What effect does lord shamash's intervention have on the epic

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A N O R T O N C R I T I C A L E D I T I O N

THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH

A NEW TRANSLATION

ANALOGUES

CRITICISM

Translated and Edited by

BENJAMIN R. FOSTER Y A L E U N I V E R S I T Y

THE SUMERIAN THE HITTITE GILGAMESH POEMS GILGAMESH

Translated by Translated by DOUGLAS FRAYNE GARY BEC KMAN

UNIVERSITY O F TORONTO UNIVERSITY O F MICHIGAN

W W NORTON & COMPANY New York London

Contents

Copyright O 2001 by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc

All rights resewed. Printed in the United States of America

First Edition.

The text of this book is composed in Electra with the display set in Bernhard Modern.

Composition by PennSet, Inc. Manufacturing by Maple-Vail Book Group.

Book design by Antonina Krass. Cover design by Karen Polinger Foster.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gilgamesh. English.

The epic of Gilgamesh : a new translation, analogues, criticism / translated and edited by Benjamin R. Foster. The Sumerian Gilgamesh poems I translated

by Douglas Frayne. The Hittite Gilgamesh I translated by Gary Beckman. p. cm. - (A Norton critical edition)

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 0-393-975 16-9 (pbk.)

1. Epic poetry, Assyro-Babylonian-Translations into English. I. Foster, Benjamin R. (Benjamin Read). 11. Frayne, Douglas. 111. Beckman,

Gary M. IV. Title: Sumerian Gilgamesh poems. V. Title: Hittite Gilgamesh. VI. Title. VII. Series.

W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 101 10 www.wwnorton.com

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List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction Abbreviations

The Text of The Epic of Gilgamesh

Analogues to The Epic of Gilgamesh The Sumerian Gilgamesh Poems The Hittite Gilgamesh The Gilgamesh Letter

Criticism William Moran The Gilgamesh Epic: A Masterpiece

from Ancient Mesopotamia Thorkild Jacobsen "And Death the Journey's End":

The Gilgamesh Epic Rivkah Harris Images of Women in the Gilgamesh Epic Hillary Major Gilgamesh Remembers a Dream

Glossary of Proper Names Selected Bibliography

vii ix xi

xxiii

1

97 99

157 167

169

171

183 207 2 19

22 1 229

1. Go up, pace out the walls of Uruk. After U . Finkbeiner, Baghdader Miffeilungen 22 (1991), p. 13 and plates 7e, f. 4

2. It was Gilgamesh who knelt for the pin, his foot on the ground. British Museum Photo, BM 89140. 17

3. They gazed at the height of the cedars. A. H . Layard, A Second Series of the Monuments of Nineveh (London: John Murray, 1853), plate 14. 39

4. My bend, Humbaba's features have grown more grotesque. British Museum Photo, BM 116624 (bottom left); Yale Babylonian Collection Photo, NBC 4465, YBC 2238, YBC 10066 (top left, top right, bottom right). 4 1

5. He struck him, Humbaba the guardian, down to the ground. After P. Calmeyer, Reliefbronzen in babylonischem Stil, eine westiranische Werkstaff des 10. Iahrhunderts v. Chr., Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschafien, Philosophisch-historische Klasse, neue Folge 73 (1973), p. 45 and plate 2. 44

6. And Gilgamesh, like a strong, skillfil slaughterer, / Thrust his dagger between neck, horn, and tendon! British Museum Photo, BM 89435. 5 1

7. He filled a lapis bowl with butter. C . L. Woolley, Ur Excavations Volume 11, The Royal Cemetery, Publications of the Toint Excavations of the British Museum and of the University of Pennsylvania to Mesopotamia, Plates. Published for the Trustees o f the Two Museums (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1934), Plate 174. 64

8. Dense was the darkness, no light was there. British Museum Photo, BM 124656. 70

9. The tavern keeper eyed him from a distance. British Museum Photo, BM 118233. 7 3

10. Gilgamesh and Ur-Shanabi embarked [in the boat]. British Museum Photo, BM 89588. 80

11. I brought out a dove and set it free. MusCe du Louvre Photo, A 0 19826. 89

vii

... vlll ILLUSTRATIONS

Figures 1 and 5 drawn by Karen Polinger Foster and reproduced with permission.

Figures 2, 4, 6-10 reproduced with the permission of the Trustees of the British Museum. O Copyright of the Trustees of the British Museum.

Figure 4 also reproduced with the permission of William W. Hallo, Curator of the Yale Babylonian Collection.

Figure 11 reproduced with the permission of the MusCe du Louvre.

I thank Andrew George (University of London) for his extraordinary generosity in allowing me to consult his manuscript edition of the stan- dard version of the epic. I was therefore able to benefit from numerous readings, corrections, and substantial new material first deciphered and translated by him in his book The Epic of Gilgamesh, A New Transla- tion (1999), in advance of his new edition of the original manuscripts. In addition, I was able to incorporate here important interpretations original with him, especially his interpretation of the episode of Gil- gamesh's race with the sun, although I have here and there understood details somewhat differently. George's work on Gilgamesh is a turning point in the history of this complicated text, removing generations of conflicting proposals on difficult passages and bringing order to the known manuscripts for the first time. I am deeply grateful to him for allowing me to make so many improvements to my own work directly from his.

For access to original manuscripts of the epic, I thank William W. Hallo (Yale Babylonian Collection), h e Sjijberg (University Museum, University of Pennsylvania), and Christopher Walker and the late Ed- mond Sollberger (British Museum). I thank Aage Westenholz (Univer- sity of Copenhagen) for permission to use his unpublished copies and collations of various manuscripts of the epic and A. Cavigneaux (CNRS, Paris) for access to his unpublished studies of the Sumerian Gilgamesh poems.

For permission to reuse, in revised form, my translation of portions of Tablet XI, published in The Context of Scripture, ed. Hallo and Younger (1997), I thank E. J. Brill, NV, Leiden. For permission to reprint my translation of "The Gilgamesh Letter," I thank Mark Cohen, CDL Press.

My particular thanks go to Karen Polinger Foster for her assistance with cover design and illustrations and for her repeated careful readings of this work in conjunction with the original Akkadian and with the best modern translations, and for discussing it with me line by line. She greatly improved the English expression and readability ofthe translation.

For errors or shortcomings that remain, I alone am responsible.

B.R.F.

This four-thousand-year-old tale of love, death, and adventure is the world's oldest epic masterpiece. Over a millennium before the Iliad and the Odyssey, Mesopotamian poets wrote of Gilgamesh, hero-king of the Sumerian city of Uruk. The story has four main sections: first, Gilgamesh's abuse of his subjects, the creation of his rival-the wild man Enkidu-and their eventual friendship; second, the pair's heroic quest to the forest of cedars to slay a monster and bring back a gigantic tree, thus winning immortal fame for Gilgamesh; third, the death of Enkidu, which leaves Gilgamesh terrified at the prospect of his own death; and finally, Gilgamesh's arduous search for the secret of eternal life.

Who Was Gilgamesh?

According to Mesopotamian tradition, Gilgamesh was a long-ago king of Uruk, builder of its famous city walls, traces of which are still visible today. These walls were nearly ten kilometers long and had more than nine hundred towers. Archaeologists date one phase of these immense walls to about 2700 B.c.E., so if Gilgamesh was a historical person, he may have ruled Uruk at that time. Anam, a king of Uruk during the nineteenth century B.c.E., mentions Gilgamesh as builder of the walls of his city in an inscription commemorating his own work on them, thereby comparing himself to his royal predecessor. Further, the walls of Uruk are the setting for the beginning and end of The Epic of Gilgamesh.

A list of ancient Mesopotamian kings, compiled in the early second millennium B.c.E., names Gilgamesh in the following passage, where he, like other kings of his era, is given a fabulously long reign: "The god Lugalbanda, a shepherd, reigned for 1200 years. The god Dumuzi, a fisherman(?), whose city was Ku'ara, reigned for 100 years. The god Gilgamesh, whose father was a phantom, lord of the city Kulaba, reigned for 126 years." The Epic of Gilgamesh and Sumerian poems about Gilgamesh give the name of his father as Lugalbanda, king of Uruk. They also identify his mother as the goddess Ninsun, a deified wild cow. The puzzle of Gilgamesh's parentage is reflected in the epic, where he is described as two-thirds divine and one-third human. As for

xii INTRODUCTION

the name Gilgamesh, it may mean "Old-Man-Who-Became-a-Young- Man," although this is not certain. If this understanding is correct, his name may provide a clue, beyond the great walls of Uruk, as to why Gilgamesh was remembered as a famous figure of the past, inspiring epics and poems: he sought to escape death.

Stories about the adventures of Gilgamesh were first written in Su- merian around 2100 B.C.E. These have been translated here in "The Sumerian Gilgamesh Poems" by Douglas Frayne. The kings ruling in Sumer at that time, the Third Dynasty of the city of Ur, claimed that they were descended from the ancient royal house of Gilgamesh of Uruk. One king of Ur even called Gilgamesh his "brother." The kings of Ur may well have originated at Uruk, but their claim of kinship with such a remote figure of the past was perhaps little more than a bid for prestige and antiquity for their family. They may also have wanted to avoid referring to their more recent past, when Uruk and Ur had been ruled by a dynasty not related to them. Whatever the reason, Sumerian poets of the Third Dynasty of Ur extolled the life and deeds of Gilga- mesh, as well as those of his father, Lugalbanda, and composed nar- rative poems about them, which were enjoyed at the royal court.

