, does your mind utter improper things? 
The dream is important but very frightening, 
your lips are buzzing like flies. 
Though there is much fear, the dream is very important. 
To the living they (the gods) leave sorrow, 
to the living the dream leaves pain. 
I will pray, and beseech the Great Gods, 
I will seek..., and appeal to your god. 
... Enlil, the Father of the Gods, 
...Enlil the Counselor...you. 
I will fashion a statue of you of gold without measure, 
do nor worry..., gold... 
What Enlil says is not... 
What he has said cannot go back, cannot ..., 
What... he has laid down cannot go back, cannot... 
My friend,... of fate goes to mankind." 
just as dawn began to glow, Enkidu raised his head and cried out to Shamash, 
at the (first) gleam of the sun his tears poured forth. 
"I appeal to you, O Shamash, on behalf of my precious life (?), 
because of that notorious trapper 
who did not let me attain the same as my friend   
May the trapper not get enough to feed himself . 
May his profit be slashed, and his wages decrease, 
may... be his share before you, 
may he not enter ... but go out of it like vapor(?)!" 
After he had cursed the trapper to his satisfaction, 
his heart prompted him to curse the Harlot. 
"Come now, Harlot, I am going to decree your fate, 
a fate that will never come to an end for eternity! 
I will curse you with a Great Curse, 
may my curses overwhelm you suddenly, in an instant! 
May you not be able to make a household, 
and not be able to love a child of your own (?)! 
May you not dwell in the ... of girls, 
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may dregs of beer (?) stain your beautiful lap, 
may a drunk soil your festal robe with vomit(?), 
... the beautiful (?) 
... of the potter. 
May you never acquire anything of bright alabaster, 
may the judge. .. 
may shining silver(?), man's delight, not be cast into your house, 
may a gateway be where you rake your pleasure,' 
may a crossroad be your home 
may a wasteland be your sleeping place, 
may the shadow of the city wall be your place to stand, 
may the thorns and briars skin your feet, 
may both the drunk and the dry slap you on the cheek, 
... in your city's streets (?), 
may owls nest in the cracks of your walls! 
may no parties take place... 
... present(?). 
and your filthy "lap" ... may.., be his(?)  
Because of me... 
while I, blameless, you have... against me. 
When Shamash heard what his mouth had uttered, 
he suddenly called out to him from the sky: 
"Enkidu, why are you cursing the harlot, Shamhat, 
she who fed you bread fit for a god, 
she who gave you wine fit for a king, 
she who dressed you in grand garments, 
and she who allowed you to make beautiful Gilgamesh your 
comrade! 
Now Gilgamesh is your beloved brother­friend! 
He will have you lie on a grand couch, 
will have you lie on a couch of honor. 
He will seat you in the seat of ease, the seat at his left, 
so that the princes of the world kiss your feet. 
He will have the people of Uruk go into mourning and moaning over you, 
will fill the happy people with woe over you. 
And after you he will let his body bear a filthy mat of hair, 
will don the skin of a lion and roam the wilderness." 
As soon as Enkidu heard the words of valiant Shamash, 
his agitated heart grew calm, his anger abated. 
Enkidu spoke to the harlot, saying: 
"Come, Shamhat, I will decree your fate for you. 
Let my mouth which has cursed you, now turn to bless you! 
May governors and nobles love you, 
May he who is one league away bite his lip (in anticipation of you), 
may he who is two leagues away shake our his locks (in preparation)! 
May the soldier not refuse you, but undo his buckle for you, 
may he give you rock crystal(!), lapis lazuli, and gold, 
may his gift to you be earrings of filigree(?). 
May... his supplies be heaped up. 
May he bring you into the ... of the gods. 
May the wife, the mother of seven (children),  
be abandoned because of you!" 
Enkidu's innards were churning, 
lying there so alone. 
He spoke everything he felt, saying to his friend: 
"Listen, my friend, to the dream that I had last night. 
The heavens cried out and the earth replied, 
and I was standing between them. 
There appeared a man of dark visage­­ 
his face resembled the Anzu," 
his hands were the paws of a lion, 
his nails the talons of an eagle!­­ 
he seized me by my hair and overpowered me. 
I struck him a blow, but he skipped about like a jump rope, 
and then he struck me and capsizcd me like a raft, 
and trampled on me like a wild bull. 
He encircled my whole body in a clamp. 
'Help me, my friend" (I cried), 
but you did not rescue me, you were afraid and did not.. ." 
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"Then he... and turned me into a dove, 
so that my arms were feathered like a bird. 
Seizing me, he led me down to the House of Darkness, 
the dwelling of Irkalla, 
to the house where those who enter do not come out, 
along the road of no return, 
to the house where those who dwell, do without light, 
where dirt is their drink, their food is of clay, 
where, like a bird, they wear garments of feathers, 
and light cannot be seen, they dwell in the dark, 
and upon the door and bolt, there lies dust. 
On entering the House of Dust, 
everywhere I looked there were royal crowns gathered in heaps, 
everywhere I listened, it was the bearers of crowns,  
  who, in the past, had ruled the land, 
but who now served Anu and Enlil cooked meats, 
served confections, and poured cool water from waterskins. 
In the house of Dust that I entered 
there sat the high priest and acolyte, 
there sat the purification priest and ecstatic, 
there sat the anointed priests of the Great Gods. 
There sat Etana, there sat Sumukan, 
there sat Ereshkigal, the Queen of the Netherworld. 
Beletseri, the Scribe of the Netherworld, knelt before her, 
she was holding the tablet and was reading it out to her Ereshkigal. 
She raised her head when she saw me­­­­ 
'Who has taken this man?' 
 
[50 lines are missing here] 
...I (?) who went through every difficulty, 
remember me and forget(?) not all that I went through with you. 
"My friend has had a dream that bodes ill?" 
The day he had the dream ... came to an end. 
Enkidu lies down a first day, a second day, 
that Enkidu ... in his bed; 
a third day and fourth day, that Enkidu ... in his bed; 
a fifth, a sixth, and seventh, that Enkidu ... in his bed; 
an eighth, a ninth, a tenth, that Enkidu ... in his bed. 
Enkidu's illness grew ever worse. 
Enkidu drew up from his bed, 
and called out to Gilgamesh ...: 
"My friend hates me ... 
while he talked with me in Uruk 
as I was afraid of the battle he encouraged me. 
My friend who saved me in battle has now abandoned me! 
I and you ... 
 
[About 20 lines are missing] 
 
At his noises Gilgamesh was roused ... 
Like a dove he moaned ... 
"May he not be held, in death ... 
O preeminent among men ..." 
To his friend ... 
"I will mourn him (?) 
I at his side ..." 

 
EPIC OF GILGAMESH TABLET VII

 
 
The Death of Enkidu
 
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Columns I, III, IV
 
Column I
Enkidu confessed this dream to Gilgamesh:
"The gods all gathered round last night
and Anu told Enlil that one of us should die
because of what we've done against their names.

Though Shamash intervened for us,


saying we had slain Humbaba and the bull
with his consent, the others sought revenge."
Then Enkidu fell ill and soon lost his full strength.
Saying words like these as his friend lay dying,

 
10. Gilgamesh intoned:
"Why should you be so condemned and why should
I go right on living?
Will my own sad eyes soon never look on you again?

Shall I descend to depths beneath


this earth to visit worlds reserved
for those who've died?"

Enkidu glanced up, addressing the entryway


on which his hand was morbidly crushed:
"Door of all forests, that confuses wind and rain,

 
20. deaf, dumb, and blind portal;
I admired your firm texture
before I first saw the mighty trees
aloft that gave force to you.

There is nothing on earth that could replace


your splendor or your worth.
At two hundred feet in height, at forty feet around are
your mighty posts, your priceless hinge
cut and crafted in Nippur's holy ground.
if I had guessed that you'd become this,

 
30. I would have shattered you to pieces
with my ax and have been more careful not
to wound my hand so badly on your frame."
 
Column III
Then cursing the hunter whom he first met
and the girl whom he first loved, Enkidu raged:

"Slash him. Cut half his face.


Raise up floods beneath his feet
so that no animal is safe."
And at his sacred, former lover Enkidu did swear:
"Get up, witch, and hear your fortune

 
40. guaranteed now and forever.
I damn you off and damn you down.
I'd break your teeth with stones and let
your mouth hang open
until you'd say thanks to your killer
who would favor you by letting you
lie homeless on an open road
in some foul ditch.
May all and any who can hurt you now
often cross the paths you take.
 
50. I hope you live in fright, unsure of hope
and starved always for the touch of love.
food and drink almost divine

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so that you were taken for a god.
The fine lover, my thoughtless boy, invested you
with robes of gold, robes of blue
 
60. and, more important, gave your dear friend
the thought that he should do whatever need
be done and still more too.

Did your brother, Gilgamesh, give you as fine a bed


as any on earth or any there in heaven?
Did he promote the likes of you to fame
unrivaled, so that rulers kneel to kiss
the ground you walk upon?
He will also show the Uruk people how to mourn for you.
An entire people will cry upon your death

 
70. and he will go in tears
ignoring the dirt and dust and mud
that stain his hands and hair.

So in despair will his mind be


as off he roams in lonely woods wearing rags."

Shamash responded from on high:


"The fine lover, my Enkidu, is cursed by you
who gave you bread and meat and stew,
the same who offered you some wine,
 
Shamash responded from on high:
"The fine lover, my Enkidu, is cursed by you
who gave you bread and meat and stew,
the same who offered you some wine,
When Enkidu heard these sad words
he was speechless and in his heart
he knew that Shamash spoke the truth.
His anger fled and Enkidu resolved
to die in peace.

 
Column IV
80. With these last words the dying Enkidu did pray
and say to his beloved companion:

"In dreams last night


the heavens and the earth poured
out great groans while I alone
stood facing devastation. Some fierce
and threatening creature flew down at me
and pushed me with its talons toward
the horror-filled house of death
wherein lrkalla, queen of shades,

 
90. stands in command.
There is darkness which lets no person
again see light of day.

There is a road leading away from


bright and lively life.
There dwell those who eat dry dust
and have no cooling water to quench their awful thirst.
As I stood there I saw all those who've died

and even kings among those darkened souls


have none of their remote and former glory.

 
100. All earthly greatness was forfeit
and I entered then into the house of death.
Others who have been there long

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did rise to welcome me."

Hearing this, great Gilgamesh said to his handsome mother:


"My friend, dear Enkidu, has seen his passing now
and he lies dying here upon a sad and lonely cot.
Each day he weakens more and wonders how much more
life may yet belong to his hands and eyes and tongue."
Then Enkidu resumed his last remarks and said:

 
110. "Oh Gilgamesh, some destiny has robbed me
of the honor fixed for those who die in battle.
I lie now in slow disgrace, withering day by day,
deprived as I am of the peace that comes to one
who dies suddenly in a swift clash of arms."

