version. In the creation of Enkidu by Aruru, the people urge the
goddess to create the "counterpart" (_zikru_) of Gilgamesh, someone who
will be like him (_ma-si-il_) (Tablet I, 2, 31). Enkidu not only comes
from the mountain, [67] but the mountain is specifically designated as
his birth-place (I, 4, 2), precisely as in the Pennsylvania tablet,
while in another passage he is also described, as in our tablet, as
"born in the field." [68] Still more significant is the designation of
Gilgamesh as the _talimu_, "younger brother," of Enkidu. [69] In accord
with this, we find Gilgamesh in his lament over Enkidu describing
him as a "younger brother" (_ku-ta-ni_); [70] and again in the last
tablet of the Epic, Gilgamesh is referred to as the "brother" of
Enkidu. [71] This close relationship reverts to the Sumerian version,
for the Constantinople fragment (Langdon, above, p. 13) begins with the
designation of Gish-bil-ga-mesh as "his brother." By "his" no doubt
Enkidu is meant. Likewise in the Sumerian text published by Zimmern
(above, p. 13) Gilgamesh appears as the brother of Enkidu (rev. 1, 17).
Turning to the numerous representations of Gilgamesh and Enkidu on
Seal Cylinders, [72] we find this resemblance of the two heroes to each
other strikingly confirmed. Both are represented as bearded, with the
strands arranged in the same fashion. The face in both cases is broad,
with curls protruding at the side of the head, though at times these
curls are lacking in the case of Enkidu. What is particularly striking
is to find Gilgamesh generally _a little taller_ than Enkidu, thus
bearing out the statement in the Pennsylvania tablet that Enkidu is
"shorter in stature." There are, to be sure, also some distinguishing
marks between the two. Thus Enkidu is generally represented with
animal hoofs, but not always. [73] Enkidu is commonly portrayed with
the horns of a bison, but again this sign is wanting in quite a number
of instances. [74] The hoofs and the horns mark the period when Enkidu
lived with animals and much like an animal. Most remarkable, however,
of all are cylinders on which we find the two heroes almost exactly
alike as, for example, Ward No. 199 where two figures, the one a
duplicate of the other (except that one is just a shade taller), are in
conflict with each other. Dr. Ward was puzzled by this representation
and sets it down as a "fantastic" scene in which "each Gilgamesh
is stabbing the other." In the light of the Pennsylvania tablet,
this scene is clearly the conflict between the two heroes described
in column 6, preliminary to their forming a friendship. Even in the
realm of myth the human experience holds good that there is nothing
like a good fight as a basis for a subsequent alliance. The fragment
describes this conflict as a furious one in which Gilgamesh is worsted,
and his wounded pride assuaged by the generous victor, who comforts his
vanquished enemy by the assurance that he was destined for something
higher than to be a mere "Hercules." He was singled out for the
exercise of royal authority. True to the description of the two heroes
in the Pennsylvania tablet as alike, one the counterpart of the other,
the seal cylinder portrays them almost exactly alike, as alike as two
brothers could possibly be; with just enough distinction to make it
clear on close inspection that two figures are intended and not one
repeated for the sake of symmetry. There are slight variations in the
manner in which the hair is worn, and slightly varying expressions
of the face, just enough to make it evident that the one is intended
for Gilgamesh and the other for Enkidu. When, therefore, in another
specimen, No. 173, we find a Gilgamesh holding his counterpart by the
legs, it is merely another aspect of the fight between the two heroes,
one of whom is intended to represent Enkidu, and not, as Dr. Ward
supposed, a grotesque repetition of Gilgamesh. [75]
The description of Enkidu in the Pennsylvania tablet as a parallel
figure to Gilgamesh leads us to a consideration of the relationship
of the two figures to one another. Many years ago it was pointed
out that the Gilgamesh Epic was a composite tale in which various
stories of an independent origin had been combined and brought into
more or less artificial connection with the _heros eponymos_ of
southern Babylonia. [76] We may now go a step further and point out
that not only is Enkidu originally an entirely independent figure,
having no connection with Gish or Gilgamesh, but that the latter is
really depicted in the Epic as the counterpart of Enkidu, a reflection
who has been given the traits of extraordinary physical power that
belong to Enkidu. This is shown in the first place by the fact that
in the encounter it is Enkidu who triumphs over Gilgamesh. The entire
analysis of the episode of the meeting between the two heroes as given
by Gressmann [77] must be revised. It is not Enkidu who is terrified
and who is warned against the encounter. It is Gilgamesh who, during
the night on his way from the house in which the goddess Ishhara
lies, encounters Enkidu on the highway. Enkidu "blocks the path"
[78] of Gilgamesh. He prevents Gilgamesh from re-entering the house,
[79] and the two attack each other "like oxen." [80] They grapple
with each other, and Enkidu forces Gilgamesh to the ground. Enkidu
is, therefore, the real hero whose traits of physical prowess are
afterwards transferred to Gilgamesh.