A document studied in Sumerian schools of the early second mil- lennium B.c.E., supposed to be a copy of an ancient inscription, names Gilgamesh as builder of a structure known as the Tummal, perhaps a temple treasury, at the Sumerian city of Nippur. This "ancient" inscrip- tion is probably not genuine but fabricated to make the treasury sound more venerable. In any case, the document certainly does not date to the time of Gilgamesh.

In the first millennium B.c.E., Gilgamesh was worshipped as a nether- world deity and was invoked in funerary rites. A prayer to him found on tablets from Assyria dating to the first millennium B.C.E. reads, in part, as follows:

0 Gilgamesh, perfect king, judge of the netherworld gods, Deliberative prince, neckstock of the peoples,' Who examines all corners of the earth, Administrator of the netherworld, You are the judge and you examine as only a god can! When you are in session in the netherworld, You give the final verdict, Your verdict cannot be altered nor can your sentence be commuted. The Sun has entrusted to you his powers of judgment and verdict. Kings, governors, and princes kneel before you, You examine the omens that pertain to them, You render their verdicts.

1. A neckstock was a device of wood used to restrain prisoners, here used to signify Gilgamesh's control over the human race.

... INTRODUCTION XUI

Aelian, a Roman author of the third century c.E., perhaps quoting indirectly a Babylonian writer, tells a story of the birth of Gilgamesh (translated below, p. 154). This does not correspond to anything in the extant epic and therefore may not represent an authentic Mesopota- mian tradition. Gilgamesh is also mentioned in the "Book of Giants" in the Dead Sea Scrolls, so memory of him outlasted Mesopotamian civilization.

What Is The Epic of Gilgamesh?

The Sumerian narrative poems of the late third millennium B.C.E. pro- vided materials for narrative poems written in the Babylonian language around 1700 B.c.E., called here the "old versions" of The Epic of Gil- gamesh. The longest and most original of these took episodes from the Sumerian poems and recast them into a new, cohesive plot showing how an arrogant and overbearing king was chastened by the knowledge that he too had to die, like everybody else. Pieces of various old versions have survived. These were the source for the Babylonian epic tradition about Gilgamesh, which was to last more than fifteen hundred years. Fragments of many different versions of the epic have been recovered on clay tablets from Mesopotamia, Syria, the Levant, and Anatolia, attesting to its wide distribution in ancient times.

Manuscripts of The Epic of Gilgamesh dating to the period 1500- 1000 B.C.E. are referred to as the "middle versions." These preserve only scattered episodes. The longest surviving version, known from a group of manuscripts dating from the seventh century B.c.E., is referred to here as the "standard version." The term "late versions" refers to manuscripts later than the seventh century B.C.E.

Portions of The Epic of Gilgamesh were translated into non- Mesopotamian languages such as Hittite and Hurrian. The Hittite ver- sions of the epic have been translated here in "The Hittite Gilgamesh" by Gary Beckman. The Hurrian versions are too broken and poorly understood to translate. The "Elamite version" found in some transla- tions is actually a misunderstanding of two tablets that have nothing to do with Gilgamesh. "The Gilgamesh Letter" is an ancient parody of the epic.

When Babylonian and Sumerian tablets were rediscovered and deciphered in modern times, the story of Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu was gradually pieced together from numerous fragmentary manuscripts. Though certain pieces are still missing, enough of the text has been found to enable modern readers to read a coherent, extended narrative poem.

xiv INTRODUCTION

Form, Authorship, and Audience of T h e Epic of Gilgamesh

The Mesopotamians had no word corresponding to "epic" or "m)nh7' in their languages. Ancient scholars of Mesopotamian literature referred to the epic as the "Gilgamesh Series," that is, a lengthy work on more than one tablet, each corresponding to a "book" or "canto" in modern literature, twelve in the case of The Epic of Gilgamesh. Eleven of these tablets form a continuous narrative poem. The twelfth is a partial trans- lation of a Sumerian poem about Gilgamesh appended to the narrative, perhaps during the first millennium B.c.E., because it seemed germane. This has been omitted here in preference to the more complete Su- merian original translated by Douglas Frayne for this Norton Critical Edition. No one knows how many tablets comprised the old versions, but there were probably far fewer than eleven.

The Mesopotamians knew nothing of the original author of The Epic of Gilgamesh but associated the eleven-tablet version with Sin-leqe- unninni, a scholar who lived in the second half of the second millen- nium B.c.E., centuries after the old versions were written. Nothing further is known of this man except that long after his death he was claimed as an ancestor by certain distinguished families in Babylonia.

One common assumption about ancient epics, such as the Iliad or the Odyssey, is that their written form was based on oral tradition. This does not seem to be true of The Epic of Gilgamesh. There is no evi- dence that The Epic of Gilgamesh began as an oral narrative performed by bards or reciters and coalesced into a written text only later. In fact, the poem as we now have it shows many signs of having been a for- mal, written, literary work composed and perhaps performed for well- educated people, especially scholars and members of a royal court. Rather than being popular or folkloric literature, the story of Gilgamesh may have been mostly of interest to a small circle of people who be- longed to the social and economic elite of their day. A short excerpt of Tablet 11, found on a student's exercise tablet from Babylon and dating from the late first millennium B.c.E., shows that the epic was studied in ancient schools.

Translating The Epic of Gilgamesh

Western literary tradition since classical antiquity has transmitted an- cient works, such as the epics of Homer or the plays of Sophocles, as single unified texts with only minor "variants." This term refers to changes in wording for the same passage from one manuscript to an- other, or to important passages omitted in some manuscripts but in- cluded in others. For the most part, however, there are no substantive deviations among manuscripts of the same classical work, even those

from centuries apart. Furthermore, ancient classical literature that sur- vives only in fragments or quotations, such as the poetry of Sappho, has little chance of ever being pieced together into its original form, because it was written on perishable materials.

The situation for ancient Mesopotamian texts is quite different. For The Epic of Gilgamesh, there are numerous ancient manuscripts on durable clay tablets, some more than a thousand years older than others, from many places. When these deal with the same episodes, they show fascinating and significant variations in wording and content. This al- lows us to see what was added, subtracted, changed, and reinterpreted over the centuries, but it complicates presentation of the text to a mod- ern reader. Since no single version of The Epic of Gilgamesh has sur- vived intact from antiquity, any translator has to make difficult decisions about how to treat the material. The method followed here has been to take as the basic text the "standard version." These are later copies of the eleven-tablet edition associated with Sin-leqe-unninni. Where lines, sections, or episodes are missing or omitted from this version, I have supplied them where possible from other versions, both earlier and later. There is no consistent line numbering for any original text of The Epic of Gilgamesh. The line numbers used here refer to lines of the translation only.

Even when all versions are consulted, there are still major gaps in the narrative, as well as in individual lines or passages. Editors and translators have guessed about what the missing elements might have been; new discoveries often prove these guesses wrong. In this transla- tion, important words or ~hrases not found in any ancient manuscript and not restorable from surviving traces or ~arallel passages are enclosed in square brackets, meaning that these are only modern interpretive surmises. Where such inferences are not possible, square brackets en- close ellipses. Question marks within parentheses following words or phrases indicate ~a r t i cu la r l~ uncertain restorations that might have a significant impact upon the meaning of the passage. Words or phraxs in parentheses indicate explanatory additions by the translator. Ellipses without brackets indicate signs or words of unknown meaning.

It is important to remember that the ancient languages in which The Epic of Gilgamesh was written or translated, including Akkadian, Su- merian, and Hittite, are not so well understood as cther ancient lan- guages, such as Greek and Latin. This means that translators frequently disagree among themselves as to what a given word or phrase could mean. While this translation is based on study of the ancient manu- scripts, consultation of the extensive scholarly literature about the epic, and comparison with the best modern translations, it remains a more individual product than a translation of a work by Homer or Virgil is likely to be. The goal has been to produce a readable text well grounded

xvi INTRODUCTION

in the ancient sources. New discoveries constantly enlarge our under- standing of the epic, whose genius and power can still move the modern reader four thousand years after it was written.

Reading The Epic of Gilgamesh

DIRECT SPEECH

The Epic of Gilgarnesh contains considerable direct speech by the char- acters, normally introduced by the formula, "X made ready to speak, saying to Y." But in situations in which the narrator wishes to convey a sense of urgency, abruptness, anger, or excitement, this formula is often omitted (I, 94, 180, 224; VI, 7-21, contrast 24-79; VI, 84-86, contrast 87-88; VI, 154-55; VII, 141, 169; IX, 3; XI, 178, 206-8).2 The story opens and closes using the same words, addressed by an omnis- cient narrator to the audience in the beginning and addressed by Gil- gamesh to the exiled boatman at the end. The poem also contains first-person discourse by individual characters describing their past (XI, 9-209) or present (IX, 3-12) actions. In general, there is more direct speech by the characters than narration of their actions.

The narrative is sometimes rapid, sometimes slow. Suspense is built up by repetition (1, 11 3-66) or lengthy speeches at climactic moments (V, 64-116). Passage of time may be conveyed by serial repetition of lines (VII, 174-80; IX, 82- 109). Description of particularly dramatic moments or speeches of great emotion may be given in full twice, as if pausing for effect (11, 66-68, 100-104). Action is presented in short episodes, often with direct speech, such as instructions, assertions, or statements of will, setting the stage for action to follow (X, 196-205). The second half of the poem makes extensive use of retrospective speech concerning events already narrated or that took place before the time of the poem, climaxing in the long speech of Utanapishtim nar- rating the story of the flood (XI, 9-209). While these speeches are progressively more important for Gilgamesh's broadening understand- ing, their effect is to slow the action in the second half of the poem, though the denouement is surprisingly rapid.

