GILGAMESH
SUMMARY
Gilgamesh was an historical king of Uruk in Babylonia, on the River Euphrates in modern Iraq; he lived about 2700 B.C. Although historians (and your textbook) tend to emphasize Hammurabi and his code of law, the civilizations of the Tigris-Euphrates area, among the first civilizations, focus rather on Gilgamesh and the legends accruing around him to explain, as it were, themselves. Many stories and myths were written about Gilgamesh, some of which were written down about 2000 B.C. in the Sumerian language on clay tablets which still survive; the Sumerian language, as far as we know, bears no relation to any other human language we know about. These Sumerian Gilgamesh stories were integrated into a longer poem, versions of which survive not only in Akkadian (the Semitic language, related to Hebrew, spoken by the Babylonians) but also on tablets written in Hurrian and Hittite (an Indo-European language, a family of languages which includes Greek and English, spoken in Asia Minor). All the above languages were written in the script known as cuneiform, which means "wedge-shaped." The fullest surviving version, from which the summary here is taken, is derived from twelve stone tablets, in the Akkadian language, found in the ruins of the library of Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria 669-633 B.C., at Nineveh. The library was destroyed by the Persians in 612 B.C., and all the tablets are damaged. The tablets actually name an author, which is extremely rare in the ancient world, for this particular version of the story: Shin-eqi-unninni. You are being introduced here to the oldest known human author we can name by name! Tablet 1
The one who saw all [Sha nagba
imuru ]I will declare to the world, This great hero who had all knowledge
[nemequ ], Gilgamesh, built the great city of Uruk; the tablet
invites us to look around and view the greatness of this city, its high
walls, its masonwork, and here at the base of its gates, as the foundation
of the city walls, a stone of lapis lazuli on which is carved Gilgamesh's
account of his exploits, the story you are about to hear. The account
begins: Gilgamesh, two-thirds god and one-third human, is the greatest
king on earth and the strongest super-human that ever existed; however,
he is young and oppresses his people harshly. The people call out to
the sky-god Anu, the chief god of the city, to help them. In response,
Anu creates a wild man, Enkidu, out in the harsh and wild forests surrounding
Gilgamesh's lands. This brute, Enkidu, has the strength of dozens of
wild animals; he is to serve as the subhuman rival to the superhuman
Gilgamesh. A trapper's
son, while checking on traps in the forest, discovers Enkidu running
naked with the wild animals; he rushes to his father with the news.
The father advises him to go into the city and take one of the temple
harlots, Shamhat, with him to the forest; 1 when
she sees Enkidu, she is to offer herself sexually to the wild man. If
he submits to her, the trapper says, he will lose his strength and his
wildness. Shamhat
meets Enkidu at the watering-hole where all the wild animals gather;
she offers herself to him and he submits, instantly losing his strength
and wildness, but he gains understanding and knowledge. He laments for
his lost state, but the harlot offers to take him into the city where
all the joys of civilization shine in their resplendence; she offers
to show him Gilgamesh, the only man worthy of Enkidu's friendship. Gilgamesh
meanwhile has two dreams; in the first a meteorite falls to earth which
is so great that Gilgamesh can neither lift it nor turn it. The people
gather and celebrate around the meteorite, and Gilgamesh embraces it
as he would a wife, but his mother, the goddess Rimat-Ninsun, forces
him to compete with the meteorite. In the second, Gilgamesh dreams that
an axe appears at his door, so great that he can neither lift it nor
turn it. The people gather and celebrate around the axe, and Gilgamesh
embraces it as he would a wife, but his mother, again, forces him to
compete with the axe. Gilgamesh asks his mother what these dreams might
mean; she tells him a man of great force and strength will come into
Uruk. Gilgamesh will embrace this man as he would a wife, and this man
will help Gilgamesh perform great deeds. Tablet 2
Enkidu is gradually introduced to
civilization by living for a time with a group of shepherds, who teach
him how to tend flocks, how to eat, how to speak properly, and how to
wear clothes. Enkidu then enters the city of Uruk during a great celebration.