Similarly in the next episode, the struggle against Huwawa, the Yale
tablet makes it clear that in the original form of the tale Enkidu
is the real hero. All warn Gish against the undertaking--the elders
of Erech, Enkidu, and also the workmen. "Why dost thou desire to do
this?" [81] they say to him. "Thou art young, and thy heart carries
thee away. Thou knowest not what thou proposest to do." [82] This part
of the incident is now better known to us through the latest fragment
of the Assyrian version discovered and published by King. [83] The
elders say to Gilgamesh:
"Do not trust, O Gilgamesh, in thy strength!
Be warned(?) against trusting to thy attack!
The one who goes before will save his companion, [84]
He who has foresight will save his friend. [85]
Let Enkidu go before thee.
He knows the roads to the cedar forest;
He is skilled in battle and has seen fight."
Gilgamesh is sufficiently impressed by this warning to invite Enkidu
to accompany him on a visit to his mother, Ninsun, for the purpose
of receiving her counsel. [86]
It is only after Enkidu, who himself hesitates and tries to dissuade
Gish, decides to accompany the latter that the elders of Erech
are reconciled and encourage Gish for the fray. The two in concert
proceed against Huwawa. Gilgamesh alone cannot carry out the plan. Now
when a tale thus associates two figures in one deed, one of the
two has been added to the original tale. In the present case there
can be little doubt that Enkidu, without whom Gish cannot proceed,
who is specifically described as "acquainted with the way ... to the
entrance of the forest" [87] in which Huwawa dwells is the _original_
vanquisher. Naturally, the Epic aims to conceal this fact as much
as possible _ad majorem gloriam_ of Gilgamesh. It tries to put the
one who became the favorite hero into the foreground. Therefore, in
both the Babylonian and the Assyrian version Enkidu is represented
as hesitating, and Gilgamesh as determined to go ahead. Gilgamesh,
in fact, accuses Enkidu of cowardice and boldly declares that he
will proceed even though failure stare him in the face. [88] Traces
of the older view, however, in which Gilgamesh is the one for whom
one fears the outcome, crop out; as, for example, in the complaint of
Gilgamesh's mother to Shamash that the latter has stirred the heart
of her son to take the distant way to Hu(m)baba,
"To a fight unknown to him, he advances,
An expedition unknown to him he undertakes." [89]
Ninsun evidently fears the consequences when her son informs her
of his intention and asks her counsel. The answer of Shamash is not
preserved, but no doubt it was of a reassuring character, as was the
answer of the Sun-god to Gish's appeal and prayer as set forth in
the Yale tablet. [90]
Again, as a further indication that Enkidu is the real conqueror of
Huwawa, we find the coming contest revealed to Enkidu no less than
three times in dreams, which Gilgamesh interprets. [91] Since the
person who dreams is always the one to whom the dream applies, we may
see in these dreams a further trace of the primary rôle originally
assigned to Enkidu.
Another exploit which, according to the Assyrian version, the two
heroes perform in concert is the killing of a bull, sent by Anu at
the instance of Ishtar to avenge an insult offered to the goddess
by Gilgamesh, who rejects her offer of marriage. In the fragmentary
description of the contest with the bull, we find Enkidu "seizing"
the monster by "its tail." [92]
That Enkidu originally played the part of the slayer is also shown
by the statement that it is he who insults Ishtar by throwing a
piece of the carcass into the goddess' face, [93] adding also an
insulting speech; and this despite the fact that Ishtar in her rage
accuses Gilgamesh of killing the bull. [94] It is thus evident that
the Epic alters the original character of the episodes in order to
find a place for Gilgamesh, with the further desire to assign to the
latter the _chief_ rôle. Be it noted also that Enkidu, not Gilgamesh,
is punished for the insult to Ishtar. Enkidu must therefore in the
original form of the episode have been the guilty party, who is
stricken with mortal disease as a punishment to which after twelve
days he succumbs. [95] In view of this, we may supply the name of
Enkidu in the little song introduced at the close of the encounter
with the bull, and not Gilgamesh as has hitherto been done.