PARALLELISM

In Mesopotamian poetry, each line usually consists of a complete sen- tence or thought. Lines often divide into two, three, or more parts with roughly the same number of words in each part, usually two to four, though there are many variations on this pattern. There is no strict meter in Mesopotamian poetry, but the symmetry of poetic lines can give the poetry a kind of rhythm or beat that may be varied for artistic

2. References are to tablet and line of the translation

INTRODUCTION xvii

reasons. For example, rapid rhythms may be used for a fight scene (11, 96-108), slow rhythms for an anxious mother's prayer (111, 46-85).

Lines of poetry often come in pairs, which can be related to each other in sound, rhythm, and meaning. Meaning is developed in part of a line, a whole line, in pairs of lines, or in groups of lines by use of parallelism; that is, repeated formulation of the same message such that subsequent statements may restate, expand, complete, contrast, render more specific, or carry further the first message. The following two-line example illustrates this:

He anointed himself with oil, turned into a man, He put on clothing, became like a warrior.

(11, 43-44)

In this case, the first half of each line gives complementary, sequential actions that describe Enkidu's progress in grooming himself into civi- lization. The second half of each line proclaims his progress from be- coming a human being to becoming a leader among men.

The following example is in five lines:

The whole of Uruk was standing beside him, The people formed a crowd around him, A throng was jostling towards him, Young men were mobbed around him, Infantile, they groveled before him.

(11, 85-89)

This describes the street scene as Enkidu enters Uruk to challenge Gilgamesh. Activity increases as the scene focuses on the hero at the center: the outer limits are standing in a crowd, some within are jostling each other for position, the nearer ones are piling up on each other's shoulders, those closest are collapsing at his feet in awe. This quick- ening of action is paralleled by ever greater specification of the people involved: the whole land, a rabble or mob, the young men of the city. One senses, too, increasing derogation by the narrator, for he seems to be contemptuous of the shoving crowd of gawking, fawning men and youngsters.

NARRATIVE CONTRASTS

The reader will observe that another favored literary device of the stan- dard version of the epic is the use of contrasts or symbols that can be redefined or even reversed in meaning between the beginning and the end of the poem. For instance, in the beginning, Gilgamesh stays up all night roistering and abusing his subjects; at the end, he cannot stay awake more than a few minutes. Gilgamesh, the king, at the apex of society, is supposed to act as shepherd of his subjects, but instead mis-

treats them; Enkidu, the uncivilized man, watches all night over the shepherds' flocks. Enkidu begins as a wild man roaming the steppe and saving wild beasts from the hunter; Gilgamesh becomes a wild man who kills wild beasts.

FIGURES OF SPEECH

Mesopotamian literature makes extensive use of figures of speech fa- miliar to the modern reader, for example, a variety of similes. Some are simple comparisons: "like a lioness whose cubs are in a pitfall, he paced to and fro" (VIII, 60-61), or an attacker springs back "like a swing rope" (VII, 137). Some similes are developed further or form part of a wider set of associations: "like a guardian deity she (the harlot) led him" (11, 22). This evokes an image, familiar to Babylonians from their document seals, of a personal intercessor deity leading the seal owner into the presence of a more important deity. Yet once Enkidu has become civilized, he walks in front of the harlot to Uruk (11, 74), and later in the poem, the elders of Uruk, Gilgamesh, and Enkidu have much to say about who is to walk first as they set forth on their quest (111, 5-7, 170, etc.). So here an apparently simple simile opens a series of related images that recur throughout the poem. Some similes seem enhanced with irony: "Roof her over like the watery depths" (XI, 31), for example, is a striking way to describe the ark under construction just before the flood. The Mesopotamians considered the watery depths below the earth to have a surface over them to hold them in. This the poet compares to the roof of the ark, which is supposed to keep the waters out.

Metaphors, or implied comparisons, include such examples as "Whatever they attempt is a puff of air" (11, 187) and "his breath (of life) is death" (11, 153). They may also be refurbished and expanded, as with some of the similes. In Tablet I, line 3 1, for example, Gilgamesh as king is compared to a charging wild bull, an image common enough when used in praise of Mesopotamian royalty, but the image gains richness a few lines later by reference to his mother, Ninsun, as a wild cow (I, 37): Gilgamesh is a wild bull by birth, so to speak, as well as by behavior. Later in the poem, Enkidu dreams that he is trampled down by a monster "like a wild bull" (VII, 139), perhaps symbolic of Gilgamesh's role in his friend's impending doom. Likewise, the meta- phor of Gilgamesh as shepherd of Uruk, contrasted to Enkidu as an actual shepherd, is an example of the refurbishment of what was nearly a "dead metaphor" elsewhere: the king as shepherd of his people.

WORDPLAY

The Epic of Gilgamesh abounds in wordplay, that is, suggestion of one word through use of another with the same or similar sound. In modern

INTRODUCTION xix

Western literature, this technique is usually used as a game or joke, but in Mesopotamian literature wordplays were used in serious and solemn literary contexts as well as for humor. Three or more wordplays in the narration of Gilgamesh's dreams (I, 24&86), for example, pro- vide a clear reference to homosexual love: "axe" (I, 279) can suggest "female impersonator," "force" (I, 248) can suggest "male wearing his hair in a distinctive manner to suggest prostitution." and in a three-way wordplay, "commanded" or "something evoked by" (I, 96) may also suggest "male" and "sequestered man as if in a harem." An equally complicated wordplay, intended to deceive the human race about the true nature of the events presaged by construction of the ark, apparently depends on "cakes" suggesting "darkness," "grains" suggesting some- thing like "grievous," and "rains" suggesting "provide for," though the whole passage is difficult and its meaning in dispute (XI, 43-47). En- kidu's curse and blessing of the prostitute (VII, 67-95, 115-25) contain numerous wordplays, some with sexual overtones: "best clothes" sug- gests "lap" (a euphemism for genitalia). Likewise in Humbaba's curse of Gilgamesh and Enkidu (V, 113), there seem to be elaborate word- plays that mean at the same time "May they not cross water safely to the opposite bank" and "May they not find a friend to rely on," where "cross" sounds like "friend" and "bank" has an ominous echo of the word for "grave," although this example remains obscure. In the gar- dener's rejection of Ishtar's advances (VI, 71-74), his choice of the word "reed" (elpet) echoes harshly Ishtar's use of "touch" (luput) (VI, 69); and in line 77, "garden patch" suggests "suffering." In Tablet XI, line 227, there is a wordplay on "day" and "make known." In this transla- tion, a few of the most important wordplays are explained, the wording is altered to suggest the tone or ambiguity, or comparable English puns and expressions are used. Others have of necessity been left aside.

USE OF FANTASTIC NUMBERS

Of all ancient Mesopotamian literary works, The Epic of Gilgamesh makes the most frequent use of fantastic numbers: quantity, size, weight, time, and distance. Sometimes the unit counted is not ex- pressed but left to the reader's imagination, as in Tablet XI, line 66, "thrice thirty-six hundred measures of pitch I poured in the oven." The precise numbers may vary among different versions of the poem. In some instances, the figures do not seem to add up (11,205-1 1) or simply defy calculation (X, 211-17). Some of these figures may have been mathematical jokes intended for people with a Mesopotamian mathe- matical education, while others may simply be exaggerations in folkloric or epic style. Among the most celebrated riddles in the poem is Gil- gamesh's genealogy: two-thirds god, one-third human, for which various explanations have been offered. The fraction two-thirds appears again

in the name of the boatman, Ur-Shanabi, "Servant of Two-Thirds," and in connection with launching or loading the ark (XI, 80).

PECULIARITIES OF SPEECH

Tone and usage in such an ancient text are hazardous topics for dis- cussion, but The Epic of Gilgamesh contains clear differentiations in the speech of individual characters, including style, diction, grammar, and even pronounciation. Utanapishtim, for example, expresses himself in the elevated, obscure style suitable for an antediluvian sage but has a curious mannerism of rolling or doubling consonants (sham for sham, shaqqa for shaqa, ushaznunnu for ushaznanu, niqqu for niqu). This may have suggested to an ancient audience some social or per- sonal distinction now no longer apparent. Shamhat, the harlot, is eloquent and persuasive (I, 224-44), whereas Ishtar, the goddess, ap- parently speaks like a person of little education, perhaps a streetwalker (VI, 94-100, 151). The elders of Uruk are pompous and long-winded, causing Gilgamesh to laugh (11, 275); Humbaba is mincing and bom- bastic, and Ishullanu, the gardener, uses a nonstandard form in Tablet VI, line 72 (this could be translated either as archaic and proverbial: "Hath my mother not baked?" or as a colloquialism: "Hain't my mother baked?"). Although deliberate distortion of normal poetic language to reflect distinctive speech may occur elsewhere in Mesopotamian liter- ature, no other work develops the device to the same extent as this poem.

COMPOUND EXPRESSIONS

A minor but distinctive motif of The Epic of Gilgamesh is the forma- tion of compounds with the word "man," such as "trapping-man" or "entrapping-man" (I, 1 13; VII, 59), "mightiness-man" (I, 139), "joy- woe man" (I, 234), "yokel-man" (V, 27), "human-man" (I, 178), and "circumspect-man" (IV, 223). The most elaborate of these is the name of the old man who is supposed to test the plant of rejuvenation: "Old Man Has Become Young-Again-Man" (XI, 303). This type of formation is very rare outside of this poem, so may be considered a special feature of its style, though the tone or intent is no longer perceivable.