The Epic of Gilgamesh


 
Tablet VIII
 
 
Just as day began to dawn 
Gilgamesh addressed his friend, saying: 
   "Enkidu, your mother, the gazelle, 
   and your father, the wild donkey, engendered you, 
   four wild asses raised you on their milk, 
   and the herds taught you all the grazing lands. 
   May the Roads of Enkidu to the Cedar Forest  
    mourn you 
   and not fall silent night or day. 
   May the Elders of the broad city of Uruk­Haven  
    mourn you. 
   May the peoples who gave their blessing after us  
    mourn you. 
   May the men of the mountains and hills  
    mourn you. 
   May the... 
   May the pasture lands shriek in mourning as if it were your mother. 
   May the ..., the cypress, and the cedar which we destroyed (?) in our anger  
    mourn you. 
   May the bear, hyena, panther, tiger, water buffalo(?), jackal, 
   lion, wild bull, stag, ibex, all the creatures of the plains  
    mourn you. 
   May the holy River Ulaja, along whose banks we grandly used to stroll,  
    mourn you. 
   May the pure Euphrates, to which we would libate water from our waterskins,  
    mourn you. 
   May the men of Uruk­Haven, whom we saw in our battle when 
             we killed the Bull of Heaven,  
    mourn you. 
   May the farmer ...,who extols your name in his sweet work song,  
    mourn you. 
   May the ... of the broad city, who ... exalted your name, 
                                mourn you. 
    May the herder ..., who prepared butter and light beer for your mouth,  
    mourn you. 
    May ..., who put ointments on your back,  
    mourn you. 
    May ..., who prepared fine beer for your mouth,  
    mourn you. 
    May the harlot, ... you rubbed yourself with oil and felt good, 
                       mourn you. 
    May ...,... of the wife placed(!) a ring on you ...,  
    mourn you 
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    May the brothers go into mourning over you like sisters; 
    ... the lamentation priests, may their hair be shorn off on 
                                your behalf. 
    Enkidu, your mother and your father are in the wastelands, 
    I mourn you ..." 
    "Hear me, O Elders of Uruk, hear me, O men! 
    I mourn for Enkidu, my friend, 
    I shriek in anguish like a mourner. 
    You, axe at my side, so trusty at my hand­­ 
    you, sword at my waist, shield in front of me, 
    you, my festal garment, a sash over my loins­­ 
    an evil demon!) appeared and took him away from me! 
    My friend, the swift mule, fleet wild ass of the mountain,  
  panther of the wilderness, 
    Enkidu, my friend, the swift mule, fleet wild ass of the mountain,  
  panther of the wilderness, 
    after we joined together and went up into the mountain, 
    fought the Bull of Heaven and killed it, 
    and overwhelmed Humbaba, who lived in the Cedar Forest, 
    now what is this sleep which has seized you? 
    You have turned dark and do not hear me!" 
But his (Enkidu's) eyes do not move, 
 he touched his heart, but it beat no longer. 
 He covered his friend's face like a bride, 
 swooping down over him like an eagle, 
and like a lioness deprived of her cubs 
he keeps pacing to and fro. 
He shears off his curls and heaps them onto the ground, 
ripping off his finery and casting it away as an abomination. 
Just as day began to dawn, Gilgamesh ... 
and issued a call to the land: 
    "You, blacksmith! You, lapidary! You, coppersmith! 
    You, goldsmith! You, jeweler! 
    Create 'My Friend,' fashion a statue of him. 
    ... he fashioned a statue of his friend. 
    His features ... 
    ...,your chest will be of lapis lazuli, your skin will be of gold." 
 
[10 lines are missing here.'] 
 
    "I had you recline on the great couch, 
    indeed, on the couch of honor I let you recline, 
    1 had you sit in the position of ease, the seat at the left, so the 
                princes of the world kissed your feet. 
    I had the people of Uruk mourn and moan for you, 
    I filled happy people with woe over you, 
    and after you (died) I let a filthy mat of hair grow over my body, 
   and donned the skin of a lion and roamed the wilderness." 
Just as day began to dawn, 
he undid his straps ... 
I... carnelian, 
 
 [85 lines are missing here.'] 
 
...to my friend. 
... your dagger 
to Bibbi ..." 
 
[40 lines are missing here.] 
 
   " ... the judge of the Anunnaki." 
When Gilgamesh heard this 
the zikru of the river(!) he created'... 
Just as day began to dawn Gilgamesh opened(!) ... 
and brought out a big table of sissoo wood. 
A carnelian bowl he filled with honey, 
a lapis lazuli bowl he filled with butter. 
He provided ... and displayed it before Shamash. 
 
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[All of the last column, some 40­50 lines, is missing.] 
 

 
EPIC OF GILGAMESH TABLET VIII

 
 
 

 
Gilgamesh's Lament, The Specter of Mortality, Farewell to Enkidu Columns I - III,
V

 
 
 

Column I
Then once again at break of day
did Gilgamesh conclude the silent night
by being first to raise his hands and voice
and he said:

"Oh Enkidu, whose own mother's grace


was every bit as sweet as any deer's
and whose father
raced just as swift and stood as strong
as any horse that ever ran,

 
10. accept all natural customs
within the limitless confines of the wild
where you were raised by those with
tails, by those with hooves, by
those with fur and whiskers.

All the roads in and out of your great forest


now lie silent, but for the sobbing done by your wild friends.
The aged men and women of Uruk mourn today
and raise their withered palms in prayer
as we carry you by, toward Mount Kur.

 
20. Grottos weep for you and valleys too
and so do those great trees
upon the shore where you loved to run.

And also crying now are


large bears, little dogs, baby cubs
of lions and of tigers, and even
the hyena now has ceased its laugh.
Wild bull and the rapidest of deer
All, all, all sigh,
All, all, all cry for you.

 
30. Ulay's lovely riverbanks are swollen on this day
where you did walk as boys alone can do
upon the banks of rivers that mother
their young thoughts about life and death.
Yes, that great brown god, the river Ulay,
today mourns for you as does the
true Euphrates eternal and silent.
Uruk's rugged men mourn for you
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who killed that sacrificial bull.
They all weep tears today
 
40. and those in Eridu, who loved your fame,
and say your name aloud,
they too weep tears today
and all in days to come, even those who knew you not, all may weep tears
someday
for your sad lot.
Your favorite aunt, your blessed servant,
your first girlfriend,
your inspiration, your companion, your darling
dear and she you feared to be alone with,
 
50. all women who ever sat and ate with you,
all men you ever helped with food or drink,
every one and all,
lovers fast and strangers slow.
Those you touched or who touched you
and those who never knew just how you felt.
All and every burst into tears
today because they heard that
you were suddenly dead."
 
Column II
"I'll cry now, citizens of Uruk, and you
 
60. will finally hear what no one else
has ever had the nerve to say in sorrow.
I was family and friend to Enkidu and I shall
fill the woodlands where we stalked with loud, sad sobs today.

I cry now, Enkidu, like some crazed woman. I howl.


I screech for you because you were the ax upon my belt
and the bow in my weak hand; the sword within my sheath,
the shield that covered me in battle; my happiest robe,
the finest clothes I ever wore,
the ones that made me look best in the eyes of the world.

 
70. That is what you were; that is what you'll always be
What devil came to take you off from me?

Brother, you chased down the strongest mule,


the swiftest horse on mountains high,
the quickest panthers in the flatlands.

And they in turn will weep for you.


Birds in the air cry aloud.
Fish in the lake gather together near the shore.
What else heeds this sorrow?
The leaves of the trees and the paths you loved

 
80. in the forest grow dark.
Night itself murmurs and so too does the day.

All the eyes of the city that once saw your kind face begin to weep.
Why? Because you were my brother and you died.
When we met and fought and loved,
we went up on mountains high to where we dared to capture
god's own strength in one great beast and then to cut its throat,
thus humbling Humbaba, green god of woodlands steep.
Now there is a sleep-like spell on you, and you
are dark as well as deaf."

 
90. Enkidu can move no more.
Enkidu can lift his head no more.

"Now there is a sound throughout the land


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that can mean only one thing.
I hear the voice of grief and I know that you have been taken
somewhere by death.

Weep. Let the roads we walked together flood themselves


with tears.
Let the beasts we hunted cry out for this:
the lion and the leopard, the tiger and the panther.
Let their strength be put into their tears.

 
100. Let the cloud-like mountain where you killed
the guardian of woodland treasures
place grief upon its sky-blue top.

Let the river which soothed our feet overflow its banks
as tears do that swell and rush across my dusty cheeks.
Let the clouds and stars race swiftly with you into death.
Let the rain that makes us dream
tell the story of your life tonight.
Who mourns for you now, Brother?
Everyone who knew you does.

 
110. The harvesters and the farmers who used to bring you grain
are standing alone in their fields.

The servants who worked in your house


today whispered your name in empty rooms.
The lover who kissed every part of you
touches her chilled lips with scented fingers.
The women of the palace sit
and stare at the queen of the city.

She sobs and sobs and sobs.


The men with whom you played so bold

 
120. speak fondly of your name.
Thus they deal with this misfortune.
But what do I do? I only know that a cruel fate robbed me
of my dearest friend too soon.

What state of being holds you now? Are you lost forever?
Do you hear my song?"
"I placed my hand upon your quiet heart."
One brother covered the set face of another
with a bride-white veil.
"I flew above you then as if I were an eagle."

 
130. Then, like some great cat whose darling young have sadly died
Gilgamesh slides back and forth fixed mindlessly on grief.

He commands many men to erect statues of honor, saying:


"Make his chest a noble blue and on his honored body place a jewel
as will allow all viewers then to see how great he was,
how great he'll always be."
Next day, Gilgamesh rose from a restless sleep.

 
Column III
Then Gilgamesh continued with his bird-like words:
"On a pedestal I will honor your corpse
by setting you
 
140. above all earthly princes who will celebrate you
when people from all distant lands
both rich and poor in spirit
acclaim your memory.

And when you are gone,


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never again to wear good clothes or care for food,
I'll still remember how you dressed and how you ate.
" When day did break again next morn,
Gilgamesh stripped off the lion's cloak and
rose to say this prayer:

 
150. "Your funeral is a precious
gesture I made to hide my own guilt."
Goodbye, dear brother
Ave atque vale, frater (1)
Sat sell akai meripra (2)
Debna bune wood wordema (3)
Slan agat, seancbara (4)
Shalom. (5)
Shlama / Shlomo. (6)
 
Column V
Still grieving reverently
 
160. after he arose next day, Gilgamesh imagined the Annunaki
who decide the fate of
those who go to the underworld.

After learning how to pause his heart,


Gilgamesh created just the same image
in the face of a river.
At break of day,
on the sacred table made of special wood,
the grieving king placed a consecrated bowl of blue
filled with butter and with honey too

 
170. and this he offered up in solemn prayer
to Shamash, lord god.