"Who is distinguished among the heroes?
Who is glorious among men?
[Enkidu] is distinguished among heroes,
[Enkidu] is glorious among men." [96]
Finally, the killing of lions is directly ascribed to Enkidu in the
Pennsylvania tablet:
"Lions he attacked
* * * * *
Lions he overcame" [97]
whereas Gilgamesh appears to be afraid of lions. On his long search
for Utnapishtim he says:
"On reaching the entrance of the mountain at night
I saw lions and was afraid." [98]
He prays to Sin and Ishtar to protect and save him. When, therefore,
in another passage some one celebrates Gilgamesh as the one who
overcame the "guardian," who dispatched Hu(m)baba in the cedar forest,
who killed lions and overthrew the bull, [99] we have the completion
of the process which transferred to Gilgamesh exploits and powers
which originally belonged to Enkidu, though ordinarily the process
stops short at making Gilgamesh a _sharer_ in the exploits; with the
natural tendency, to be sure, to enlarge the share of the favorite.
We can now understand why the two heroes are described in the
Pennsylvania tablet as alike, as born in the same place, aye, as
brothers. Gilgamesh in the Epic is merely a reflex of Enkidu. The
latter is the real hero and presumably, therefore, the older
figure. [100] Gilgamesh resembles Enkidu, because he _is_ originally
Enkidu. The "resemblance" _motif_ is merely the manner in which
in the course of the partly popular, partly literary transfer, the
recollection is preserved that Enkidu is the original, and Gilgamesh
the copy.
The artificiality of the process which brings the two heroes together
is apparent in the dreams of Gilgamesh which are interpreted by
his mother as portending the coming of Enkidu. Not the conflict is
foreseen, but the subsequent close association, naïvely described as
due to the personal charm which Enkidu exercises, which will lead
Gilgamesh to fall in love with the one whom he is to meet. The two
will become one, like man and wife.
On the basis of our investigations, we are now in a position to
reconstruct in part the cycle of episodes that once formed part of
an Enkidu Epic. The fight between Enkidu and Gilgamesh, in which
the former is the victor, is typical of the kind of tales told of
Enkidu. He is the real prototype of the Greek Hercules. He slays
lions, he overcomes a powerful opponent dwelling in the forests of
Lebanon, he kills the bull, and he finally succumbs to disease sent
as a punishment by an angry goddess. The death of Enkidu naturally
formed the close of the Enkidu Epic, which in its original form may,
of course, have included other exploits besides those taken over into
the Gilgamesh Epic.
VII.
There is another aspect of the figure of Enkidu which is brought
forward in the Pennsylvania tablet more clearly than had hitherto been
the case. Many years ago attention was called to certain striking
resemblances between Enkidu and the figure of the first man as
described in the early chapters of Genesis. [101] At that time we had
merely the Assyrian version of the Gilgamesh Epic at our disposal,
and the main point of contact was the description of Enkidu living
with the animals, drinking and feeding like an animal, until a woman
is brought to him with whom he engages in sexual intercourse. This
suggested that Enkidu was a picture of primeval man, while the
woman reminded one of Eve, who when she is brought to Adam becomes
his helpmate and inseparable companion. The Biblical tale stands,
of course, on a much higher level, and is introduced, as are other
traditions and tales of primitive times, in the style of a parable
to convey certain religious teachings. For all that, suggestions
of earlier conceptions crop out in the picture of Adam surrounded
by animals to which he assigns names. Such a phrase as "there was no
helpmate corresponding to him" becomes intelligible on the supposition
of an existing tradition or belief, that man once lived and, indeed,
cohabited with animals. The tales in the early chapters of Genesis
must rest on very early popular traditions, which have been cleared
of mythological and other objectionable features in order to adapt
them to the purpose of the Hebrew compilers, to serve as a medium for
illustrating certain religious teachings regarding man's place in
nature and his higher destiny. From the resemblance between Enkidu
and Adam it does not, of course, follow that the latter is modelled
upon the former, but only that both rest on similar traditions of
the condition under which men lived in primeval days prior to the
beginnings of human culture.