THEMES

To a Mesopotamian audience, certain themes of the poem would have been familiar from other popular literary works. The portrayal of human mortality as a consequence of divine selfishness, for example, was well known to them. They also recognized a hero as a man striving towards greater accomplishments than those of ordinary people, in spite of the limitations imposed by chance and destiny. The Mesopotamians pre-

ferred literary works set in ancient times, involving kings and gods, narrating events largely outside of everyday experience. Yet the divine and human heroes often display imperfections and personal limitations, as if remoteness of time and empirical background were no obstacles to projecting inglorious human weakness onto long-ago heroes. The theme of the partiality of divine justice was familiar to Babylonian read- ers as well: they would not have been surprised at the unfair condem- nation of Enkidu nor at the intervention of the sun god, Shamash, to the crucial advantage of the heroes.

In the epic, the Mesopotamian audience would have recognized pas- sages that occur in other literary works. For example, in Tablet VII, lines 147-52, Enkidu uses lines found also in the poem called "Ishtar's Descent to the Netherworldf13 in describing his own descent to hell. Furthermore, Ishtar's threat to release the dead, in Tablet VI, lines 99 -100, is also found in "Ishtar's Descent to the Netherworld." Meso- potamian readers might have relished the contrast between how this passage was used in the epic and how it was used in the other poem. In the epic, Ishtar makes these threats after going up to heaven, whereas in "Ishtar's Descent to the Netherworld," she makes the same threats at the gates of hell. They would also have noticed that in threatening to break down the tavern keeper's door (X, 22) Gilgamesh uses the same words that Ishtar uses in the other poem when threatening to break down the doors of hell, and perhaps they thought that a humor- ous touch. Nor is this the only instance of wording from another poem used in the Gilgamesh epic to mean something quite different. In Tab- let VII, lines 83 and 85, Enkidu curses the female prostitute using the same terms with which the queen of the netherworld curses the male impersonator of women in "Ishtar's Descent to the Netherworld." These and other allusions to Mesopotamian intellectual tradition sug- gest that the anticipated audience included people of formal education appreciative of the adroit reuse of stock phraseology.

Mesopotamians expected their literature to stress the importance of knowledge. The significance of Gilgamesh's story lay not so much in the deeds themselves as in the lesson his experience offered to future generations. The Mesopotamians believed that highest knowledge came to sages of the remote past directly from the gods or through extraor- dinary events not likely to recur. For their own times, they thought that highest knowledge came from study of written works of the past.

The modern reader may well find other themes of the poem of spe- cial interest. Women, for example, are more active in this narrative than in many Mesopotamian literary works. In fact, Gilgamesh's success in his quest is largely owed to the intervention of women: his mother's with the sun god, leading to his defeat of Humbaba; the wife of the

3. Translated in Muses, pp. 402-9

xxii INTRODUCTION

scorpion monster's with her husband, probably leading to his entrance into the mountain tunnel. Siduri, the tavern keeper, tells him how to get over the sea. The wife of Utanapishtim persuades her dour husband to give Gilgamesh a gift, which turns out to be the plant of rejuvenation. While Mesopotamians were familiar with a literary convention accord- ing to which women were more susceptible and approachable than men, The Epic of Gilgamesh's development of this convention into a major theme has no clear ancient parallel.

To the modern reader, satirical and humorous elements of the poem may seem surprising, as a canon of Western culture is that epic is supposed to be serious and exalted. Such passages include Enkidu's replacement of his irreversible curse with a magnanimous blessing, his denunciation of an insensate door, the sun god's hollow promise to him of a fine funeral, the pedantic speech of the scorpion monster's wife, and Gilgamesh's brutal denunciation of Ishtar. There are fleeting but memorable images, such as the worm dropping out of Enkidu's nose, or the boatbuilders' purloining materials from the ark project, to which ancient parallels will not be readily found. Taken with the quan- titative exaggerations of the story, such as Gilgamesh's extraordinary journey, his race with the sun, the topographical consequences of his struggle with Humbaba, and the monstrous cubic ark, such passages may betoken a complex intent that blended humor and a sophisticated pleasure in the ridiculous with a serious message about love and death. No one can say for sure.

Abbreviations

Harps: Thorkild Jacobsen, The Harps That Once . . . Sumerian Poetry in Translation (New Haven: Yale UP, 1987)

Muses: Benjamin R. Foster, Before the Muses, 2nd ed. (Bethesda, MD: CDL Press, 1996)

xxiii

The Text of THE EPIC

OF GILGAMESH

Tablet I

I'l'lze prologue introduces Gilgamesh as a man who gained knowledge lhrough exceptional trials. The narrator invites us to read Gilgamesh's ac- count of his hardships and to admire the city walls and treasury for the goddess Ishtar, his architectural legacy in Uruk.]

I le who saw the wellspring, the foundations of the land, Who knew [ . . . 1, was wise in all things, (iilgamesh, who saw the wellspring, the foundations of the land, Who knew [ . . . 1, was wise in all things, I He . . . ] throughout, 5 I l ' r~ l l understanding of it all he gained, I Ic saw what was secret and revealed what was hidden, I lc brought back tidings from before the flood, From a distant journey came home, weary, at peace, Ihgraved all his hardships on a monument of stone, I le built the walls of ramparted Uruk, 'I'he lustrous treasury of hallowed Eanna! Sce its upper wall, whose facing gleams like copper, (hze at the lower course, which nothing will equal, Mount the stone stairway, there from days of old, Approach Eanna, the dwelling of Ishtar, Which no future king, no human being will equal. GO up, pace out the walls of Uruk, Study the foundation terrace and examine the brickwork. Is not its masonry of kiln-fired brick? And did not seven masters lay its foundations? One square mile of city, one square mile of gardens, One square mile of clay pits, a half square mile of Ishtar's

dwelling, 'I'hree and a half square miles is the measure of Uruk! 1 Search out] the foindation box of copper, 25 I Release] its lock of bronze, Raise the lid upon its hidden contents, Take up and read from the lapis tablet Of him, Gilgamesh, who underwent many hardships.

[The narrator tells of the extraordinary characteristics of Gilgamesh. An old version of the epic began here.]

1. Go up, pace out the walls of Umk. Seal impression from the end of the fourth millennium B.C.E. depicting people atop the walls of Uruk.

Surpassing all kings, for his stature renowned, 30 Heroic offspring of Uruk, a charging wild bull, He leads the way in the vanguard, He marches at the rear, defender of his comrades. Mighty floodwall, protector of his troops, Furious flood-wave smashing walls of stone,

35 Wild calf of Lugalbanda, Gilgamesh is perfect in strength, Suckling of the sublime wild cow, the woman Ninsun, Towering Gilgamesh is uncannily perfect. Opening passes in the mountains, Digging wells at the highlands' verge,

40 Traversing the ocean, the vast sea, to the sun's rising, Exploring the furthest reaches of the earth, Seeking everywhere for eternal life, Reaching in his might Utanapishtim the Distant One, Restorer of holy places that the deluge had destroyed, 45 Founder of rites for the teeming peoples, Who could be his like for kingly virtue?' And who, like Gilgamesh, can proclaim, "I am king!" Gilgamesh was singled out from the day of his birth,

1. Mesopotamian rulers sometimes boasted of restoring ancient temples that had been destroyed and forgotten long ago. In line 45, the poet suggests that Gilgamesh became a dutiful king of this kind. Mesopotamian rulers also sometimes boasted of endowing temples with new offerings. This pair of lines (45-46) sums up religious duties expected of a good king by citing two extremes of benefactions: those from the remote past and those beginning in his own reign.

'I'wo-thirds of him was divine, one-third of him was human! 50

'I'he Lady of Birth drew his body's image, 'I'hc God of Wisdom brought his stature to perfe~tion.~

I . . . ] stately in feature, I . . . ] in body, lofty [ . . . ] 1 lis foot was a triple cubit, his leg six times twelve, l lis stride was six times twelve cubits, I lis thumb was [ . . . ] cubits. 1 lis cheeks had a beard like [ . . . ] 'I'he locks of his hair grew thick as a gainfield. I le was perfection in height, ltlcally handsome [ . . . ]

ICilgamesh, in his arrogance and superior strength, abuses his subjects, ap- purently through some strenuous athletic competition at which he excelled. At the complaint of the citizenry, the gods create a wild man, Enkidu, as a fitting rival for Gilgamesh.]

In the enclosure of Uruk he strode back and forth, I ,ording it like a wild bull, his head thrust high. 'I'he onslaught of his weapons had no equal. l Iis teammates stood forth by his game stick, 65

Ile was harrying the young men of Uruk beyond reason. Gilgamesh would leave no son to his father, Dav and night he would rampage fiercely. . - ~ i f ~ a m e s h j . . . ] 'I'his was the shepherd of ramparted Uruk, This was the shepherd, Bold, superb, accomplished, and mature! Gilgamesh would leave no girl to her [mother]! 'I'he warrior's daughter, the young man's spouse, Goddesses kept hearing their plaint^.^ The gods of heaven, the lords who command, Isaid to Anu]:

You created this headstrong wild bull in ramparted Uruk, The onslaught of his weapons has no equal.

2. According to one Mesopotamian tradition, the first human being was created by Mami, god- dess of birth, whom the gods thereupon rewarded with the title "Mistress of All the Gods," and Enki, god of wisdom, working together. Subsequent human beings were born naturally. This passage means that Gilgamesh was physically a perfect human being, so much so that he resembled the first human created by the gods more than the product of a normal birth.

3. Certain goddesses were believed to pay particular attention to prayers of women. In this case, they are moved by the constant complaints of the women of Uruk that Gilgamesh was mis- treating the women and men of the city.