The Epic of Gilgamesh


 
Tablet IX
 
Over his friend, Enkidu, Gilgamesh cried bitterly, roaming the wilderness. 
   "I am going to die!­­am I not like Enkidu?! 
   Deep sadness penetrates my core, 
   I fear death, and now roam the wilderness­­ 
   I will set out to the region of Utanapishtim, son of Ubartutu, 
                 and will go with utmost dispatch! 
   When I arrived at mountain passes at nightfall,' 
   I saw lions, and I was terrified! 
   I raised my head in prayer to Sin, 
   to ... the Great Lady of the gods my supplications poured 
                     forth, 'Save me from... !"' 
He was sleeping in the night, but awoke with a start with a dream: 
A warrior(!) enjoyed his life­­ 
he raised his axe in his hand, 
drew the dagger from his sheath, 
and fell into their midst like an arrow. 
He struck ... and he scattered them, 
The name of the former ... 
The name of the second ... 

(26 lines are missing here, telling of the beginning of his quest.] 

The Scorpion­Beings 
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The mountain is called Mashu. 
Then he reached Mount Mashu, 
which daily guards the rising and setting of the Sun, 
above which only the dome of the heavens reaches, 
and whose flank reaches as far as the Netherworld below, 
there were Scorpion­beings watching over its gate. 
Trembling terror they inspire, the sight of them is death, 
their frightening aura sweeps over the mountains. 
At the rising and setting they watch over the Sun. 
When Gilgamesh saw them, trembling terror blanketed his face, 
but he pulled himself together and drew near to them. 
The scorpion­being called out to his female: 
   "He who comes to us, his body is the flesh of gods!" 
The scorpion­being, his female, answered him: 
   "(Only) two­thirds of him is a god, one­third is human." 
The male scorpion­being called out, 
saying to the offspring of the gods: 
   "Why have you traveled so distant a journey? 
   Why have you come here to me, 
   over rivers whose crossing is treacherous! 
   I want to learn your ... 
   I want to learn ..." 

[16 lines are missing here. When the text resumes Gilgamesh is speaking.] 

   "I have come on account of my ancestor Utanapishtim, 
   who joined the Assembly of the Gods, and was given eternal life. 
   About Death and Life I must ask him!" 
The scorpion­being spoke to Gilgamesh ..., saying: 
   "Never has there been, Gilgamesh, a mortal man who could do that(?). 
   No one has crossed through the mountains, 
   for twelve leagues it is darkness throughout­­ 
   dense is the darkness, and light there is none. 
To the rising of the sun ... 
To the setting of the sun ... 
To the setting of the sun ... 
They caused to go out..." 

[67 lines are missing, in which Gilgamesh convinces the scorpion­being to allow him 
passage.] 

   "Though it be in deep sadness and pain, 
   in cold or heat ... 
   gasping after breath ... I will go on! 
   Now! Open the Gate!" 
The scorpion­being spoke to Gilgamesh, saying: 
   "Go on, Gilgamesh, fear not! 
   The Mashu mountains I give to you freely (!), 
   the mountains, the ranges, you may traverse ... 
   In safety may your feet carry you. 
   The gate of the mountain ..." 
   To the rising of the sun ... 
To the setting of the sun ... 
To the setting of the sun ... 
They caused to go out..." 

[67 lines are missing, in which Gilgamesh convinces the scorpion­being to allow him 
passage.] 

   "Though it be in deep sadness and pain, 
   in cold or heat ... 
   gasping after breath ... I will go on! 
   Now! Open the Gate!" 
The scorpion­being spoke to Gilgamesh, saying: 
   "Go on, Gilgamesh, fear not! 
   The Mashu mountains I give to you freely (!), 
   the mountains, the ranges, you may traverse ... 
   In safety may your feet carry you. 
   The gate of the mountain ..." 
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As soon as Gilgamesh heard this 
he heeded the utterances of the scorpion­being. 
Along the Road of the Sun L he journeyed­­ 
one league he traveled ..., 
dense was the darkness, light there was none. 
Neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see. 
Two leagues he traveled ..., 
dense was the darkness, light there was none, 
neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see. 

[22 lines are missing here.] 

Four leagues he traveled ..., 
dense was the darkness, light there was none, 
neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see. 
Five leagues he traveled ..., 
dense was the darkness, light there was none, 
neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see. 
Six leagues he traveled ..., 
dense was the darkness, light there was none, 
neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see. 
Seven leagues he traveled .. 
dense was the darkness, light there was none, 
neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see. 
Eight leagues he traveled and cried out (!), 
dense was the darkness, light there was none, 
neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see. 
Nine leagues he traveled ... the North Wind. 
It licked at his face, 
dense was the darkness, light there was none, 
neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see. 
Ten leagues he traveled ... 
... is near, 
... four leagues. 
Eleven leagues he traveled and came out before the sun(rise). 
Twelve leagues he traveled and it grew brilliant. 
...it bears lapis lazuli as foliage, 
  bearing fruit, a delight to look upon. 

  (25 lines are missing here, describing the garden in detail.] 

  ... cedar 
  ... agate 
  ... of the sea ... lapis lazuli, 
  like thorns and briars ... carnelian, 
 rubies, hematite,... 
  like... emeralds (!) 
  ... of the sea, 
  Gilgamesh ... on walking onward, 
 raised his eyes and saw ...

 
EPIC OF GILGAMESH TABLET IX

 
The Quest for Immortality The Scorpion
 
Columns I - VI
 
 

Column I
Then Gilgamesh wept some more
for his dead friend. He wandered
over barren hills, mumbling to his own spirit:

"Will you too die as Enkidu did?


Will grief become your food? Will we both
fear the lonely hills, so vacant?

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I now race from place to place,
dissatisfied with wherever I am and
turn my step toward Utnapishtim,

 
10. godchild of Ubaratutu,
who lives a pious life in fair Dilmun
where the morning sun arises as it
does in paradises lost and won.

As if in sleep I come upon the mountain door at midnight


where I face wild-eyed lions and I am afraid.
Then to Sin, the god of mighty light,
I raise my solemn chant to beg:
'Save me, please, my god."'
Despite respite

20. he could not sleep or dream that night.

Instead he wandered through the woods


so like a savage beast just then
did he bring death again and again
upon the lions' heads
with an ax he drew
from off his belt.
 
Column II
When he finally reached the base of
Mt. Mashu, Gilgamesh began to
climb the double cliff
 
30. that guides the rising and setting of Shamash.
Now these identical towers touch
the distant, distant sky,
and far below, their breasts descend toward Hell.

Those who guard the gate are


poison scorpions
who terrorize all, whose spells bring death.
And then resplendent power
thrives all across the town
where I was born

 
40. and rises farther still to
mountain tops.

At dawn and dark they shield Shamash.


And when he sensed them there,
Gilgamesh could not dare to look
upon their threat;
but held his glance away,
suspended fear,
and then approached in dread.
One among the guardians there

 
50. said this to his wife:
"The one who comes toward us
is partly divine, my dear."
And then the same one said
to the god-like part of Gilgamesh:
"Eternal heart, why make
this long, long trip
trying to come to us
through travail? Speak now."
 
Column III
Gilgamesh said: "I come by here
 
60. to visit my elder, my Utnapishtim,
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the epitome of both life everlasting and
death that is eternal."
The poison scorpion guardian said:

"No mortal man has ever


come to know what you seek
here. Not one of all your kind
has come so far, the distance
you would fall if you fell
all day and all night into the pit

 
70. and through great darkness
where there is no light
without Shamash who raises
and lowers the sun;
to where I let no one go,
to where I forbid anyone to enter."
 
Column IV
Heartache pain abounds
with ice or fire all around.
The scorpion one,
I do not know whether a man or a woman,
 
80. said then:
"Gilgamesh, I command you
to proceed
to highest peaks
over hills toward heaven.
Godspeed!

With all permissions given here, I approve your venture."


So Gilgamesh set out then over
that sacred, sacred path within the mountains of Mashu,
near that incarnate ray of sunshine

 
90. precious to Shamash.
Oh dark, dark, dark, dark.
Oh the night, unholy and blind,
that wrapped him as soon as he stepped
forth upon that path.
 
Column V
DARKNESS
Beneath a moonless, starless sky,
Gilgamesh was frozen and unseeing
by time before midnight;
by midnight's hollow eye
 
100. he was unseen and frozen.
At 1 a.m. he tripped and fell
blinded and frozen.
At 2 a.m. he staggered on
blinded and frozen.
At 3 a.m. he faltered not
blinded and frozen.
By 4 a.m. his second wind warmed him who still was
blinded and frozen.
And at your final dawn,
 
110. son of man, you will see only
a heap of broken images in an ascending
light that gives you sight you may not want,
for you will then behold all precious goods
and gardens sweet as home to you, as exile,
boughs of blue, oh unforgotten gem,
as true as any other memory from any other previous life.
 
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Column VI
Then along the path
Gilgamesh traveled fast
and came at length to
 
120. shorelines fresh with dew.
And there he met a maiden,
one who knows the secrets of the sea.
 

The Epic of Gilgamesh


 
Tablet X
 
The tavern­keeper Siduri who lives by the seashore, 
she lives... 
the pot­stand was made for her, the golden fermenting vat was made for her. 
She is covered with a veil ... 
Gilgamesh was roving about... 
wearing a skin,... 
having the flesh of the gods in his body, 
but sadness deep within him, 
looking like one who has been traveling a long distance. 
The tavern­keeper was gazing off into the distance, 
puzzling to herself, she said, 
wondering to herself: 
   "That fellow is surely a murderer(!)! 
   Where is he heading! ..." 
As soon as the tavern­keeper saw him, she bolted her door, 
bolted her gate, bolted the lock. 
But at her noise Gilgamesh pricked up his ears, 
lifted his chin (to look about) and then laid his eyes on her. 
Gilgamesh spoke to the tavern­keeper, saying: 
   "Tavern­keeper, what have you seen that made you bolt 
                                your door, 
   bolt your gate, bolt the lock! 
   if you do not let me in I will break your door, and smash 
                                 the lock! 
   ... the wilderness." 
... Gilgamesh 
The tavern­keeper Siduri who lives by the seashore, 
she lives... 
the pot­stand was made for her, the golden fermenting vat was made 
                                   for her. 
She is covered with a veil ... 
Gilgamesh was roving about... 
wearing a skin,... 
having the flesh of the gods in his body, 
but sadness deep within him, 
looking like one who has been traveling a long distance. 
The tavern­keeper was gazing off into the distance, 
puzzling to herself, she said, 
wondering to herself: 
   "That fellow is surely a murderer(!)! 
   Where is he heading! ..." 
As soon as the tavern­keeper saw him, she bolted her door, 
bolted her gate, bolted the lock. 
But at her noise Gilgamesh pricked up his ears, 
lifted his chin (to look about) and then laid his eyes on her. 
Gilgamesh spoke to the tavern­keeper, saying: 
   "Tavern­keeper, what have you seen that made you bolt 
                                your door, 