Gilgamesh, as the king, claims the right to have sexual intercourse
first with every new bride on the day of her wedding; as Enkidu enters
the city, Gilgamesh is about to claim that right. Infuriated at this
abuse, Enkidu stands in front of the door of the marital chamber and
blocks Gilgamesh's way. They fight furiously until Gilgamesh wins the
upper hand; Enkidu concedes Gilgamesh's superiority and the two embrace
and become devoted friends. Both Enkidu
and Gilgamesh gradually weaken and grow lazy living in the city, so
Gilgamesh proposes a great adventure: they are to journey to the great
Cedar Forest in southern Iran and cut down all the cedar trees. To do
this, they will need to kill the Guardian of the Cedar Forest, the great
demon, Humbaba the Terrible. Enkidu knows about Humbaba from his days
running wild in the forest; he tries in vain to convince Gilgamesh not
to undertake this folly. Tablet 3
[Most of tablet three doesn't exist] The elders
of the city protest Gilgamesh's endeavor, but agree reluctantly. They
place the life of the king in the hands of Enkidu, whom they insist
shall take the forward position in the battle with Humbaba. Gilgamesh's
mother laments her son's fate in a prayer to the sun-god, Shamash, asking
that god why he put a restless heart in the breast of her son. Shamash
promises her that he will watch out for Gilgamesh's life. Ramat-Ninsun,
too, commands Enkidu to guard the life of the king and to take the forward
position in the battle with Humbaba. In panic, Enkidu again tries to
convince Gilgamesh not to undertake this journey, but Gilgamesh is confident
of success. Tablet 4
Tablet four tells the story of the
journey to the cedar forest. On each day of the six day journey, Gilgamesh
prays to Shamash; in response to these prayers, Shamash sends Gilgamesh
oracular dreams during the night. These dreams are all ominous: The
first is not preserved. In the second, Gilgamesh dreams that he wrestles
a great bull that splits the ground with his breath. Enkidu interprets
the dream for Gilgamesh; the dream means that Shamash, the bull, will
protect Gilgamesh. In the third, Gilgamesh dreams: The skies roared with thunder and
the earth heaved, Enkidu's interpretation is missing
here, but like the other dreams, it is assumed he puts a positive spin
on the dream. The fourth dream is missing, but Enkidu again tells Gilgamesh
that the dream portends success in the upcoming battle. The fifth dream
is also missing. At the entrance
to the Cedar Forest, Gilgamesh begins to quake with fear; he prays to
Shamash, reminding him that he had promised Ninsun that he would be
safe. Shamash calls down from heaven, ordering him to enter the forest
because Humbaba is not wearing all his armor. The demon Humbaba wears
seven coats of armor, but now he is only wearing one so he is particularly
vulnerable. Enkidu loses his courage and turns back; Gilgamesh falls
on him and they have a great fight. Hearing the crash of their fighting,
Humbaba comes stalking out of the Cedar Forest to challenge the intruders.
A large part of the tablet is missing here. On the one part of the tablet
still remaining, Gilgamesh convinces Enkidu that they should stand together
against the demon. Tablet 5
Gilgamesh and Enkidu enter the gloriously
beautiful Cedar Forest and begin to cut down the trees. Hearing the
sound, Humbaba comes roaring up to them and warns them off. Enkidu shouts
at Humbaba that the two of them are much stronger than the demon, but
Humbaba, who knows Gilgamesh is a king, taunts the king for taking orders
from a nobody like Enkidu. Turning his face into a hideous mask, Humbaba
begins to threaten the pair, and Gilgamesh runs and hides. Enkidu shouts
at Gilgamesh, inspiring him with courage, and Gilgamesh appears from
hiding and the two begin their epic battle with Humbaba. Shamash intrudes
on the battle, helping the pair, and Humbaba is defeated. On his knees,
with Gilgamesh's sword at his throat, Humbaba begs for his life and
offers Gilgamesh all the tress in the forest and his eternal servitude.