His teammates stand forth by his game stick, He is harrying the young men of Uruk beyond reason. Gilgamesh leaves no son to his father! Day and night he rampages fiercely. This is the shepherd of ramparted Uruk, This is the people's shepherd, Bold, superb, accomplished, and mature! Gilgamesh leaves no girl to her [mother]!

The warrior's daughter, the young man's spouse, A ~ u ( ? ) ~ kept hearing their plaints.

[Anu speaks.]

Let them summon [Aruru], the great one, [She created] the boundless human race. [Let her create a partner for Gilgamesh], mighty in strength, [Let them contend with each other], that Uruk may have

peace.

They summoned the birth goddess, Aruru:

You, Aruru, created [the boundless human race], Now, create what Anu commanded, To his stormy heart, let that one be equal, Let them contend with each other, that Uruk may have

peace.

When Aruru heard this, She conceived within her what Anu commanded. Aruru wet her hands, She pinched off clay, she tossed it upon the steppe, She created valiant Enkidu in the steppe, Offspring of potter's clay(?), with the force of the hero Ninurta. Shaggy with hair was his whole body, He was made lush with head hair, like a woman, The locks of his hair grew thick as a grainfield. He knew neither people nor inhabited land, He dressed as animals do. He fed on grass with gazelles, With beasts he jostled at the water hole, With wildlife he drank his fill of water.

4. This important restoration is particularly uncertain.

[ A distraught hunter seeks his father's advice as to how to stop Enkidu's interference with his trapping. The father counsels him to go to Gilgamesh, who will give him a woman to seduce Enkidu from his untamed way of life.]

A hunter, a trapping-man, Encountered him at the edge of the water hole. One day, a second, and a third he encountered him at the edge

of the water hole. When he saw him, the hunter stood stock-still with terror, As for Enkidu, he went home with his beasts. Aghast, struck dumb, Ilis heart in a turmoil, his face drawn, With woe in his vitals, I Iis face like a traveler's from afar, 'I'he hunter made ready to speak, saying to his father:

My father, there is a certain fellow who has come [from the uplands],

He is the mightiest in the land, strength is his, Like the force of heaven, so mighty is his strength. He constantly ranges over the uplands, Constantly feeding on grass with beasts, Constantly making his way to the edge of the water hole. I am too frightened to approach him. He has filled in the pits I dug, He has torn out my traps I set, He has helped the beasts, wildlife of the steppe, slip

from my hands, He will not let me work the steppe.

His father made ready to speak, saying to the hunter:

My son, in Uruk [dwells] Gilgamesh, [There is no one more mighty] than he. Like the force of heaven, so mighty is his strength. Take the road, set off [towards Uruk], [Tell Gilgamesh of] the mightiness-man. [He will give you Shamhat the harlot], take her with you, [Let her prevail over him], instead of a mighty man. When the wild beasts draw near the water hole, Let her strip off her clothing, laying bare her charms. When he sees her, he will approach her. His beasts that grew up with him on the steppe will deny

him.

[Giving heed] to the advice of his father, The hunter went forth [ . . . 1.

He took the road, set off towards Uruk, To [the king], Gilgamesh, [he said these words]:

There is a certain fellow [who has come from the uplands], ]so He is mightiest in the land, strength is his. Like the 'iorce of heaven, so mig& is his strength. He constantly ranges over the uplands, Constantly feeding on grass with his beasts, Constantly making his way to the edge of the water hole. I am too frightened to approach him. He has filled in the pits I dug, He has torn out my traps I set, He has helped the beasts, wildlife of the steppe, slip

from my hands, He will not allow me to work the steppe.

Gilgamesh said to him, to the hunter:

Go, hunter, take with you Shamhat the harlot, When the wild beasts draw near the water hole, Let her strip off her clothing, laying bare her charms. When he sees her, he will approach her, His beasts that grew up with him on the steppe will deny

him.

Forth went the hunter, taking with him Shamhat the harlot, They took the road, going straight on their way. On the third day they arrived at the appointed place. Hunter and harlot sat down to wait. One day, a second day, they sat by the edge of the water hole, The beasts came to the water hole to drink, The wildlife came to drink their fill of water. But as for him, Enkidu, born in the uplands, Who feeds on grass with gazelles, Who drinks at the water hole with beasts, Who, with wildlife, drinks his fill of water, Shamhat looked upon him, a human-man, A barbarous fellow from the midst of the steppe:

There he is, Shamhat, open your embrace, Open your embrace, let him take your charms! Be not bashful. take his vitalitv! When he sees you, he will approach you, Toss aside your clothing, let him lie upon you,

Treat him, a human, to woman's work! 185

His wild beasts that grew up with him will deny him, As in his ardor he caresses you!

Shamhat loosened her garments, She exposed her loins, he took her charms. She was not bashful, she took his vitality. She tossed aside her clothing and he lay upon her, She treated him, a human, to woman's work, As in his ardor he caressed her. Six days, seven nights was Enkidu aroused, flowing into Shamhat. After he had his fill of her delights, I Ic set off towards his beasts. When they saw him, Enkidu, the gazelles shied off, 'I'he wild beasts of the steppe shunned his person. Ihkidu had spent himself, his body was limp, I lis knees stood still, while his beasts went away. Ihkidu was too slow, he could not run as before, But he had gained [reason] and expanded his understanding.

[Shamhat urges Enkidu to return with her to Uruk, artfully piquing his interest with tales o f the pleasures awaiting him there, then feigning second lhoughts as she describes'Gilgamesh.1

I Ie returned, he sat at the harlot's feet, 'I'he harlot gazed upon his face, While he listened to what the harlot was saying. 'I'he harlot said to him, to Enkidu:

You are handsome, Enkidu, you are become like a god, Why roam the steppe with wild beasts? Come, let me lead you to ramparted Uruk, To the holy temple, abode of Anu and Ishtar, The place of Gilgamesh, who is perfect in strength, And so, like a wild bull, he lords it over the young men

As she was speaking to him, her words found favor, He was yearning for one to know his heart, a friend. lhkidu said to her, to the harlot:

Come, Shamhat, escort me To the lustrous hallowed temple, abode of Anu and Ishtar, The place of Gilgamesh, who is perfect in strength, And so, like a wild bull, he lords it over the young men. I myself will challenge him, [I will speak out] boldly, [I will] raise a cry in Uruk: I am the mighty one!

[I am come forward] to alter destinies! He who was born in the steppe [is mighty], strength is his!

[Shamhat speaks.]

[Come then], let him see your face, [I will show you Gilgamesh], where he is I know full well Come then, Enkidu, to ramparted Uruk, Where fellows are resplendent in holiday clothing, Where every day is set for celebration, Where harps and drums are [played]. And the harlots too, they are fairest of form, Rich in beauty, full of delights, Even the great (gods) are kept from sleeping at night!5 Enkidu, you who [have not] learned to live, Oh, let me show you Gilgamesh, the joy-woe man. Look at him, gaze upon his face, He is radiant with virility, manly vigor is his, The whole of his body is seductively gorgeous. Mightier strength has he than you, Never resting by day or night. 0 Enkidu, renounce your audacity! Gilgamesh is beloved of Shamash, Anu, Enlil, and Ea broadened his wisdom. Ere you come down from the uplands, Gilgamesh will dream of you in Uruk.

[The scene shifts to Uruk, where Gilgamesh is telling his mother, Ninsun, his dreams. She explains them to him.]

Gilgamesh went to relate the dreams, saying to his mother: 245

Mother, I had a dream last night: There were stars of heaven around me, Like the force of heaven, something kept falling upon me! I tried to carry it but it was too strong for me, I tried to move it but I could not budge it. 250 The whole of Uruk was standing by it, The people formed a crowd around it, A throng was jostling towards it, Young men were mobbed around it, Infantile, they were groveling before it! 255 [I fell in love with it], like a woman I caressed it,

5. The Mesopotamians considered a small group of the gods "great" or "superior," above all the others.

I carried it off and laid it down before you, Then you were making it my partner.

The mother of Gilgamesh, knowing and wise, Who understands everything, said to her son, Ninsun [the wild cow], knowing and wise, Who understands everything, said to Gilgamesh:

The stars of heaven around you, Like the force of heaven, what kept falling upon you, Your trying to move it but not being able to budge it, 265 Your laying it down before me, Then my making it your partner, Your falling in love with it, your caressing it like a woman, Means there will come to you a strong one, A companion who rescues a friend. 270 He will be mighty in the land, strength will be his, Like the force of heaven, so mighty will be his strength. You will fall in love with him and caress him like a woman. He will be mighty and rescue you, time and again.

He had a second dream, He arose and went before the goddess, his mother, Gilgamesh said to her, to his mother:

Mother, I had a second dream. An axe was thrown down in a street of ramparted Uruk, They were crowding around it, 280 The whole of Uruk was standing by it, The people formed a crowd around it, A throng was jostling towards it. I carried it off and laid it down before you, I fell in love with it, like a woman I caressed it, Then you were making it my partner.

The mother of Gilgamesh, knowing and wise, Who understands everything, said to her son, Ninsun [the wild cow], knowing and wise, Who understands everything, said to Gilgamesh:

My son, the axe you saw is a man. Your loving it like a woman and caressing it, And my making it your partner Means there will come to you a strong one,

A companion who rescues a friend, He will be mighty in the land, strength will be his, Like the strength of heaven, so mighty will be his strength.

Gilgamesh said to her, to his mother:

Let this befall according to the command of the great counselor Enlil,

I want a friend for my own counselor, For my own counselor do I want a friend!

Even while he was having his dreams, Shamhat was telling the dreams of Gilgamesh to Enkidu, Each was drawn by love to the other.