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   bolt your gate, bolt the lock! 
   if you do not let me in I will break your door, and smash 
                                 the lock! 
   ... the wilderness." 
... Gilgamesh 
... gate 
Gilgamesh said to the tavern­keeper: 
   "I am Gilgamesh, I killed the Guardian! 
   I destroyed Humbaba who lived in the Cedar Forest, 
   I slew lions in the mountain passes! 
   I grappled with the Bull that came down from heaven, and 
                                killed him." 
The tavern­keeper spoke to Gilgamesh, saying: 
   "lf you are Gilgamesh, who killed the Guardian, 
   who destroyed Humbaba who lived in the Cedar Forest, 
   who slew lions in the mountain passes, 
   who grappled with the Bull that came down from heaven, and 
                                killed him, 
   why are your cheeks emaciated, your expression desolate! 
   Why is your heart so wretched, your features so haggard! 
   Why is there such sadness deep within you! 
   Why do you look like one who has been traveling a long 
                                  distance 
   so that ice and heat have seared your face! 
   ... you roam the wilderness!" 
Gilgamesh spoke to her, to the tavern­keeper he said: 
   "Tavern­keeper, should not my cheeks be emaciated? 
   Should my heart not be wretched, my features not haggard? 
   Should there not be sadness deep within me! 
   Should I not look like one who has been traveling a long 
                                 distance, 
   and should ice and heat not have seared my face! 
   ..., should I not roam the wilderness? 
   My friend, the wild ass who chased the wild donkey, panther of 
                             the wilderness, 
   Enkidu, the wild ass who chased the wild donkey, panther of 
                              the wilderness, 
   we joined together, and went up into the mountain. 
   We grappled with and killed the Bull of Heaven, 
we destroyed Humbaba who lived in the Cedar Forest, 
we slew lions in the mountain passes! 
My friend, whom I love deeply, who went through every hard­ 
                           ship with me, 
Enkidu, whom I love deeply, who went through every hardship 
                              with me, 
the fate of mankind has overtaken him. 
Six days and seven nights I mourned over him 
and would not allow him to be buried 
until a maggot fell out of his nose. 
I was terrified by his appearance(!), 
I began to fear death, and so roam the wilderness. 
The issue of my friend oppresses me, 
so I have been roaming long trails through the wilderness. 
The issue of Enkidu, my friend, oppresses me, 
so I have been roaming long roads through the wilderness. 
How can I stay silent, how can 1 be still! 
My friend whom I love has turned to clay. 
Am I not like him? Will I lie down, never to get up again?"' 
Gilgamesh spoke to the tavern­keeper, saying: 
   "So now, tavern­keeper, what is the way to Utanapishtim! 
   What are its markers Give them to me! Give me the markers! 
   If possible, I will cross the sea; 
   if not, I will roam through the wilderness." 
The tavern­keeper spoke to Gilgamesh, saying: 
   "There has never been, Gilgamesh, any passage whatever, 
   there has never been anyone since days of yore who crossed 
                                   the sea. 
   The (only) one who crosses the sea is valiant Shamash, except 
                         for him who can cross! 
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   The crossing is difficult, its ways are treacherous­­ 
   and in between are the Waters of Death that bar its approaches! 
   And even if, Gilgamesh, you should cross the sea, 
   when you reach the Waters of Death what would you do! 
   Gilgamesh, over there is Urshanabi, the ferryman of Utanapishtim. 
   'The stone things' L are with him, he is in the woods picking 
                                   mint( !). 
   Go on, let him see your face. 
   If possible, cross with him; 
   if not, you should turn back." 
When Gilgamesh heard this 
he raised the axe in his hand, 
drew the dagger from his belt, 
and slipped stealthily away after them. 
Like an arrow he fell among them ("the stone things"). 
From the middle of the woods their noise could be heard. 
Urshanabi, the sharp­eyed, saw... 
  When he heard the axe, he ran toward it. 
  He struck his head ... Gilgamesh.' 
  He clapped his hands and ... his chest, 
  while "the stone things" ... the boat 
  ... Waters of Death 
  ... broad sea 
  in the Waters of Death ... 
  ... to the river 
  ... the boat 
  ... on the shore. 
  Gilgamesh spoke to Urshanabi (?), the ferryman, 
      ... you." 
Urshanabi spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:' 
      "Why are your cheeks emaciated, your expression desolate! 
      Why is your heart so wretched, your features so haggard? 
      Why is there such sadness deep within you! 
      Why do you look like one who has been traveling a long 
                                     distance 
      so that ice and heat have seared your face! 
      Why ... you roam the wilderness!" 
  Gilgamesh spoke to Urshanabi, saying: 
      "Urshanabi, should not my cheeks be emaciated, my expression 
                                    desolate! 
      Should my heart not be wretched, my features not haggard 
      Should there not be sadness deep within me? 
      Should I not look like one who has been traveling a long 
                                    distance, 
and should ice and heat not have seared my face! 
      ... should I not roam the wilderness? 
      My friend who chased wild asses in the mountain, the panther 
                               of the wilderness, 
      Enkidu, my friend, who chased wild asses in the mountain, the 
                         panther of the wilderness, 
      we joined together, and went up into the mountain. 
      We grappled with and killed the Bull of Heaven, 
      we destroyed Humbaba who dwelled in the Cedar Forest, 
      we slew lions in the mountain passes! 
      My friend, whom I love deeply, who went through every hard­ 
                                 ship with me, 
      Enkidu, my friend, whom I love deeply, who went through 
                           every hardship with me, 
      the fate of mankind has overtaken him. 
    Six days and seven nights I mourned over him 
      and would not allow him to be buried 
      until a maggot fell out of his nose. 
      I was terrified by his appearance(!), 
      I began to fear death, and so roam the wilderness. 
      The issue of my friend oppresses me, 
      so I have been roaming long trails through the wilderness. 
      The issue of Enkidu, my friend, oppresses me, 
      so 1 have been roaming long roads through the wilderness. 
      How can I stay silent, how can I be still! 
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      My friend whom I love has turned to clay; 
      Enkidu, my friend whom I love, has turned to clay! 
      Am I not like him! Will I lie down, never to get up again!" 
     Gilgamesh spoke to Urshanabi, saying: 
      "Now, Urshanabi! What is the way to Utanapishtim? 
      What are its markers! Give them to me! Give me the markers! 
      If possible, I will cross the sea; 
      if not, I will roam through the wilderness!" 
Urshanabi spoke to Gilgamesh, saying: 
   "It is your hands, Gilgamesh, that prevent the crossing! 
   You have smashed the stone things,' you have pulled out their 
                           retaining ropes (?). 
   'The stone things' have been smashed, their retaining ropes (!) 
                             pulled out! 
Gilgamesh, take the axe in your hand, go down into the woods, 
and cut down 300 punting poles each 60 cubits in length. 
Strip them, attach caps(?), and bring them to the boat!" 
When Gilgamesh heard this 
he took up the axe in his hand, drew the dagger from his belt, 
and went down into the woods, 
and cut 300 punting poles each 60 cubits in length. 
He stripped them and attached caps(!), and brought them to 
                                  the boat. 
Gilgamesh and Urshanabi bearded the boat, 
Gilgamesh launched the magillu­boat' and they sailed away. 
By the third day they had traveled a stretch of a month and a 
                                  half, and 
Urshanabi arrived at the Waters of Death. 
Urshanabi said to Gilgamesh: 
   "Hold back, Gilgamesh, take a punting pole, 
   but your hand must not pass over the Waters of Death ... ! 
   Take a second, Gilgamesh, a third, and a fourth pole, 
   take a fifth, Gilgamesh, a sixth, and a seventh pole, 
   take an eighth, Gilgamesh, a ninth, and a tenth pole, 
   take an eleventh, Gilgamesh, and a twelfth pole!" 
In twice 60 rods Gilgamesh had used up the punting poles. 
Then he loosened his waist­cloth(?) for... 
Gilgamesh stripped off his garment 
and held it up on the mast(!) with his arms. 
Utanapishtim was gazing off into the distance, 
puzzling to himself he said, wondering to himself: 
   "Why are 'the stone things' of the boat smashed to pieces! 
   And why is someone not its master sailing on it? 
   The one who is coming is not a man of mine, ... 
   I keep looking but not... 
   I keep looking but not ... 
   I keep looking..." 
 lines are missing here.] 
Utanapishtim said to Gilgamesh: 
   "Why are your cheeks emaciated, your expression desolate! 
   Why is your heart so wretched, your features so haggard! 
   Why is there such sadness deep within you! 
   Why do you look like one who has been traveling a long distance 
   so that ice and heat have seared your face! 
   ... you roam the wilderness!" 
Gilgamesh spoke to Utanapishtim saying: 
   "Should not my cheeks be emaciated, my expression desolate! 
   Should my heart not be wretched, my features not haggard! 
   Should there not be sadness deep within me! 
   Should I not look like one who has been traveling a long distance, 
   and should ice and heat not have seared my face! 
   ... should I not roam the wilderness) 
   My friend who chased wild asses in the mountain, the panther 
                            of the wilderness, 
   Enkidu, my friend, who chased wild asses in the mountain, the 
                      panther of the wilderness, 
   we joined together, and went up into the mountain. 
   We grappled with and killed the Bull of Heaven, 
   we destroyed Humbaba who dwelled in the Cedar Forest, 
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   we slew lions in the mountain passes! 
   My friend, whom I love deeply, who went through every hard­ 
                              shin with me 
Enkidu, my friend, whom I love deeply, who went through 
                        every hardship with me, 
   the fate of mankind has overtaken him. 
   Six days and seven nights I mourned over him 
   and would not allow him to be buried 
   until a maggot fell out of his nose. 
   I was terrified by his appearance(!), 
   I began to fear death, and so roam the wilderness. 
   The issue of my friend oppresses me, 
   so I have been roaming long trails through the wilderness. 
   The issue of Enkidu, my friend, oppresses me, 
   so I have been roaming long roads through the wilderness. 
   How can I stay silent, how can I be still! 
   My friend whom I love has turned to clay; 
   Enkidu, my friend whom I love, has turned to clay! 
   Am I not like him! Will I lie down never to get up again!" 
Gilgamesh spoke to Utanapishtim, saying: 
   "That is why (?) I must go on, to see Utanapishtim whom they 
                           call 'The Faraway.'" 
   I went circling through all the mountains, 
   I traversed treacherous mountains, and crossed all the seas­­ 
   that is why (!) sweet sleep has not mellowed my face, 
   through sleepless striving I am strained, 
   my muscles are filled with pain. 
   I had not yet reached the tavern­keeper's area before my 
                            clothing gave out. 
   I killed bear, hyena, lion, panther, tiger, stag, red­stag, and 
                        beasts of the wilderness; 
   I ate their meat and wrapped their skins around me.' 
The gate of grief must be bolted shut, sealed with pitch and 
                                 bitumen ! 
   As for me, dancing... 
   For me unfortunate(!) it(?) will root out..." 
Utanapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:  
   "Why, Gilgamesh, do you ... sadness? 
   You who were created (!) from the flesh of gods and mankind 
   who made ... like your father and mother? 
   Have you ever... Gilgamesh ... to the fool ... 
   They placed a chair in the Assembly, ... 
   But to the fool they gave beer dregs instead of butter, 
   bran and cheap flour which like ... 
   Clothed with a loincloth (!) like ... 
   And ... in place of a sash, 
   because he does not have ... 
   does not have words of counsel ... 
   Take care about it, Gilgamesh, 
   ... their master... 
   ... Sin...
   ... eclipse of the moon ... 
   The gods are sleepless ... 
   They are troubled, restless(!) ... 
   Long ago it has been established... 
   You trouble yourself... 
   ... your help ... 
   If Gilgamesh ... the temple of the gods 
   ... the temple of the holy gods, 
   ... the gods ... 
   ... mankind, 
   they took ... for his fate. 
   You have toiled without cease, and what have you got! 
Through toil you wear yourself out, 
you fill your body with grief, 
your long lifetime you are bringing near (to a premature end)! 
Mankind, whose offshoot is snapped off like a reed in a 
                             canebreak, 
the fine youth and lovely girl 
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... death. 
No one can see death, 
no one can see the face of death, 
no one can hear the voice of death, 
yet there is savage death that snaps off mankind. 
For how long do we build a household? 
For how long do we seal a document! 
For how long do brothers share the inheritance? 
For how long is there to be jealousy in the land(!)! 
For how long has the river risen and brought the overflowing 
                               waters, 
so that dragonflies drift down the river!' 
The face that could gaze upon the face of the Sun 
has never existed ever. 
How alike are the sleeping(!) and the dead. 
The image of Death cannot be depicted. 
(Yes, you are a) human being, a man (?)! 
After Enlil had pronounced the blessing,'" 
the Anunnaki, the Great Gods, assembled. 
Mammetum, she who forms destiny, determined destiny with them. 
They established Death and Life, 
but they did not make known 'the days of death'". 