While Gilgamesh is thinking this over, Enkidu intervenes, telling Gilgamesh
to kill Humbaba before any of the gods arrive and stop him from doing
so. Should he kill Humbaba, he will achieve widespread fame for all
the times to come. Gilgamesh, with a great sweep of his sword, removes
Humbaba's head. But before he dies, Humbaba screams out a curse on Enkidu:
"Of you two, may Enkidu not live the longer, may Enkidu not find
any peace in this world!" Gilgamesh
and Enkidu cut down the cedar forest and in particular the tallest of
the cedar trees to make a great cedar gate for the city of Uruk. They
build a raft out of the cedar and float down the Euphrates river to
their city. Tablet 6
After these events, Gilgamesh, his
fame widespread and his frame resplendent in his wealthy clothes, attracts
the sexual attention of the goddess Ishtar, who comes to Gilgamesh and
offers to become his lover. Gilgamesh refuses with insults, listing
all the mortal lovers that Ishtar has had and recounting the dire fates
they all met with at her hands. Deeply insulted, Ishtar returns to heaven
and begs her father, the sky-god Anu, to let her have the Bull of Heaven
to wreak vengeance on Gilgamesh and his city: Father, let me have the Bull of
Heaven Anu reluctantly gives in, and the
Bull of Heaven is sent down into Uruk. Each time the bull breathes,
its breath is so powerful that enormous abysses are opened up in the
earth and hundreds of people fall through to their deaths. Working together
again, Gilgamesh and Enkidu slay the mighty bull. Ishtar is enraged,
but Enkidu begins to insult her, saying that she is next, that he and
Gilgamesh will kill her next, and he rips one of the thighs off the
bull and hurls it into her face. Tablet 7
Enkidu falls ill after having a set
of ominous dreams; he finds out from the priests that he has been singled
out for vengeance by the gods. The Chief Gods have met and have decided
that someone should be punished for the killing of Humbaba and the killing
of the Bull of Heaven, so of the two heroes, they decide Enkidu should
pay the penalty. Enraged at the injustice of the decision, Enkidu curses
the great Cedar Gate built from the wood of the Cedar Forest, and he
curses the temple harlot, Shamhat, and the trapper, for introducing
him to civilization. Shamhash reminds him that, even though his life
has been short, he has enjoyed the fruits of civilization and known
great happiness. Enkidu then blesses the harlot and the trapper. In
a dream, a great demon comes to take Enkidu and drags him to Hell, a
House of Dust where all the dead end up; as he is dying, he describes
Hell: The house where the dead dwell
in total darkness, Enkidu commends himself to Gilgamesh,
and after suffering terribly for twelve days, he finally dies. Tablet 8
Gilgamesh is torn apart by the death
of his friend, and utters a long lament, ordering all of creation to
never fall silent in mourning his dead friend. Most of this tablet is
missing, but the second half seems to be a description of the monument
he builds for Enkidu. Tablet 9
Gilgamesh allows his life to fall
apart; he does not bathe, does not shave, does not take care of himself,
not so much out of grief for his friend, but because he now realizes
that he too must die and the thought sends him into a panic. He decides
that he can't live unless granted eternal life; he decides to undertake
the most perilous journey of all: the journey to Utnapishtim and his
wife, the only mortals on whom the gods had granted eternal life. Utnapishtim
is the Far-Away, living at the mouth of all rivers, at the ends of the
world. Utnapishtim was the great king of the world before the Flood
and, with his wife, was the only mortal preserved by the gods during
the Flood. After an ominous dream, Gilgamesh sets out. He arrives at
Mount Mashu, which guards the rising and the setting of the sun, and
encounters two large scorpions who guard the way past Mount Mashu. They
try to convince him that his journey is futile and fraught with danger,
but still they allow him to pass. Past Mount Mashu is the land of Night,
where no light ever appears. Gilgamesh journeys eleven leagues before
the light begins to glimmer, after twelve leagues he has emerged into
day. He enters into a brilliant garden of gems, where every tree bears
precious stones. Tablet 10
Gilgamesh comes to a tavern by the
ocean shore; the tavern is kept by Siduri. Frightened by Gilgamesh's
ragged appearance, Siduri locks the tavern door and refuses to let Gilgamesh
in. Gilgamesh proves his identity and asks Siduri how to find Utnapishtim.
Like the giant scorpions, she tells him that his journey is futile and
fraught with dangers. However, she directs him to Urshanabi, the ferryman,
who works for Utnapishtim. Gilgamesh approaches Urshanabi with great
arrogance and violence and in the process destroys the "stone things"
that are somehow critical for the journey to Utnapishtim. When Gilgamesh
demands to be taken to Utnapishtim, the ferryman tells him that it is
now impossible, since the "stone things" have been destroyed.