Tablet 11

(Shamhat begins the process of civilizing Enkidu. She takes him to an en- campment ofshepherds, where he learns how to eat, drink, dress, and groom himself to human standards. Whereas Gilgamesh keeps his subjects awake c ~ t night with his roistering, Enkidu stays up all night to protect the flocks. Most of this tablet is known fiom older versions, combined here with later ones.]

While Enkidu was seated before her, liach was drawn by love to the other. lhkidu forgot the steppe where he was born, For six days, seven nights Enkidu was aroused and flowed

into Shamhat. 'I'he harlot said to him, to Enkidu:

You are handsome, Enkidu, you are become like a god, Why roam the steppe with wild beasts? Come, let me lead you to ramparted Uruk, To the holy temple, abode of Anu, Let me lead you to ramparted Uruk, To hallowed Eanna, abode of Ishtar, The place of Gilgamesh, who is perfect in strength, And so, like a wild bull, he lords it over the people. You [are just like him], You will love him like your own self. Come away from this desolation, bereft even of shepherds.

I Ie heard what she said, accepted her words, IIe was yearning for one to know his heart, a friend. 'I'he counsel of Shamhat touched his heart. She took off her clothing, with one piece she dressed him, 'I'he second she herself put on. Clasping his hand, like a guardian deity she led him,' To the shepherds' huts, where a sheepfold was, 'I'he shepherds crowded around him, They murmured their opinions among themselves:

I . In Mesopotamian art, an individual pardian deity, often female, is shown leading a person into the presence of a great god. The poet has this imagery in mind.

13

This fellow, how like Gilgamesh in stature, In stature tall, proud as a battlement. No doubt he was born in the steppe, Like the force of heaven, mighty is his strength.

They set bread before him, They set beer before him. He looked uncertainly, then stared, Enkidu did not know to eat bread, Nor had he ever learned to drink beer! The harlot made ready to speak, saying to Enkidu:

Eat the bread, Enkidu, the staff of life, Drink the beer, the custom of the land.

Enkidu ate the bread until he was sated, He drank seven juglets of the beer. His mood became relaxed, he was singing joyously, He felt lighthearted and his features glowed. He treated his hairy body with water, He anointed himself with oil, turned into a man, He put on clothing, became like a warrior. He took his weapon, hunted lions, The shepherds lay down to rest at night. He slew wolves, defeated lions, The herdsmen, the great gods, lay down to sleep. Enkidu was their watchman, a wakeful man, He was [ . . . ] tall.

[A passerby on his way to a wedding feast tells Enkidu of Gilgamesh's abuse of marriage: he is the first to have the bride. Enkidu, aghast, strides off to Uruk. Whereas before Shamhat had led him, like a guardian deity, now he walks in front like a challenger.]

He was making love with Shamhat. He lifted his eyes, he saw a man. He said to the harlot:

Shamhat, bring that man here! Why has he come? I will ask him to account for himself

The harlot summoned the man, He came over, Enkidu said to him:

Fellow, where are you rushing? What is this, your burdensome errand?

The man made ready to speak, said to Enkidu:

They have invited me to a wedding, Is it not people's custom to get married? I have heaped high on the festival tray The fancy dishes for the wedding. People's loins are open for the taking. For Gilgamesh, king of ramparted Uruk, People's loins are open for the taking! He mates with the lawful wife, He first, the groom after. 70 By divine decree pronounced, From the cutting of his umbilical cord, she is his due.2

At the man's account, his face went pale.

Ihkidu was walking in front, with Shamhat behind him.

[As foretold in Gilgamesh's dream, a crowd gathers around Enkidu as he enters Uruk. He has arrived in time for a wedding ceremony, but this may hove been the yearly religious ritual wherein the king joined with a represen- Iative of a goddess to ensure universal fertility and engender a royal heir, so not in fact the abuse of power described by the man with the tray, above.]

When he entered the street of ramparted Uruk, A multitude crowded around him. I le stood there in the street of ramparted Uruk, With the people crowding around him. 'I'hey said about him:

He is like Gilgamesh in build, Though shorter in stature, he is stronger of frame. [This man, where] he was born, [Ate] the springtime [grass], He must have nursed on the milk of wild beasts.

'I'he whole of Uruk was standing beside him, 'I'he people formed a crowd around him, A throng was jostling towards him,

2 . This means that by his birthright Gilgamesh can take brides first on their wedding nights, then leave them to their wedded husbands.

Young men were mobbed around him, Infantile, they groveled before him.

In Uruk at this time sacrifices were underway, Young men were celebrating. The huero stood ready for thg upright young man, For Gilgamesh, as for a god, the partner was ready. For the goddess of lovemaking, the bed was made, Gilgamesh was to join with the girl that night.

[Enkidu blocks the king's way to the ceremony. They wrestle in the street. Gilgamesh wins by pinning Enkidu over his shoulders while keeping one foot and the other knee on the ground. He turns away to indicate cessation of the match. Enkidu praises his superiority and royal birth.]

Enkidu approached him, They met in the public street. Enkidu blocked the door to the wedding with his foot, Not allowing Gilgamesh to enter. They grappled each other, holding fast like wrestlers, They shattered the doorpost, the wall shook. Gilgamesh and Enkidu grappled each other, Holding fast like wrestlers, They shattered the doorpost, the wall shook! They grappled each other at the door to the wedding, They fought in the street, the public square. It was Gilgamesh who knelt for the pin, his foot on the ground. His fury abated, he turned away. After he turned away, Enkidu said to him, to Gilgamesh:

As one unique did your mother bear you, The wild cow of the ramparts, Ninsun, Exalted you above the most valorous of men! Enlil has granted you kingship over the people.

They kissed each other and made friends.

[As foretold in the dream, Gilgamesh goes off to his mother, Ninsun, perhaps seeking her blessing on his friendship with Enkidu.]

2 . It was Gilgamesh who knelt for the pin, his foot on the gound. This seal image d~ows a triumphant hero immobilizing a lion with what may have been the same gcsture described here.

He is mighty in the land, strength is his, Like the force of heaven, mighty is his strength. His tall stature [ . . . ]

'I'he mother of Gilgamesh made ready to speak, Said to Gilgamesh, Ninsun, the wild cow made ready to speak, Said to Gilgamesh:

My son, [ . . . I Bitterly [ . . . ]

1111 a second speech, Gilgamesh describes Enkidu's friendless state.]

Enkidu has neither [father nor mother], His hair was growing freely [ . . . ] He was born in the steppe, no one [ . . . ]

Ihkidu stood still, [listening to what he said], I le shuddered and [sat down . . . ]

Tears filled his eyes, He was listless, his strength turned to weakness. They clasped each other [ . . . 1, They joined hands like [ . . . 1.

Gilgamesh made ready to speak, Saying to Enkidu:

Why are your eyes full of tears, Why are you listless, your strength turned to weakness?

Enkidu said to him, to Gilgamesh:

Cries of sorrow, my friend, have cramped my muscles, Woe has entered my heart [ . . . ] 140

[Gilgamesh proposes a quest to kill a monster named Humbaba, in order to cut a giant cedar tree in the forest Humbaba guards. Felling evergreen trees on distant mountains was a well-known demonstration of kingly power in early Mesopotamia. Enkidu, horrified, tries vainly to dissuade him.]

Gilgamesh made ready to speak, Saying to Enkidu:

There dwells in the forest the fierce monster Humbaba, [You and I shall] kill [him] [And] wipe out [something evil from the land].

Enkidu made ready to speak, Saying to Gilgamesh:

My friend, I knew that country When I roamed with the wild beasts. The forest is . . . sixty double leagues in every direction, Who can go into it? Humbaba's cry is the roar of a deluge, His maw is fire, his breath is death. Why do you want to do this? The haunt of Humbaba is a hopeless quest.

Gilgamesh made ready to speak, Saying to Enkidu:

I must go up the mountain [ . . . ] forest, I must cut [a cedar tree . . . ] That cedar must be [big] enough [To make] whirlwinds [when it falls]

Ihkidu made ready to speak, Saying to Gilgamesh:

How shall the likes of us go to the forest of cedars, my friend? In order to safeguard the forest of cedars, 165 Enlil has appointed him to terrify the people, Enlil has destined him seven fearsome glories3 That journey is not to be undertaken, That creature is not to be looked upon. The guardian of [ . . . 1, the forest of cedars, Humbaba's cry is the roar of a deluge, His maw is fire, his breath is death. He can hear rustling in the forest for sixty double leagues. Who can go into his forest? Adad is first and Humbaba is second. 175 Who, even among the gods, could attack him? In order to safeguard the forest of cedars, Enlil has appointed him to terrify the people, Enlil has destined him seven fearsome glories. Besides, whosoever enters his forest is struck down by disease. iso

Gilgamesh made ready to speak, Saying to Enkidu:

Why, my friend, do you raise such unworthy objections? Who, my friend, can go up to heaven? The gods dwell forever in the sun, People's days are numbered, Whatever they attempt is a puff of air. Here you are, even you, afraid of death, What has become of your bravery's might? I will go before you, You can call out to me, "Go on, be not afraid!" If I fall on the way, I'll establish my name: "Gilgamesh, who joined battle with fierce Humbaba"

(they'll say).

3 . The Mesopotamians believed that divine beings were surrounded by a blinding, awe-inspiring radiance. In the old versions of The Epic of Gilgamesh, this radiance, called here "glories," was considered removable, like garments or jewelry.

You were born and grew up on the steppe, When a lion sprang at you, you knew what to do. Young men fled before you

You speak unworthily, How you pule! You make me ill. I must set [my hand to cutting] a cedar tree, I must establish eternal fame. 200 Come, my friend, let's both be off to the foundry, Let them cast axes such as we'll need.