 
EPIC OF GILGAMESH TABLET X

 
 

Siduri Whose Drinks Refresh the Soul, The Boatman, Urshanabi, Gilgamesh Implores
Utnapishtim Columns I - VI

Column I
This gentle girl is called Siduri
and she sits by the sea
where she sways from side to side.

She made the water pale; she crafted the first gold bowl
while peeking at the sun
through a slit across her face veil.
King Gilgamesh approached the girl's small cottage by the sea
dressed as a mountain man,
a meat-eater,

 
10. with an aching heart
and the stare of one setting out upon some
arduous, horrid trek.

The girl who gives her men lifesaving drinks


said to herself, "Beware of the one
coming now. He walks as if he'd kill."
And so Siduri locked the door,
put stones in place, lay on the floor.

When Gilgamesh heard sounds inside


he yelled at her. "Why do you hide?

 
20. Shall I have to break through this door?"
The girl whose drinks refresh the soul
then said these words to Gilgamesh:

"Is there a simple reason, sir, why you're so sad


or why your face is drawn and thin?
Has chance worn out your youth or did some

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wicked sorrow consume you like food?
You look like one setting out on some arduous, horrid trek,
like one exposed to extremes of hot and cold,
like one who searches everywhere for grace."

 
30. He responded then to her who gives her men
lifesaving drinks:

"Girl, there is no simple reason why I'm so sad


or why my face is drawn and thin.
Chance alone did not wear out my youth. Some
wicked sorrow consumes me like food.
But I do look like one setting out on some
arduous, horrid trek, like one exposed
to extreme hot or cold,
like one who searches everywhere

 
40. for the breath of life
because my brother, my only true friend, met death;
he who raced wild horses there,
who caught orange tigers here.

This was Enkidu, my soul's good half,


who raced wild horses there,
who caught orange tigers here;
who did all things while he conquered mountains
and divine bulls that race
across the sky like clouds;

 
50. who gave Humbaba, the woodland god,
reason to weep when he stole through
the wooded path to slaughter lions."
 
Column II
Gilgamesh continued:
"I greatly loved my friend who was always there for me.

I loved Enkidu who was always there for me.


What awaits us all caught him first
and I did thirst for one whole week to
see him once again in splendor until his body decomposed.
Then I wept for my future death

 
60. and I fled home for mountaintops to breathe
when my friend's death choked off my wind.
On mountaintops I roamed content to breathe
again when my friend's death choked off my wind.

Walking. Walking. Walking over hills.


Could I sit down to rest?
Could I stop crying then
when my best friend had died
as I will someday do?"
Then Gilgamesh said to the fair girl

 
70. whose saving drinks gave life to men:
"Tell me, girl, how to get to Utnapishtim.

Where do I look for signs? Show me directions. Help,


Please let me have safe passage over seas.
Give me advice to guide me on my way."
She said to him in swift reply:

"No man has ever gone that way


and lived to say he crossed the sea.
Shamash only ventures there,
only Shamash would dare
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80. to stare into the sun.
Pain joins the voyager soon,
and soon the traveler grows weary
where death surrounds the path
on every side with danger."
 
Column III
The girl whose drinks refresh the soul
then said these words to Gilgamesh:
"Remember always, mighty king,
that gods decreed the fates of all
many years ago. They alone are let
 
90. to be eternal, while we frail humans die
as you yourself must someday do.
What is best for us to do
is now to sing and dance.
Relish warm food and cool drinks.
Cherish children to whom your love gives life.
Bathe easily in sweet, refreshing waters.
Play joyfully with your chosen wife."
"It is the will of the gods for you to smile
on simple pleasure in the leisure time of your short days."
 
100. "And what, after all, my fellow man,
would you do when you got to that
far side where Urshanabi dwells
among the hills of Utnapishtim?

He knows only the dead weight of what is dead


and he is one who plays with deadly snakes.
Would you put your lips near his?
if he befriends you then, go on.
But if he walks away, return to me."
With that in mind

 
110. Gilgamesh took up his chore,
unsheathed his sword, slipped toward the shore
and there joined one who rows the seas of death.

Gilgamesh sliced through the underbrush as an arrow goes through air


while cracking the stones of the sacred columns.
And Urshanabi barely saw the arrow's glint
and too late heard the ax's thud.

And so surprised was he that


there was never any chance to
hide or to deny the daring man

 
120. at least a chance at
some safe passage.
Gilgamesh traveled on to where he next
found the ferryman of Utnapishtim. This man,
Urshanabi, said to Gilgamesh:
"Your face seems tense; your eyes do not glance well
and Hell itself is part of how you look.
Grief hangs from your shoulders.
You look like one who's been without a home, without a bed
or roof for a long time, wandering the wilds on some random search."
 
130. Gilgamesh replied to the ferryman:
"Yes sir, it's true my face is tense
and that my eyes seem harsh.

My looks are now so hellish,


for I wear my grief as ill as any other.
I'm not this way as some refugee

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without a bed or roof for a long time,
and I don't wander the wilds randomly.

I grieve for Enkidu, my fair companion and true friend,


who chased the strongest mule, the swiftest horse

 
140. on mountain high, the quickest panther of the flatland.
Together we did all things, climbing sky-high peaks,
stealing divine cattle, humbling the gods, killing Humbaba
and the precious lions, guardians of the sky.

All this I did with my best friend who now is dead.


Mortality reached him first and I am left this week
to weep and wail for his shriveling corpse which scares me.
I roam aloft and alone now, by death enthralled,
and think of nothing but my dear friend.
I roam the lonely path with death upon my mind

 
150. and think of nothing but my dear friend.
Over many seas and across many mountains I roam.

I can't stop pacing. I can't stop crying.


My friend has died and half my heart is torn from me.
Won't I soon be like him, stone-cold and dead,
for all the days to come?"
Urshanabi replied as he had done before:

"Your face seems tense; your eyes do not glance well


and Hell itself is part of how you look.
Grief hangs from your shoulders.
You look like one who's been without a home, without a bed

 
160. or roof for a long time, wandering the wilds on some random search."
And Gilgamesh said to him then in swift reply:

"Of course my face seems tense and my eyes seem harsh.


Of course I'm worn out weeping. Why should I not cry?
I've come to ask directions to Utnapishtim, who lives so
free beyond death's deep, deep lake. Where can he be?
Tell me how to venture there where I may learn his secrets."
Finally, Urshanabi uttered these last words to Gilgamesh:
"You yourself have hurt this effort most, sir,
by blasphemy and sacrilege,

 
170. by breaking idols and by holding the untouchably sacred stones.
You broke stone images!

So now, Mr. Gilgamesh, raise high your ax."


Thus chastised, Gilgamesh
raised high his ax, unsheathed his sword,
did penance too as he chopped down many trees;
prepared them then, and then brought them
to Urshanabi.

After this, they cast off together,


with push and pull they launched the skiff

 
180. upon the waving sea.
They leaped quick, in three short days
covering a span that any other would
traverse only after months of passage
and soon they sailed on to Death's own sea.
 
Column IV
Still directing the king's new efforts, Urshanabi called:
"Give me another pull, Gilgamesh, upon the mighty oar
and then another. Give ten times twenty
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and then give twenty times ten pulls upon the
mighty oars; then ten more twice; then twice
 
190. more ten and then confuse the number of
the pulls you put upon the oar
by losing count aloud and starting over."

Halfway through all that pulling,


Gilgamesh had worn the oars to bits
and torn his shirt from off his back
to raise a helping sail upon the mast.

Then Utnapishtim glared down from stars and clouds


and mused aloud, as if to coach the world:
"How could any human dare to break the idols

 
200. or steer the craft that gods and goddesses use?
This stranger is not fit to tie the shoes of servants.
I do see, but I am blind.
I do know, but cannot understand
how he behaves like
the beasts of here and there."
 
Column V
Gilgamesh spoke many words to Utnapishtim
and told of strife-in-life and

battles rare. He hailed his friend Enkidu,


acclaimed their pride and grieved the

 
210. death that saddened his great heart.
Gilgamesh raised his prayer to the remote Utnapishtim:

"oh myth-filled god,


I have traveled many roads,
crossed many rivers and mountains.
I never rested. I never slept. Grief consumed me.

My clothing was ragged by the time I met


the girl who would help me.
I killed all manner of animal in order
to eat and clothe myself.

 
220. When I was rejected, I stooped to squalor.
Cursed I went,
being unholy."
Utnapishtim replied:

"Why cry over your fate and nature?


Chance fathered you. Your conception was
an accidental combination
of the divine and mortal.
I do not presume to know how to help
the likes of you."

 
Column VI
230. Utnapishtim continued:
"No man has ever seen Death.
No one ever heard Death's voice
but Death is real and Death is loud.
How many times must a home be restored
or a contract revised and approved?

How many times must two brothers agree


not to dispute what is theirs?

How many wars and how many floods must there be


with plague and exile in their wake?
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240. Shamash is the one who can say.
But there is no one else who can
see what Shamash only can see within the sun.
Behold the cold, cold corpse from a distance,
and then regard the body of one who sleeps.
There seems no difference. How can we say
which is good and which is bad?
And it is also like that with other things as well.