Nevertheless, he advises Gilgamesh to cut several trees down to serve
as punting poles; the waters they are to cross are the Waters of Death,
should any mortal touch the waters, that man will instantly die. With
the punting poles, Gilgamesh can push the boat and never touch the dangerous
waters. After a
long and dangerous journey, Gilgamesh arrives at a shore and encounters
another man. He tells this man that he is looking for Utnapishtim and
the secret of eternal life; the old man advises Gilgamesh that death
is a necessary fact because of the will of the gods; all human effort
is only temporary, not permanent. Tablet 11
At this point, Gilgamesh realizes
that he is talking to Utnapishtim, the Far-Away; he hadn't expected
an immortal human to be ordinary and aged. He asks Utnapishtim how he
received immortality, and Utnapishtim tells him the great secret hidden
from humans: In the time before the Flood, there was
a city, Shuruppak, on the banks of the Euphrates. There, the counsel
of the gods held a secret meeting; they all resolved to destroy the
world in a great flood. All the gods were under oath not to reveal this
secret to any living thing, but Ea (one of the gods that created humanity)
came to Utnapishtim's house and told the secret to the walls of Utnapishtim's
house, thus not technically violating his oath to the rest of the gods.
He advised the walls of Utnapishtim's house to build a great boat, its
length as great as its breadth, to cover the boat, and to bring all
living things into the boat. Utnapishtim gets straight to work and finishes
the great boat by the new year. Utnapishtim then loads the boat with
gold, silver, and all the living things of the earth, and launches the
boat. Ea orders him into the boat and commands him to close the door
behind him. The black clouds arrive, with the thunder god Adad rumbling
within them; the earth splits like an earthenware pot, and all the light
turns to darkness. The Flood is so great that even the gods are frightened:
The gods shook like beaten dogs,
hiding in the far corners of heaven, The Flood lasts for seven days and
seven nights, and finally light returns to the earth. Utnapishtim opens
a window and the entire earth has been turned into a flat ocean; all
humans have been turned to stone. Utnapishtim then falls to his knees
and weeps. Utnapishtim's
boat comes to rest on the top of Mount Nimush; the boat lodges firmly
on the mountain peak just below the surface of the ocean and remains
there for seven days. On the seventh day: I [Utnapishtim] released a dove
from the boat, The gods smell the odor of the sacrifice
and begin to gather around Utnapishtim. Enlil, who had originally proposed
to destroy all humans, then arrives, furious that one of the humans
had survived, since they had agreed to wipe out all humans. He accuses
Ea of treachery, but Ea convinces Enlil to be merciful. Enlil then seizes
Utnapishtim and his wife and blesses them: At one time Utnapishtim was mortal. At the end of his story, Utnapishtim
offers Gilgamesh a chance at immortality. If Gilgamesh can stay awake
for six days and seven nights, he, too, will become immortal. Gilgamesh
accepts these conditions and sits down on the shore; the instant he
sits down he falls asleep. Utnapishtim tells his wife that all men are
liars, that Gilgamesh will deny having fallen asleep, so he asks his
wife to bake a loaf of bread every day and lay the loaf at Gilgamesh's
feet. Gilgamesh sleeps without ever waking up for six days and seven
nights, at which point Utnapishtim wakes him up. Startled, Gilgamesh
says, "I only just dozed off for half a second here." Utnapishtim
points out the loaves of bread, showing their states of decay from the
most recent, fresh bread, to the oldest, moldy, stale bread that had
been laid at his feet on the very first day. Gilgamesh is distraught:
O woe! What do I do now, where
do I go now? Utnapishtim's wife convinces the
old man to have mercy on him; he offers Gilgamesh in place of immortality
a secret plant that will make Gilgamesh young again. The plant is at
the bottom of the ocean surrounding the Far-Away; Gilgamesh ties stones
to his feet, sinks to the bottom, and plucks the magic plant. But he
doesn't use it because he doesn't trust it; rather he decides to take
it back to Uruk and test it out on an old man first, to make sure it
works. Urshanabi
takes him across the Waters of Death. Several leagues inland, Gilgamesh
and Urshanabi stop to eat and sleep; while they're sleeping, a snake
slithers up and eats the magic plant (which is why snakes shed their
skin) and crawls away. Gilgamesh awakens to find the plant gone; he
falls to his knees and weeps: For whom have I labored? For whom
have I journeyed? The tale ends with Gilgamesh, at
the end of his journey standing before the gates of Uruk, inviting Urshanabi
to look around and view the greatness of this city, its high walls,
its masonwork, and here at the base of its gates, as the foundation
of the city walls, a stone of lapis lazuli on which is carved Gilgamesh's
account of his exploits. Richard Hooker
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