We may now pass beyond these general indications and recognize in the
story of Enkidu as revealed by the Pennsylvania tablet an attempt
to trace the evolution of primitive man from low beginnings to the
regular and orderly family life associated with advanced culture. The
new tablet furnishes a further illustration for the surprisingly early
tendency among the Babylonian _literati_ to connect with popular tales
teachings of a religious or ethical character. Just as the episode
between Gilgamesh and the maiden Sabitum is made the occasion for
introducing reflections on the inevitable fate of man to encounter
death, so the meeting of Enkidu with the woman becomes the medium
of impressing the lesson of human progress through the substitution
of bread and wine for milk and water, through the institution of
the family, and through work and the laying up of resources. This
is the significance of the address to Enkidu in column 4 of the
Pennsylvania tablet, even though certain expressions in it are
somewhat obscure. The connection of the entire episode of Enkidu and
the woman with Gilgamesh is very artificial; and it becomes much more
intelligible if we disassociate it from its present entanglement in
the Epic. In Gilgamesh's dream, portending the meeting with Enkidu,
nothing is said of the woman who is the companion of the latter. The
passage in which Enkidu is created by Aruru to oppose Gilgamesh [102]
betrays evidence of having been worked over in order to bring Enkidu
into association with the longing of the people of Erech to get rid
of a tyrannical character. The people in their distress appeal to
Aruru to create a rival to Gilgamesh. In response,
"Aruru upon hearing this created a man of Anu in her heart."
Now this "man of Anu" cannot possibly be Enkidu, for the sufficient
reason that a few lines further on Enkidu is described as an offspring
of Ninib. Moreover, the being created is not a "counterpart"
of Gilgamesh, but an animal-man, as the description that follows
shows. We must separate lines 30-33 in which the creation of the "Anu
man" is described from lines 34-41 in which the creation of Enkidu is
narrated. Indeed, these lines strike one as the proper _beginning_
of the original Enkidu story, which would naturally start out with
his birth and end with his death. The description is clearly an
account of the creation of the first man, in which capacity Enkidu
is brought forward.
"Aruru washed her hands, broke off clay,
threw it on the field [103]
... created Enkidu, the hero, a lofty
offspring of the host of Ninib." [104]
The description of Enkidu follows, with his body covered with hair
like an animal, and eating and drinking with the animals. There
follows an episode [105] which has no connection whatsoever with
the Gilgamesh Epic, but which is clearly intended to illustrate how
Enkidu came to abandon the life with the animals. A hunter sees Enkidu
and is amazed at the strange sight--an animal and yet a man. Enkidu,
as though resenting his condition, becomes enraged at the sight of
the hunter, and the latter goes to his father and tells him of the
strange creature whom he is unable to catch. In reply, the father
advises his son to take a woman with him when next he goes out on
his pursuit, and to have the woman remove her dress in the presence
of Enkidu, who will then approach her, and after intercourse with
her will abandon the animals among whom he lives. By this device he
will catch the strange creature. Lines 14-18 of column 3 in the first
tablet in which the father of the hunter refers to Gilgamesh must be
regarded as a later insertion, a part of the reconstruction of the
tale to connect the episode with Gilgamesh. The advice of the father
to his son, the hunter, begins, line 19,
"Go my hunter, take with thee a woman."
In the reconstructed tale, the father tells his son to go to Gilgamesh
to relate to him the strange appearance of the animal-man; but there
is clearly no purpose in this, as is shown by the fact that when the
hunter does so, Gilgamesh makes _precisely the same speech_ as does
the father of the hunter. Lines 40-44 of column 3, in which Gilgamesh
is represented as speaking to the hunter form a complete _doublet_
to lines 19-24, beginning
"Go, my hunter, take with thee a woman, etc."
and similarly the description of Enkidu appears twice, lines 2-12
in an address of the hunter to his father, and lines 29-39 in the
address of the hunter to Gilgamesh.
The artificiality of the process of introducing Gilgamesh into
the episode is revealed by this awkward and entirely meaningless
repetition. We may therefore reconstruct the first two scenes in the
Enkidu Epic as follows: [106]
Tablet I, col. 2, 34-35: Creation of Enkidu by Aruru.
36-41: Description of Enkidu's hairy body and of his life with the
animals.
42-50: The hunter sees Enkidu, who shows his anger, as also his woe,
at his condition.
3, 1-12: The hunter tells his father of the strange being who pulls
up the traps which the hunter digs, and who tears the nets so that
the hunter is unable to catch him or the animals.