Somewhere above us, where the goddess Mammetum decides


all things,
Mother Chance sits with the Anunnaki

 
250. and there she settles all decrees of fable and of fortune.
There they issue lengths of lives;
then they issue times of death.
But the last, last matter
is always veiled from human beings.
The length of lives can only be guessed."
Thus spoke Utnapishtim.

The Epic of Gilgamesh


 
Tablet XI
 
The Story of the Flood
 

Gilgamesh spoke to Utanapishtim, the Faraway: 
   "I have been looking at you, 
   but your appearance is not strange­­you are like me! 
   You yourself are not different­­you are like me! 
   My mind was resolved to fight with you, 
   (but instead?) my arm lies useless over you. 
   Tell me, how is it that you stand in the Assembly of the Gods, 
                          and have found life!" 
Utanapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh, saying: 
   "I will reveal to you, Gilgamesh, a thing that is hidden, 
   a secret of the gods I will tell you! 
   Shuruppak, a city that you surely know, 
   situated on the banks of the Euphrates, 
   that city was very old, and there were gods inside it. 
   The hearts of the Great Gods moved them to inflict the Flood. 
   Their Father Anu uttered the oath (of secrecy), 
   Valiant Enlil was their Adviser, 
   Ninurta was their Chamberlain, 
   Ennugi was their Minister of Canals. 
   Ea, the Clever Prince(?), was under oath with them 
   so he repeated their talk to the reed house: 
     'Reed house, reed house! Wall, wall! 
O man of Shuruppak, son of Ubartutu: 
  Tear down the house and build a boat! 
  Abandon wealth and seek living beings! 
  Spurn possessions and keep alive living beings! 
  Make all living beings go up into the boat. 
  The boat which you are to build, 
  its dimensions must measure equal to each other: 
  its length must correspond to its width. 
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  Roof it over like the Apsu. 
I understood and spoke to my lord, Ea: 
  'My lord, thus is the command which you have uttered 
  I will heed and will do it. 
  But what shall I answer the city, the populace, and the 
                               Elders!' 
Ea spoke, commanding me, his servant: 
  'You, well then, this is what you must say to them: 
   "It appears that Enlil is rejecting me 
   so I cannot reside in your city (?), 
   nor set foot on Enlil's earth. 
   I will go down to the Apsu to live with my lord, Ea, 
   and upon you he will rain down abundance, 
   a profusion of fowl, myriad(!) fishes. 
   He will bring to you a harvest of wealth, 
   in the morning he will let loaves of bread shower down, 
   and in the evening a rain of wheat!"' 
Just as dawn began to glow 
the land assembled around me­ 
the carpenter carried his hatchet, 
the reed worker carried his (flattening) stone, 
... the men ... 
The child carried the pitch, 
the weak brought whatever else was needed. 
On the fifth day I laid out her exterior. 
It was a field in area, 
its walls were each 10 times 12 cubits in height, 
the sides of its top were of equal length, 10 times It cubits each. 
I laid out its (interior) structure and drew a picture of it (?). 
I provided it with six decks, 
thus dividing it into seven (levels). 
The inside of it I divided into nine (compartments). 
I drove plugs (to keep out) water in its middle part. 
I saw to the punting poles and laid in what was necessary. 
Three times 3,600 (units) of raw bitumen I poured into the 
                           bitumen kiln, 
three times 3,600 (units of) pitch ...into it, 
there were three times 3,600 porters of casks who carried (vege­ 
                              table) oil, 
apart from the 3,600 (units of) oil which they consumed (!) 
and two times 3,600 (units of) oil which the boatman stored 
                                away. 
I butchered oxen for the meat(!), 
and day upon day I slaughtered sheep. 
I gave the workmen(?) ale, beer, oil, and wine, as if it were 
                             river water, 
so they could make a party like the New Year's Festival. 
... and I set my hand to the oiling(!). 
The boat was finished by sunset. 
The launching was very difficult. 
They had to keep carrying a runway of poles front to back, 
until two­thirds of it had gone into the water(?). 
Whatever I had I loaded on it: 
whatever silver I had I loaded on it, 
whatever gold I had I loaded on it. 
All the living beings that I had I loaded on it, 
I had all my kith and kin go up into the boat, 
all the beasts and animals of the field and the craftsmen I 
                             had go up. 
Shamash had set a stated time: 
  'In the morning I will let loaves of bread shower down, 
  and in the evening a rain of wheat! 
  Go inside the boat, seal the entry!' 
That stated time had arrived. 
In the morning he let loaves of bread shower down, 
and in the evening a rain of wheat. 
I watched the appearance of the weather­­ 
the weather was frightful to behold! 
I went into the boat and sealed the entry. 
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For the caulking of the boat, to Puzuramurri, the boatman, 
I gave the palace together with its contents. 
Just as dawn began to glow 
there arose from the horizon a black cloud. 
Adad rumbled inside of it, 
before him went Shullat and Hanish, 
heralds going over mountain and land. 
Erragal pulled out the mooring poles, 
forth went Ninurta and made the dikes overflow. 
The Anunnaki lifted up the torches, 
setting the land ablaze with their flare. 
Stunned shock over Adad's deeds overtook the heavens, 
and turned to blackness all that had been light. 
The... land shattered like a... pot. 
All day long the South Wind blew ..., 
blowing fast, submerging the mountain in water, 
overwhelming the people like an attack. 
No one could see his fellow, 
they could not recognize each other in the torrent. 
The gods were frightened by the Flood, 
and retreated, ascending to the heaven of Anu. 
The gods were cowering like dogs, crouching by the outer wall. 
Ishtar shrieked like a woman in childbirth, 
the sweet­voiced Mistress of the Gods wailed: 
 'The olden days have alas turned to clay, 
 because I said evil things in the Assembly of the Gods! 
 How could I say evil things in the Assembly of the Gods, 
 ordering a catastrophe to destroy my people!! 
 No sooner have I given birth to my dear people 
 than they fill the sea like so many fish!' 
The gods­­those of the Anunnaki­­were weeping with her, 
the gods humbly sat weeping, sobbing with grief(?), 
their lips burning, parched with thirst. 
Six days and seven nights 
came the wind and flood, the storm flattening the land. 
When the seventh day arrived, the storm was pounding, 
the flood was a war­­struggling with itself like a woman 
                       writhing (in labor). 
The sea calmed, fell still, the whirlwind (and) flood stopped up. 
I looked around all day long­­quiet had set in 
and all the human beings had turned to clay! 
The terrain was as flat as a roof. 
I opened a vent and fresh air (daylight!) fell upon the side of 
                              my nose. 
I fell to my knees and sat weeping, 
tears streaming down the side of my nose. 
I looked around for coastlines in the expanse of the sea, 
and at twelve leagues there emerged a region (of land). 
On Mt. Nimush the boat lodged firm, 
Mt. Nimush held the boat, allowing no sway. 
One day and a second Mt. Nimush held the boat, allowing 
                              no sway. 
A third day, a fourth, Mt. Nimush held the boat, allowing 
                              no sway. 
A fifth day, a sixth, Mt. Nimush held the boat, allowing 
                               no sway. 
When a seventh day arrived 
I sent forth a dove and released it. 
The dove went off, but came back to me; 
no perch was visible so it circled back to me. 
I sent forth a swallow and released it. 
The swallow went off, but came back to me; 
no perch was visible so it circled back to me. 
I sent forth a raven and released it. 
The raven went off, and saw the waters slither back. 
It eats, it scratches, it bobs, but does not circle back to me. 
Then I sent out everything in all directions and sacrificed 
                              (a sheep). 
I offered incense in front of the mountain­ziggurat. 
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Seven and seven cult vessels I put in place, 
and (into the fire) underneath (or: into their bowls) I poured 
                    reeds, cedar, and myrtle. 
The gods smelled the savor, 
the gods smelled the sweet savor, 
and collected like flies over a (sheep) sacrifice. 
Just then Beletili arrived. 
She lifted up the large flies (beads) which Anu had made for 
                        his enjoyment(!): 
 'You gods, as surely as I shall not forget this lapis lazuli 
                        around my neck, 
 may I be mindful of these days, and never forget them! 
 The gods may come to the incense offering, 
 but Enlil may not come to the incense offering, 
 because without considering he brought about the Flood 
 and consigned my people to annihilation.' 
Just then Enlil arrived. 
He saw the boat and became furious, 
he was filled with rage at the Igigi gods: 
 'Where did a living being escape? 
No man was to survive the annihilation!' 
Ninurta spoke to Valiant Enlil, saying: 
 'Who else but Ea could devise such a thing? 
 It is Ea who knows every machination!' 
La spoke to Valiant Enlil, saying: 
 'It is yours, O Valiant One, who is the Sage of the Gods. 
 How, how could you bring about a Flood without consideration 
 Charge the violation to the violator, 
 charge the offense to the offender, 
 but be compassionate lest (mankind) be cut off, 
 be patient lest they be killed. 
 Instead of your bringing on the Flood, 
 would that a lion had appeared to diminish the people! 
 Instead of your bringing on the Flood, 
 would that a wolf had appeared to diminish the people! 
 Instead of your bringing on the Flood, 
 would that famine had occurred to slay the land! 
 Instead of your bringing on the Flood, 
 would that (Pestilent) Erra had appeared to ravage the land! 
 It was not I who revealed the secret of the Great Gods, 
 I (only) made a dream appear to Atrahasis, and (thus) he 
                  heard the secret of the gods. 
 Now then! The deliberation should be about him!' 
Enlil went up inside the boat 
and, grasping my hand, made me go up. 
He had my wife go up and kneel by my side. 
He touched our forehead and, standing between us, he 
                            blessed us: 
 'Previously Utanapishtim was a human being. 
 But now let Utanapishtim and his wife become like us, 
                               the gods! 
 Let Utanapishtim reside far away, at the Mouth of the Rivers.' 
They took us far away and settled us at the Mouth of the Rivers." 
"Now then, who will convene the gods on your behalf, 
  that you may find the life that you are seeking! 
  Wait! You must not lie down for six days and seven nights." 
soon as he sat down (with his head) between his legs 
sleep, like a fog, blew upon him. 
Utanapishtim said to his wife: 
  "Look there! The man, the youth who wanted (eternal) life! 
  Sleep, like a fog, blew over him." 
his wife said to Utanapishtim the Faraway: 
  "Touch him, let the man awaken. 
  Let him return safely by the way he came. 
  Let him return to his land by the gate through which he left." 
Utanapishtim said to his wife: 
  "Mankind is deceptive, and will deceive you. 
  Come, bake leaves for him and keep setting them by his head 
  and draw on the wall each day that he lay down." 
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She baked his leaves and placed them by his head 
and marked on the wall the day that he lay down. 
The first loaf was dessicated, 
the second stale, the third moist(?), the fourth turned white, 
                                 its ...,
the fifth sprouted gray (mold), the sixth is still fresh. 
the seventh­­suddenly he touched him and the man awoke. 
Gilgamesh said to Utanapishtim: 
  "The very moment sleep was pouring over me 
  you touched me and alerted me!" 
Utanapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh, saying: 
  "Look over here, Gilgamesh, count your loaves! 
  You should be aware of what is marked on the wall! 
  Your first loaf is dessicated, 
  the second stale, the third moist, your fourth turned white, 
                                  its ...
the fifth sprouted gray (mold), the sixth is still fresh. 
The seventh­­suddenly he touched him and the man awoke. 
Gilgamesh said to Utanapishtim: 
    "The very moment sleep was pouring over me 
    you touched me and alerted me!" 
Utanapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh, saying: 
    "Look over here, Gilgamesh, count your leaves! 
    You should be aware of what is marked on the wall! 
    Your first loaf is dessicated, 
    the second stale, the third moist, your fourth turned white, 
                                    its ...
the fifth sprouted gray (mold), the sixth is still fresh. 
    The seventh­­at that instant you awoke!" 
 Gilgamesh said to Utanapishtim the Faraway: 
    "O woe! What shall I do, Utanapishtim, where shall I go! 
    The Snatcher has taken hold of my flesh, 
    in my bedroom Death dwells, 
    and wherever I set foot there too is Death!" 
              Home Empty­Handed 
 Utanapishtim said to Urshanabi, the ferryman: 
    "May the harbor reject you, may the ferry landing reject you! 
    May you who used to walk its shores be denied its shores! 
    The man in front of whom you walk, matted hair chains 
                                  his body, 
    animal skins have ruined his beautiful skin. 
    Take him away, Urshanabi, bring him to the washing place. 
    Let him wash his matted hair in water like ellu. 
    Let him cast away his animal skin and have the sea carry it off, 
    let his body be moistened with fine oil, 
    let the wrap around his head be made new, 
    let him wear royal robes worthy of him! 
    Until he goes off to his city, 
    until he sets off on his way, 
    let his royal robe not become spotted, let it be perfectly new!" 
 Urshanabi took him away and brought him to the washing place. 
 He washed his matted hair with water like ellu. 
 He cast off his animal skin and the sea carried it oh. 
 He moistened his body with fine oil, 
 and made a new wrap for his head. 
 He put on a royal robe worthy of him. 
 Until he went away to his city, 
 until he set off on his way, 
 his royal robe remained unspotted, it was perfectly clean. 
 Gilgamesh and Urshanabi bearded the boat, 
 they cast off the magillu­boat, and sailed away. 
 The wife of Utanapishtim the Faraway said to him: 
    "Gilgamesh came here exhausted and worn out. 
    What can you give him so that he can return to his land (with 
                                   honor) !" 
 Then Gilgamesh raised a punting pole 
 and drew the boat to shore. 
 Utanapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh, saying: 
    "Gilgamesh, you came here exhausted and worn out. 
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    What can I give you so you can return to your land? 
    I will disclose to you a thing that is hidden, Gilgamesh, 
    a... I will tell you. 
    There is a plant... like a boxthorn, 
    whose thorns will prick your hand like a rose. 
    If your hands reach that plant you will become a young 
                                 man again." 
Hearing this, Gilgamesh opened a conduit(!) (to the Apsu) 
 and attached heavy stones to his feet. 
They dragged him down, to the Apsu they pulled him. 
 He took the plant, though it pricked his hand, 
and cut the heavy stones from his feet, 
letting the waves(?) throw him onto its shores. 
Gilgamesh spoke to Urshanabi, the ferryman, saying: 
   "Urshanabi, this plant is a plant against decay(!) 
    by which a man can attain his survival(!). 
    I will bring it to Uruk­Haven, 
    and have an old man eat the plant to test it. 
    The plant's name is 'The Old Man Becomes a Young Man.'" 
   Then I will eat it and return to the condition of my youth." 
At twenty leagues they broke for some food, 
at thirty leagues they stopped for the night. 
Seeing a spring and how cool its waters were, 
Gilgamesh went down and was bathing in the water. 
A snake smelled the fragrance of the plant, 
silently came up and carried off the plant. 
While going back it sloughed off its casing.' 
At that point Gilgamesh sat down, weeping, 
his tears streaming over the side of his nose. 
"Counsel me, O ferryman Urshanabi! 
For whom have my arms labored, Urshanabi! 
   For whom has my heart's blood roiled! 
   I have not secured any good deed for myself, 
   but done a good deed for the 'lion of the ground'!" 
   Now the high waters are coursing twenty leagues distant,' 
   as I was opening the conduit(?) I turned my equipment over 
                                into it (!). 
   What can I find (to serve) as a marker(?) for me! 
   I will turn back (from the journey by sea) and leave the boat by 
                                the shore!" 
   At twenty leagues they broke for some food, 
at thirty leagues they stopped for the night. 
They arrived in Uruk­Haven. 
Gilgamesh said to Urshanabi, the ferryman: 
   "Go up, Urshanabi, onto the wall of Uruk and walk around. 
   Examine its foundation, inspect its brickwork thoroughly­­ 
   is not (even the core of) the brick structure of kiln­fired brick, 
   and did not the Seven Sages themselves lay out its plan! 
One league city, one league palm gardens, one league lowlands, the open area(?) of the Ishtar Temple, 
three leagues and the open area(?) of Uruk it encloses. 