[After supervising the casting of enormous axes and weapons, Gilgamesh informs the citizenry of Uruk of his planned campaign. First he addresses the elders, speaking of his desire for eternal fame, next the young men, ap- pealing to their sense of adventure. He promises to return in time to celebrate the springtime festival of the new year. Enkidu and the elders attempt un- success~lly to dissuade him.]

Off they went to the craftsmen, The craftsmen, seated around, discussed the matter. They cast great axes, 205 Axe blades weighing 180 pounds each they cast. They cast great daggers, Their blades were 120 pounds each, The cross guards of their handles thirtv ~ o u n d s each. They carrild daggers worked with thirk'pounds of gold, 210 Gilgamesh and Enkidu bore ten times sixty pounds each.

He bolted the seven gates of Uruk, [ . . . ] listened, the multitude convened. [ . . . ] turned out in the street of ramparted Uruk, Gilgamesh [ . . . ] his throne, 215 [ . . . in the street] of ramparted Uruk, [Enkidu] sat before him. [Gilgamesh spoke to the elders of ramparted Uruk]:

[Hear me, 0 elders of ramparted Uruk], The one of whom they speak 220 I, Gilgamesh, would see! The one whose name resounds across the whole world, I will hunt him down in the forest of cedars. I will make the land hear How mighty is the scion of Uruk. 225 I will set my hand to cutting a cedar, An eternal name I will make for myself!

[Gilgamesh turns to the young men of the city. In an old version of this episode, the elders respond at this point, see below, lines 257-73: the standard version apparently expanded this incident to include parallel speeches to both the elders and the young men.]

Hear me, 0 young men [of ramparted Uruk], Young men of Uruk who understand this cause! I have taken on a noble quest, I travel a distant road, to where Humbaba is. I face a battle unknown, I mount a campaign unknown. Give me your blessing, that I may go on my journey, [That I may indeed see] your faces [safely again], 235 That I may indeed reenter joyfully the gate of ramparted

Uruk, That I may indeed return to hold the festival for the new year, That I may indeed celebrate the festival for the new year

twice over. May that festival be held in my presence, the fanfare sound! May the drums resound before [you]! 240

Ihkidu pressed advice upon the elders, Upon the young men of Uruk who understood this cause:

Tell him he must not go to the forest of cedars, That journey is not to be undertaken, That creature is not to be looked upon. The guardian of the forest of cedars [ . . . ] Humbaba's cry is the roar of a deluge, His maw is fire, his breath is death, He can hear rustling in the forest for sixty double leagues. Who can go into his forest? 250 Adad is first and Humbaba is second. Who, even among the gods, could attack him? In order to safeguard the forest of cedars, Enlil has appointed him to terrify the people, Enlil has destined him seven fearsome glories. 255 Besides, whosoever enters his forest is struck down by disease.

'l'he elders of ramparted Uruk arose, 'I'hey responded to Gilgamesh with their advice:

You are young, Gilgamesh, your feelings carry you away, You are ignorant of what you speak, flightiness has taken you, 260 You do not know what you are attempting. We have heard of Humbaba, his features are grotesque,

Who is there who could face his weaponry? He can hear rustling in the forest for sixty double leagues. Who can go into it? 265 Humbaba's cry is the roar of a deluge, His maw is fire, his breath is death. Adad is first and Humbaba is second. Who, even among the gods, could attack him? In order to safeguard the forest of cedars, 270 Enlil has appointed him to terrify the people, Enlil has destined him seven fearsome glories. Besides, whosoever enters his forest is struck down by disease.

When Gilgamesh heard the speech of his counselors, He looked at his friend and laughed: 275

Now then, my friend, [do you say the same?]: "I am afraid [to die]"?

Tablet 111

/The elders offer advice to Gilgamesh for the quest. They entrust his safety to Enkidu. Line 11 contains a wordplay on the Babylonian words for "brides" and "interments," portending Enkidu's fate.]

'I'he elders spoke to him, saying to Gilgamesh:

[Come back safely to] Uruk's haven, Trust not, Gilgamesh, in your strength alone, Let your eyes see all, make your blow strike home. He who goes in front saves his companion, 5 He who knows the path protects his friend. Let Enkidu walk before you, He knows the way to the forest of cedars, He has seen battle, been exposed to combat. Enkidu will protect his friend, safeguard his companion, 10 Let him return, to be a grave husband. We in our assembly entrust the king to you, On your return, entrust the king again to us.

[Cilgamesh and Enkidu go off to the temple of Ninsun, to ask her blessing.]

Gilgamesh made ready to speak, Saying to Enkidu:

Come, my friend, let us go the sublime temple, To go before Ninsun, the great queen. Ninsun the wise, who is versed in all knowledge, Will send us on our way with good advice.

Clasping each other, hand in hand, Gilgamesh and Enkidu went to the sublime temple, To go before Ninsun, the great queen. Gilgamesh came forward and entered before her:

0 Ninsun, I have taken on a noble quest, I travel a distant road, to where Humbaba is, To face a battle unknown,

To mount a campaign unknown. Give me your blessing, that I may go on my journey, [That I may indeed see] your face [safely again], That I may indeed reenter joyfully the gate of ramparted .. . Uruk, 30

That I may indeed return to hold the festival for the new year, That I may indeed celebrate the festival for the new year

twice over. May that festival be held in my presence, the fanfare sound! May their drums resound before [you]!

[Ninsun prays to Shamash to help her son on his quest.]

Ninsun the [wild cow] heard them out with sadness, 35 The speeches of Gilgamesh, her son, and Enkidu. Ninsun entered the bathhouse seven times, She bathed herself in water with tamarisk and soapwort.' [She put on] a garment as beseemed her body, [She put on] an ornament as beseemed her breast, 40 She set [ . . . ] and donned her tiara. [ . . . ] harlots [ . . . ] the ground, She climbed [the stairs], mounted to the roof terrace, She set up an incense offering to Shamash. She made the offering, to Shamash she raised her hands in prayer: 45

Why did you endow my son Gilgamesh with a restless heart? Now you have moved him to travel A distant road. to where Humbaba is. To face a battle unknown, To mount an expedition unknown. 50 Until he goes and returns, Until he reaches the forest of cedars, Until he has slain fierce Humbaba, And wipes out from the land the evil thing you hate, In the day, [when you traverse the sky], 55 May Aya, your bride, not fear to remind you, "Entrust him to the watchmen of the night."

0 [Shamash], you opened [ . . . ] for the beasts of the steppe,

You came out for the land to [ . . . 1, The mountains [glow], the heavens [brighten], 60 The beasts of the steppe [behold] your fierce radiance.

1. A medicinal plant used in cleansing and magic.

At your light's rising, [ . . . ] assembles, The great gods stand in attendance [upon your glow], May [Aya, your bride], not fear to remind you, "Entrust him to the watchmen of the night." 65

While Gilgamesh journeys to the forest of cedars, May the days be long, may the nights be short, May his loins be girded, his arms [strong]! At night, let him make a camp for sleeping, [Let him make a shelter] to fall asleep in. May Aya, your bride, not fear to remind you, When Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and Humbaba meet, Raise UD for his sake, 0 Shamash, great winds against -

Humbaba, South wind. north wind, east wind, west wind, moaning wind, Blasting wind, lashing wind, contrary wind, dust storm, 75 Demon wind, freezing wind, storm wind, whirlwind: Raise up thirteen winds to blot out Humbaba's face, So he cannot charge forward, cannot retreat, Then let Gilgamesh's weapons defeat Humbaba. As soon as your own [radiance] flares forth, 80 At that very moment heed the man who reveres you. May your swift mules [ . . . ] you, A comfortable seat, a [ . . . ] bed is laid for you, May the gods, your brethren, serve you your [favorite] foods, May Aya, the great bride, dab your face with the fringe

of her spotless garment. 85

Ninsun the wild cow made a second plea to Shamash:

0 Shamash, will not Gilgamesh [ . . . ] the gods for you? Will he not share heaven with you? Will he not share tiara and scepter with the moon? Will he not act in wisdom with Ea in the depths? 90 Will he not rule the human race with Irnina? Will he not dwell with Ningishzida in the Land of No Return?

[Ninsun apparently inducts Enkidu into the staff of her temple.]

After Ninsun the wild cow had made her plea, Ninsun the wild cow, knowing and wise, who understands

everything,

[ . . . ] Gilgamesh [ . . . 1. She extinguished the incense, [she came down from the roof

terrace], She summoned Enkidu to impart her message:

Mighty Enkidu, though you are no issue of my womb, Your little ones shall be among the devotees of Gilgamesh, The priestesses, votaries, cult women of the temple.

She placed a token around Enkidu's neck:

As the priestesses take in a foundling, And the daughters of the gods bring up an adopted child, I herewith take Enkidu, whom [ . . . 1, as my adopted son, Enkidu for [ . . . 1, may Gilgamesh treat him well.

While you journey [ . . . ] to the forest of cedars, May the days be long, may the nights be short, May your loins be girded, your arms [strong]. At night make a camp for sleeping, Let [ . . . ] watch over [ . . . ]

[Enkidu promises Ninsun that he will bring Gilgamesh back safely.]

Until he has gone and returned, Until he has reached the forest of cedars

[The following episodes are taken from an old version, which arranged the material differently from the standard version. Gilgamesh takes an oracle to determine the prognosis for his quest. Divination, often by slaughtering a sheep or goat and looking for certain marks or formations on the liver or entrails, was normal practice in Mesopotamia to predict the outcome of im- portant undertakings or crises, such as illness. The result of Gilgamesh's divination is apparently unfavorable, so he tries to change the prognosis by offering various blandishments to Shamash, god of oracles.]