19-24: The father of the hunter advises his son on his next expedition
to take a woman with him in order to lure the strange being from his
life with the animals.
Line 25, beginning "On the advice of his father," must have set forth,
in the original form of the episode, how the hunter procured the
woman and took her with him to meet Enkidu.
Column 4 gives in detail the meeting between the two, and naïvely
describes how the woman exposes her charms to Enkidu, who is captivated
by her and stays with her six days and seven nights. The animals see
the change in Enkidu and run away from him. He has been transformed
through the woman. So far the episode. In the Assyrian version there
follows an address of the woman to Enkidu beginning (col. 4, 34):
"Beautiful art thou, Enkidu, like a god art thou."
We find her urging him to go with her to Erech, there to meet Gilgamesh
and to enjoy the pleasures of city life with plenty of beautiful
maidens. Gilgamesh, she adds, will expect Enkidu, for the coming
of the latter to Erech has been foretold in a dream. It is evident
that here we have again the later transformation of the Enkidu Epic
in order to bring the two heroes together. Will it be considered too
bold if we assume that in the original form the address of the woman
and the construction of the episode were such as we find preserved in
part in columns 2 to 4 of the Pennsylvania tablet, which forms part
of the new material that can now be added to the Epic? The address
of the woman begins in line 51 of the Pennsylvania tablet:
"I gaze upon thee, Enkidu, like a god art thou."
This corresponds to the line in the Assyrian version (I, 4, 34)
as given above, just as lines 52-53:
"Why with the cattle
Dost thou roam across the field?"
correspond to I, 4, 35, of the Assyrian version. There follows in both
the old Babylonian and the Assyrian version the appeal of the woman
to Enkidu, to allow her to lead him to Erech where Gilgamesh dwells
(Pennsylvania tablet lines 54-61 = Assyrian version I, 4, 36-39);
but in the Pennsylvania tablet we now have a _second_ speech (lines
62-63) beginning like the first one with _al-ka_, "come:"
"Come, arise from the accursed ground."
Enkidu consents, and now the woman takes off her garments and clothes
the naked Enkidu, while putting another garment on herself. She takes
hold of his hand and leads him to the sheepfolds (not to Erech!!),
where bread and wine are placed before him. Accustomed hitherto
to sucking milk with cattle, Enkidu does not know what to do with
the strange food until encouraged and instructed by the woman. The
entire third column is taken up with this introduction of Enkidu
to civilized life in a pastoral community, and the scene ends with
Enkidu becoming a guardian of flocks. Now all this has nothing to
do with Gilgamesh, and clearly sets forth an entirely different
idea from the one embodied in the meeting of the two heroes. In the
original Enkidu tale, the animal-man is looked upon as the type of a
primitive savage, and the point of the tale is to illustrate in the
naïve manner characteristic of folklore the evolution to the higher
form of pastoral life. This aspect of the incident is, therefore,
to be separated from the other phase which has as its chief _motif_
the bringing of the two heroes together.
We now obtain, thanks to the new section revealed by the Pennsylvania
tablet, a further analogy [107] with the story of Adam and Eve,
but with this striking difference, that whereas in the Babylonian
tale the woman is the medium leading man to the higher life, in the
Biblical story the woman is the tempter who brings misfortune to
man. This contrast is, however, not inherent in the Biblical story,
but due to the point of view of the Biblical writer, who is somewhat
pessimistically inclined and looks upon primitive life, when man went
naked and lived in a garden, eating of fruits that grew of themselves,
as the blessed life in contrast to advanced culture which leads
to agriculture and necessitates hard work as the means of securing
one's substance. Hence the woman through whom Adam eats of the tree
of knowledge and becomes conscious of being naked is looked upon as
an evil tempter, entailing the loss of the primeval life of bliss in
a gorgeous Paradise. The Babylonian point of view is optimistic. The
change to civilized life--involving the wearing of clothes and the
eating of food that is cultivated (bread and wine) is looked upon as an
advance. Hence the woman is viewed as the medium of raising man to a
higher level. The feature common to the Biblical and Babylonian tales
is the attachment of a lesson to early folk-tales. The story of Adam
and Eve, [108] as the story of Enkidu and the woman, is told _with
a purpose_. Starting with early traditions of men's primitive life
on earth, that may have arisen independently, Hebrew and Babylonian
writers diverged, each group going its own way, each reflecting the
particular point of view from which the evolution of human society
was viewed.