 
EPIC OF GILGAMESH TABLET XI

 
 
 

 
The Flood, Trial of Sleepessness, Foiled by the Serpent, Triumphant Return

 
 
 
Columns I - VI
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2017/7/20 Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet I
Column I
To the most distant and removed of semi-gods, to Utnapishtim,
Gilgamesh said: "When I regard you now, my god-like man,
it's like seeing my own face on calm water
where I dare to study myself.
Like me, you are first of all a fighter who prefers to war-no-more.
How could one like you, so human, all-too-human,
ascend to be at one with other gods?"
 
10. Utnapishtim said to him in swift reply:
"Only one as bold as you would dare expect
such knowledge. But I shall tell you what
no person has ever been told.

High up the constant Euphrates


there rests a place you call Shuruppak
where gods and goddesses recline.

Then came the flood, sent by gods' intent.


Mama, Anu, and Enlil were at Shuruppak.
So too was their coachman, Ninurta,

 
20. and Ennugi, the beastiarilis,
and one who watches over precious infants,
the ever vigilant Ea.

And Ea refrained their chant to the higli-grown reeds


upon the shore, giving this advice to me:
'Arise! Arise! Oh wall-like reeds.
Arise and hear my words:

Citizen of Shurtippak, child of Ubaratutu,


abandon your home and build a boat.
Reject the corpse-like stench of wealth.
Choose to live and choose to love;

 
30. choose to rise above and give back
what you yourself were given.

Be moderate as you flee for survival


in a boat that has no place for riches.

Take the seed of all you need aboard


with you and carefully weigh anchor
after securing a roof that will let in no water.'
"Then I said back in reverent prayer:
'I understand, great Ea.
I shall do just as you say to honor god,

 
40. but for myself
I'll have to find a reason to give the people.'

"Then Ea voiced a fair reply:


'Tell those who'll need to know
that Enlil hates you.
Say: "I must flee the city now
and go by sea to where Enlil waits to take my life.

I will descend to the brink of Hell


to be with Ea, god,
who will send riches to you like the rain:

 
50. all manner of birds;
birds ... bonds ... burds...
and the rarest of rare fish.
The land will fill with crops full grown at break of day.
Ea will begin to shower
gifts of life upon you all"."'
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Column II
Then Utnapishtim continued, saying words like these:

"By week's end I engineered designs


for an acre's worth of floor upon the ark we built
so that its walls rose straight toward heaven;
 

60. with decks all round did I design its space;


120 cubits measured its deck.
With division of six and of seven

I patterned its squares and stairs;


left space for portals too,
secured its beams and stockpiled
all that ever could be used.

Pitch for the hull I poured into the kiln


and ordered three full volumes of oil
to start with and two times three more yet.
For what is security?

 
70. Each day I sacrificed the holy bulls
and chosen sheep for the people
and pushed the laborers to great fatigue
and thirst, allayed alone by wine
which they drank as if it were water running
from barrels set up for holding cheer
in preparation for a New Year's party they expected.

I set up an ointment box


and cleaned my fingers with its cream.
"After one week, the ark was done,

 
80. though launching was more work than fun
since hull boards caught and snapped
until the water burst most of its great ton.

I supplied the craft with all I owned


of silver, gold, and seed.
My clan brought on the food they'd eat
and all the things we thought we'd need.

At last, it was my turn just then


to shepherd beasts and birds and
babies wet and loud.

 
90. It was Shamash who ordained the time, saying:
'Prepare the way for your whole boat
and set to sail when the storm
begins to threaten you.'
"The Anunnaki too then cried for them.

The gods themselves, finally suffering, sat up


and let their first tears flow down
cheeks and over lips pressed closed.
 

Column III
"For the whole next week
the sky screamed and storms wrecked the earth
 
100. and finally broke the war
which groaned as one in labor's throes.
Even Ishtar then bemoaned the

fates of her sad people.


Ocean silent.

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Winds dead.
Flood ended.
Then I see a dawn so still;
all humans beaten to dirt
and earth itself like some vast roof.

 
110. I peeked through the portal into a morning sun
then turned, knelt and cried.
Tears flooded down my face.
"Then I searched high and low for the shoreline,
finally spotting an island near and dear.

Our boat stuck fast beside Mt. Nimush.


Mt. Nimush held the hull that could not sway
for one whole week.
"I released the watch-bird, to soar in search of land.
The bird came back within a day
exhausted, unrelieved from lack of rest.

 
120. I then released a swallow, to soar in search of land,
The bird came back within a day
exhausted, unrelieved from lack of rest.

I then released a raven, to soar in search of land.


The bird took flight above more shallow seas,
found food and found release and found no
need to fly on back to me.
"These birds I then released to carth's four corners
and offered sacrifice,
a small libation to the heights of many mountains,

 
130. from numbered chalices that I arranged.
Under these I spread the scents that gods favored

and when the gods smelled the sweet perfume of sacrifice,


they gathered in flight all above, like apparitions.
 

Column IV
"From distant heights with heavenly sights,
the female of all female gods descended then;

Aruru who aroused the wry thought


that Anu made for intercourse.
'Great gods from far and wide
keep always in my mind

 
140. this thought for intercourse,
tokened by the sacred blue medallion on my neck,
Let me recall with smiles
these days in days to come.

Gods of my shoreline, gods of my sky,


come round this food that I prepared for you;
but do not let Enlil enjoy this too,

since he's the one who drowned my relatives


without telling the gods what he set out to do.'
When Enlil saw the boat, he released

 
150. his calm reason and let in the lgigi, monsters of blood.
'What force dares defy my anger!?
How dare a man be still alive!?'
Then with these words Ninurta said to Enlil:

'Can any of us besides Ea, maker of words,


create such things as speech?'

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Then with these words Ea himself said to Enlil:
'Sly god,
sky darkener,
and tough fighter,

 
160. how dare you drown so many little people
without consulting me?

Why not just kill the one who offended you,


drown only the sinner?
Keep hold of his lifecord; harness his destiny.
Rather than killing rains, set cats at people's throats.
Rather than killing rains, set starvation on dry, parched throats.
Rather than killing rains, set sickness on the minds and hearts
of people.