Gilgamesh knelt before [Shamash], The speech he made [ . . . 1:

I am going, 0 Shamash, with my hands [raised in prayer], 11s Afar off may my life be safe. Return me [in safety to ramparted Uruk], Place your protection [upon me].

Gilgamesh summoned [the diviners], 1 Iis oracle [ . . . ] 'I'o the [ . . . ] temple. 'I'ears poured down Gilgamesh's [face]:

My god, the road [ . . . ] [ . . . ] and his ways, my god, I do not know. [Ifl I come out safely, 125 [I will . . . ] you to your heart's content, [I will build] a house for your delight, [I will seat you] on thrones.

[In the large gap in the text that occurs here, Gilgamesh and Enkidu are still in Uruk, perhaps carrying out various rites and drawing up plans for a great door to be made from the cedar tree they plan to cut down. Next Gilgamesh gives instructions for the city in his absence. The town officials wish him well. The two friends begin final preparations for departure, with the blessing of the elders and the young men. Enkidu at last gives up his objections.]

The young men should not form a crowd in the street [ . . . 1,

Judge the lawsuit of the weak, call the strong to a c c o ~ n t , ~ 130 While in a trice we attain our desire, And set up our [ . . . ] at Humbaba's gate.

His dignitaries stood by, wishing him well, In a crowd, the young men of Uruk ran along behind him, While his dignitaries made obeisance to him: 135

Come back safely to Uruk's haven! Trust not, Gilgamesh, in your strength alone, Let your eyes see all, make your blow strike home. He who goes in front saves his companion, He who knows the path protects his friend. Let Enkidu walk before you, He knows the way to the forest of cedars. He has seen battle, been exposed to combat. [ . . . ] at the mountain passes. Enkidu will protect his friend, safeguard his companion, 145 Let him return, to be a grave husband. We in our assembly entrust the king to you, On your return, entrust the king again to us.

2. Mesopotamian rulers were supposed to ensure that poor and defenseless people received the same legal process as the rich and powerful.

Enkidu made ready to speak, saying to Gilgamesh:

Turn back, my friend, [ . . . ] You must not [ . . . ] this journey!

[ . . . ] his equipment, [ . . . ] the great daggers, [The bow] and the quiver [ . . . ] in their hands. He took up the axes, [ . . . ] his quiver, the Elamite [He set] his dagger at his belt. [The elders] made way for him, [The young men] sent him on his way:

Gilgamesh, [how long] till you return to the city [

The elders [hailed him], Counseled Gilgamesh for the journey:

Trust not, Gilgamesh, in your own strength, Let your vision be clear, take care of yourself. Let Enkidu go ahead of you, He has seen the road, has traveled the way. He knows the ways into the forest And all the tricks of Humbaba. He who goes first safeguards his companion, His vision is clear. Ihe ~rotects himselfl.

L I

May Shamash help you to your goal, May he disclose to you what your words propose, May he open for you the barred road, Make straight the pathway to your tread, Make straight the upland to your feet. May nightfall bring you good tidings, May Lugalbanda stand by you in your cause. In a trice accomulish what you desire, Wash your feet ih the river'of ~ u m b a b a whom you seek. iso When you stop for the night, dig a well, May there always be pure water in. your ~ a t e r s k i n . ~ You should libate cool water to Shamash And be mindful of Lugalbanda.

3. Elam was a country in southwestern Iran, apparently known for its fine bows 4. Mesopotamian travelers carried drinking water in leather bags.

Ihkidu made ready to speak, saying to Gilgamesh:

[As] you insist, make the journey. Do not be afraid, watch me. [ . . . ] who made his dwelling in the forest, The [ . . . 1, where Humbaba goes.

[ . . . ] who goes with me, [I will bring him safe] to you, [ . . . ] in joy!

Upon hearing this speech, 'I'he young men acclaimed him:

Go, Gilgamesh, may [ . . . ] May your god go [by your side], May he disclose to you [your heart's desire]. May [ . . . ] advise you, He who knows [ . . . ]

l1n the gap that follows, the two friends set out on their quest.]

Tablet IV

[Gilgamesh and Enkidu go on their journey. As they camp each night, En- kidu makes Gilgamesh a shelter and lays out a magic circle for him to sleep in. This may be a circle of flour as known from Mesopotamian sorcery and oath-taking. Gilgamesh prays for a dream to portend the outcome of the expedition. He dreams three times of mountains. The first falls upon him, the second holds him fast, and the third erupts. In each case, he barely escapes the mountain's fury. Enkidu explains that the mountain is Hum- baba, who will make a terrifying attack but will collapse and die. Next he dreams of a lion-headed monster-bird and then a bull attacking him. Since the text is very damaged here and various versions exist. the number, se- quence, and contents of the dreams are most uncertain.]

At twenty double leagues they took a bite to eat, At thirty double leagues they made their camp, Fifty double leagues they went in a single day, A journey of a month and a half in three days. Thev a ~ ~ r o a c h e d Mount Lebanon.

/ ,I

Towards sunset they dug a well, Filled [their waterskin with waterl. Gilgamesh went up onto the mountain, He poured out flour for an [offering, saying]:

0 mountain, bring me a propitious dream!

Enkidu made Gilgamesh a shelter for receiving dreams, A gust was blowing, he fastened the door. He had him lie down in a circle of [flour], And spreading out like a net, Enkidu lay down in the doorway. Gilgamesh sat there, chin on his knee. Sleep, which usually steals over people, fell upon him. In the middle of the night he awoke, Got up and said to his friend:

My friend, did you not call me? Why am I awake? Did you not touch me? Why am I disturbed? Did a god not pass by? Why does my flesh tingle? My friend, I had a dream, And the dream 1 had was very disturbing.

[We . . . ] on the flanks of a mountain, The mountain fell [upon us], We [ . . . ] like flies!

The one born in the steppe [ . . . 1, Enkidu explained the dream to his friend:

Mv friend, vour dream is favorable, , , The dream is very precious [as an omen]. My friend, the mountain you saw is [Humbaba], We will catch Humbaba and [kill him], Then we will throw down his corpse on the field of battle. Further, at dawn the word of Shamash will be in our favor

At twenty double leagues they took a bite to eat, At thirty double leagues they made their camp, Fifty double leagues they went in a single day, A journey of a month and a half in three days. They approached Mount Lebanon. Towards sunset they dug a well, They filled [their waterskin with water]. Gilgamesh went up onto the mountain, I-Ie poured out flour for [an offering, saying]:

0 mountain, bring me a propitious dream!

Enkidu made Gilgamesh a shelter for receiving dreams, A gust was blowing, he fastened the door. He had him lie down in a circle of [flour], And spreading out like a net, Enkidu lay down in the doorway. Gilgamesh sat there, chin on his knee. Sleep, which usually steals over people, fell upon him. In the middle of the night he awoke, Got up and said to his friend:

Mv friend, did you not call me? Why am 1 awake? Did you not touch me? Why am I disturbed? Did a god not pass by? Why does my flesh tingle? My friend, I had a second dream, And the dream I had was very disturbing. A mountain was in my dream, [ . . . an enemy]. It threw me down, pinning my feet [ . . . 1, A fearsome glare grew ever more intense. A certain young man, handsomest in the world, truly

handsome he was.

He pulled me out from the base of the mountain [ . He gave me water to drink and eased my fear, He set my feet on the ground again.

The one born in the steppe [ . . . 1, Enkidu explained the dream to his friend:

My friend, your dream is favorable, The dream is very precious [as an omen]. My friend, we will go [ . . . ] The strange thing [was] Humbaba, Was not the mountain, the strange thing, Humbaba? Come then, banish your fear, r i L . . . l As for the man you saw [ . . . ]

[Enkidu's explanation presumably was that the man was Shamash or Lugal- banda coming to help them, but only scattered words of the explanation are preserved.]

At twenty double leagues they took a bite to eat, At thirty double leagues they made their camp, Fifty double leagues they went in a single day, A journey of a month and a half in three days. They approached Mount Lebanon. Towards sunset they dug a well, They filled [their waterskin with water]. Gilgamesh went up onto the mountain, He poured out flour as [an offering, saying]:

O mountain, bring me a propitious dream!

Enkidu made Gilgamesh a shelter for receiving dreams, A gust was blowing, he fastened the door. He had him lie down in a circle of [flour], And spreading out like a net, Enkidu lay down in the doorway. Gilgamesh sat there, chin on his knee. Sleep, which usually steals over people, fell upon him. In the middle of the night he awoke, Got up and said to his friend:

My friend, did you not call me? Why am I awake? Did you not touch me? Why am I disturbed?

Did a god not pass by? Why does my flesh tingle? My friend, I had a third dream, And the dream I had was very disturbing. The heavens cried out, the earth was thundering, Daylight faded, darkness fell, Lightning flashed, fire shot up, 100 The [flames] burgeoned, spewing death. Then the glow was dimmed, the fire was extinguished, The [burning coals] that were falling turned to ashes. You who were born in the steppe, let us discuss it.

lhkidu [explained], helped him accept his dream, Saying to Gilgamesh:

I lhkidu's explanation is mostly lost, but perhaps it was that the volcanolike c,xplosion was Humbaba, who flared up, then died.]

Humbaba, like a god [ . . . ] [ . . . ] the light flaring [ . . . ] We will be [victorious] over him. Humbaba aroused our fury [ . . . ] 110 [ . . . ] we will prevail over him. Further, at dawn the word of Shamash will be in our favor.