I was not the one who revealed our god-awful secrets.


Blame Utnapishtim, Mr. Know-it-all,

 
170. who sees everything,
who knows everything."

"Reflect on these stories, my Gilgamesh."


"Then Enlil swooped down around my boat;
he gently raised me from the slime,
placed my wife beside my kneeling form
and blessed us both at once with hands upon our bowed heads.
So was it ordained.
So we were ordained."
Earlier than that time, Utnapishtim was not divine.

 
180. Then with his wife he was deified
and sent to rule the place where rivers start.

"Gods sent me everywhere to rule the place where rivers start."


"As for you, Gilgamesh, which gods will be called on
to direct your path and future life?
Arise! Be alert! Stay up with stars for
seven long and sleepless nights!"
But even as he tried to stay awake,
fog-like sleep rolled over his eyes.
Then Utnapishtim said these words:

 
190. "Dear wife, behold the one who tries to pray
while fog-like sleep rolls over his eyes."

She said to him who rarely talks:


"Arouse him now and let him
leave unharmed. Permit that one
to go back home at last."

 
Column V
Then Utnapishtim said these words:

"An upset soul can upset many gods.


Be kind with food and generous to him.
But keep a count of how he

 
200. sleeps and what he eats."
She was kind with food and gentle with the man
and she kept count of how he slept.

"One, two, three, abate,


he slept with death~the-fairy.
Four, five, six, abate,
he looked so cold and wary."

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Then he returned from death to breath!

 
210. So Gilgamesh said to the One-who-rarely-spoke:
"Just as I slipped toward sleep,
you sent my dream."
And to him in reply, Utnapishtim said these words:
"One, two, three, alarie,
you slept with death-the-fairy.
Four, five, six, alarie,
you looked so cold and wary.
Then you arose from death to breath."
So Gilgamesh said to the One-who-rarely-speaks:
"Help me, Utnapishtim. Where is
home for one like me whose self
 
220. was robbed of life? My own
bed is where death sleeps and
I crack her spine on every line
where my foot falls."

Utnapishtim calls out to the sailor-god:


"Urshanabi, dear, you will never land
again easily or easily sail the seas
to shores where you no more will find safe harbor.
Sandy and disheveled hair does not become
the one you nearly drowned.

 
230. Shingles now spoil his hidden beauty.
Better find a place to clean him up.
Better race to pools of saltless water soon
so that by noon he'll shine again for all of us to see.
Tie up his curly hair with ribbon fair.
Place on his shoulders broad the happy robe
so that he may return to his native city easily in triumph.
Allow him to wear the sacred elder's cloak
and see that it is always kept as clean
as it can be."
The sailor-god brought Gilgamesh
 
240. to where they cleaned his wounds.
By noon he shone again for all to see.
He tied his curly hair with ribbon fair,
and placed upon his shoulder broad the happy robe
so he would return to Uruk easily in triumph
with a cloak unstained and unstainable.

Urshanabi and Gilgamesh launched the boat


over the breakers on the beach and
started to depart across the seas.
 

Column VI
To her distant husband, Utnapishtim's wife said:
 
250. "This Gilgamesh has labored much to come here.
Can you reward him for traveling back?"
At that very moment, Gilgamesh used paddles
to return his craft along the shore.
Then Utnapishtim called out to him:
"Gilgamesh! You labored much to come here.

How can I reward you for traveling back?


May I share a special secret, one
that the gods alone do know?
There is a plant that hides somewhere among the rocks

 
260. that thirsts and thrusts itself deep
in the earth, with thistles that sting.
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That plant contains eternal life for you."
Immediately, Gilgamesh set out in search.
Weighed down carefully, he dove beneath
the cold, cold waters and saw the plant.

Although it stung him when he grabbed its leaf,


he held it fast as he then slipped off his weights
and soared back to the surface.
Then Gilgamesh said this to Urshanabi, the sailor-god:

 
270. "Here is the leaf that begins
all life worth having.
I am bound now for Uruk,
town-so-full-of-shepherds,

and there I'll dare to give


this plant to aged men as food
and they will call it life-giving.

I too intend to eat it


and to be made forever young."
After 10 miles they ate.

 
280. After 15 miles they set up camp
where Gilgamesh slipped into a pool;

but in the pool, a cruel snake slithered by


and stole the plant from Gilgamesh

who saw the snake grow young again,


as off it raced with the special, special plant.
Right there and then Gilgamesh began to weep
and, between sobs, said to the sailor-god who held his hand:

"Why do I bother working for nothing?


Who even notices what I do?

 
290. I don't value what I did
and now only the snake has won eternal life. in minutes, swift currents will lose forever
that special sign that god had left for me."
Then they set out again,
this time upon the land.
After 10 miles they stopped to eat.
After 30 miles they set up camp.
Next day they came to Uruk, full of shepherds.
 
300. Then Gilgamesh said this to the boatman:
"Rise up now, Urshanabi, and examine
Uruk's wall. Study the base, the brick,
the old design. is it permanent as can be?
Does it look like wisdom designed it?

The house of Ishtar in


Uruk is divided into three parts:
the town itself, the palm grove, and the prairie."

 
EPIC OF GILGAMESH TABLET XII

 
This tablet may have been added to the other eleven tablets. However, it adds
insight and provide background to the magical power of music in the Bible.

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Descent to the Underworld The Afterlife
 
"If only I'd have protected our instruments in the
safe home of the drum-maker;
If only I'd have given so precious a harp to the
craftsman's wife, she who shepherds such jewel-like children.

God, has your heart forgotten me?


Who shall descend to Hell and redeem the
drum from where it rests unused?

Who shall risk his life to retrieve


the precious gifts of Ishtar from death?"

 
10. And for this quest his friend alone did pledge.
So Gilgamesh said this to Enkidu:

"Descend, descend to Hell where life does end


but listen now to words you need to know.
Go slow to where death rules, my brother dear,
and then arise again above and over fear."
And, once more, Gilgamesh said this to Enkidu:

"Let all who would be saved today, take heed,


and listen to god's words in time of need.
When walking with the strong or with the dead,

 
20. do not wear clothes of purple or of red.
Shun make-up that presents a holy face
for they attack the phony and the base.

Leave here with me your knife and rock and club;


such weapons only add to their own strife.

Put down your bow, as you would leave a wife.


The souls of death will soil your hands and feet.

Go naked, filthy, tearful, when you meet.


Be quiet, mild, remote, and distant too
as those who will surround and follow you.

 
30. Greet no girl with kiss so kind upon her lips;
push none away from you with fingertips.

Hold no child's hand as you descend to Hell


and strike no boy who chooses there to dwell.

Around you, Enkidu, the lament of the dead


will whirl and scream,
for she alone, in that good place, is at home who,
having given birth to beauty,
has watched that beauty die.
No graceful robe any longer graces her naked self

 
40. and her kind breasts, once warm with milk,
have turned into bowls of cold stone."

But Enkidu refused to heed his friend


as he set out that day to then descend
to where the dead who-do-not-live do stay.

He wore bright clothes of celebrative red,


the sight of which offended all the dead.
His colored face made him seem fair and good
but spirits hate the flesh that would dare
remind us of the beauty they have lost.

 
50. He brought with him his club and rock and knife
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and did cause strife with those whom he did mock.

There, too, is where he showed off;


where he went clothed among the naked,
where he wasted food beside the starving,
where he danced beside the grief-stricken.

He kissed a happy girl.


He struck a good woman.
He enjoyed his fatherhood.
He fought with his son.

60. Around him, the lament for the dead arose;


for she alone, in that sad place, is at home who,
having given birth to beauty,
has watched that beauty die.

No graceful robe any longer graces her naked self


and her kind breasts, once warm with milk,
have turned into bowls of cold stone.

She never even dreamed once of letting him return


to life. Namtar, the decision-maker,
would not help Enkidu. Nor would illness

 
70. help. Hell became his home.
Nergal, chief-enforcer, would not help.

Dirges and laments rose all around.


Not even the soldier's death-in-battle,
with all its false and phony honor,
helped Enkidu. Death just swallowed him, unrecognized.

So the great son of Ninsun, proud Gilgamesh,


cried for his beloved friend
and went to the temple of Enlil,
the savage god of soldiers,

 
80. to say: "My god, when death
called for me, my best friend went
in my place and he is now no longer living."
But the savage god of soldiers, Enlil, was mute.

So Gilgamesh turned next to one who flies alone,


and to the moon he said: "My god, when death
called for me, my best friend went
in my place and he is now no longer living."

But the moon, who flies alone, was also mute;


so he went next to Ea, whose waters fill

 
90. the desert oasis even when no rain falls.
"My god," he cried, "when death
called for me, my best friend went
in my place and he is now no longer living."

And Ea, whose waters keep us alive as we journey over desert sands,
said this to Nergal, great soldier in arms.
"Go now, mighty follower; free Enkidu to speak once to kin
and show this Gilgamesh how to descend halfway
to Hell through the bowels of earth."
And Nergal, accustomed to absurd orders,

 
100. obeyed as soldiers do.
He freed Enkidu to speak once to kin
and showed Gilgamesh how to descend halfway

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2017/7/20 Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet I
to Hell through the bowels of earth.

Enkidu's shadow rose slowly toward the living


and the brothers, tearful and weak,
tried to hug, tried to speak,
tried and failed to do anything but sob.

"Speak to me please, dear brother,"


whispered Gilgamesh.

 
110. "Tell me of death and where you are."
"Not willingly do I speak of death,"
said Enkidu in slow reply.

"But if you wish to sit for a brief


time, I will describe where I do stay."
"Yes," his brother said in early grief.
"All my skin and all my bones are dead now.
All my skin and all my bones are now dead.
"Oh no," cried Gilgamesh without relief.
"Oh no," sobbed one enclosed by grief.

 
120. "Did you see there a man who never fathered any child?"

"I saw there a no-man who died."

"Did you see there a man whose one son died?"

"I saw him sobbing all alone in open fields."

"Did you see there a man with two grown sons?"

"I did indeed and he smiles all day long."

"Did you see there a man with three of his own boys?"

"I did, I did; and his heart's full of joys."

"Did you there see a king with four full kids?"

"I did see one whose pleasure is supreme."

130. "Did you see there anyone with five children?"

"oh yes, they go about with laughs and shouts."

"And could you find a man with six or seven boys?"

"You could and they are treated as the gods."


 

"Have you seen one who died too soon?"

"Oh yes; that one sips water fair and rests each night upon a couch."

"Have you seen one who died in War?"

"Oh yes; his aged father weeps and his young widow visits graves."

"Have you seen one buried poor, with other homeless nomads?"
 

140. "Oh yes; that one knows rest that is not sure, far from the proper place."

"Have you seen a brother crying among relatives


who chose to ignore his prayers?"

"Oh yes; he brings bread to the hungry from the dumps


of those who feed their dogs
with food they keep from people
and he eats trash that no other man would want."

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