The narrative of the life, exploits and travels of Gilgamish, king
of Erech, filled Twelve Tablets which formed the Series called from
the first three words of the First Tablet, Sha Nagbu Imuru, i.e.,
"He who hath seen all things." The exact period of the reign of this
king is unknown, but there is no doubt that he lived and ruled at
Erech before the conquest of Mesopotamia by the Semites. According to
a tablet from Niffar he was the fifth of a line of Sumerian rulers at
Erech, and he reigned 126 years; his name is said to mean "The Fire-god
is a commander." [16] The principal authorities for the Epic are the
numerous fragments of the tablets that were found in the ruins of the
Library of Nebo and the Royal Library of Ashur-bani-pal at Nineveh,
and are now in the British Museum. [17] The contents of the Twelve
Tablets may be briefly described thus:
The First Tablet.
The opening lines describe the great knowledge and wisdom of Gilgamish,
who saw everything, learned everything, understood everything, who
probed to the bottom the hidden mysteries of wisdom, and who knew the
history of everything that happened before the Deluge. He travelled
far over sea and land, and performed mighty deeds, and then he cut upon
a tablet of stone an account of all that he had done and suffered. He
built the wall of Erech, founded the holy temple of E-Anna, and carried
out other great architectural works. He was a semi-divine being, for
his body was formed of the "flesh of the gods," and "Two-thirds of
him were god, and one-third was man" (l. 51). The description of
his person is lost. As Shepherd (i.e., King) of Erech he forced the
people to toil overmuch, and his demands reduced them to such a state
of misery that they cried out to the gods and begged them to create
some king who should control Gilgamish and give them deliverance
from him. The gods hearkened to the prayer of the men of Erech, and
they commanded the goddess Aruru to create a rival to Gilgamish. The
goddess agreed to do their bidding, and having planned in her mind
what manner of being she intended to make, she washed her hands,
took a piece of clay and spat upon it, and made a male creature like
the god Anu. His body was covered all over with hair. The hair of his
head was long like that of a woman, and he wore clothing like that of
Gira (or, Sumuggan), a goddess of vegetation, i.e., he appeared to be
clothed with leaves. He was different in every way from the people of
the country, and his name was Enkidu (Eabani). He lived in the forests
on the hills, ate herbs like the gazelle, drank with the wild cattle,
and herded with the beasts of the field. He was mighty in stature,
invincible in strength, and obtained complete mastery over all the
creatures of the forests in which he lived.
One day a certain hunter went out to snare game, and he dug pit-traps
and laid nets, and made his usual preparations for roping in his
prey. But after doing this for three days he found that his pits
were filled up and his nets smashed, and he saw Enkidu releasing the
beasts that had been snared. The hunter was terrified at the sight
of Enkidu, and went home hastily and told his father what he had seen
and how badly he had fared. By his father's advice he went to Erech,
and reported to Gilgamish what had happened. When Gilgamish heard
his story he advised him to act upon a suggestion which the hunter's
father had already made, namely that he should hire a harlot and take
her out to the forest, so that Enkidu might be ensnared by the sight
of her beauty, and take up his abode with her. The hunter accepted
this advice, and having found a harlot to help him in removing Enkidu
from the forests (thus enabling him to gain a living), he set out
from Erech with her and in due course arrived at the forest where
Enkidu lived, and sat down by the place where the beasts came to drink.
On the second day when the beasts came to drink and Enkidu was with
them, the woman carried out the instructions which the hunter had
given her, and when Enkidu saw her cast aside her veil, he left his
beasts and came to her, and remained with her for six days and seven
nights. At the end of this period he returned to the beasts with which
he had lived on friendly terms, but as soon as the gazelle winded
him they took to flight, and the wild cattle disappeared into the
woods. When Enkidu saw the beasts forsake him his knees gave way, and
he swooned from sheer shame; but when he came to himself he returned
to the harlot. She spoke to him flattering words, and asked him why
he wandered with the wild beasts in the desert, and then told him she
wished to take him back with her to Erech, where Anu and Ishtar lived,
and where the mighty Gilgamish reigned. Enkidu hearkened and finally
went back with her to her city, where she described the wisdom, power
and might of Gilgamish, and took steps to make Enkidu known to him. But
before Enkidu arrived, Gilgamish had been warned of his existence
and coming in two dreams which he related to his mother Ninsunna,
and when he and Enkidu learned to know each other subsequently,
these two mighty heroes became great friends.
The Second Tablet.
When Enkidu came to Erech the habits of the people of the city were
strange to him, but under the tuition of the harlot he learned to
eat bread and to drink beer, and to wear clothes, and he anointed
his body with unguents. He went out into the forests with his hunting
implements and snared the gazelle and slew the panther, and obtained
animals for sacrifice, and gained reputation as a mighty hunter and as
a good shepherd. In due course he attracted the notice of Gilgamish,
who did not, however, like his uncouth appearance and ways, but after
a time, when the citizens of Erech praised him and admired his strong
and vigorous stature, he made friends with him and rejoiced in him,
and planned an expedition with him. Before they set out, Gilgamish
wished to pay a visit to the goddess Ishkhara, but Enkidu, fearing
that the influence of the goddess would have a bad effect upon his
friend, urged him to abandon the visit. This Gilgamish refused to do,
and when Enkidu declared that by force he would prevent him going to
the goddess, a violent quarrel broke out between the two heroes, and
they appealed to arms. After a fierce fight Enkidu conquered Gilgamish,
who apparently abandoned his visit to the goddess. The text of the
Second Tablet is very much mutilated, and the authorities on the
subject are not agreed as to the exact placing of the fragments. The
above details are derived from a tablet at Philadelphia. [18]
The Third Tablet.
The correct order of the fragments of this Tablet has not yet been
ascertained, but among the contents of the first part of its text
a lament by Enkidu that he was associated with the harlot seems to
have had a place. Whether he had left the city of Erech and gone
back to his native forest is not clear, but the god Shamash, having
heard his cursing of the harlot, cried to him from heaven, saying,
"Why, O Enkidu, dost thou curse the temple woman? She gave thee food
to eat which was meet only for a god, she gave thee wine to drink
which was meet only for a king, she arrayed thee in splendid apparel,
and made thee to possess as thy friend the noble Gilgamish. And at
present Gilgamish is thy bosom friend. He maketh thee to lie down on
a large couch, and to sleep in a good, well-decked bed, and to occupy
the chair of peace, the chair on the left-hand side. The princes of
the earth kiss thy feet. He maketh the people of Erech to sigh for
thee, and many folk to cry out for thee, and to serve thee. And for
thy sake he putteth on coarse attire and arrayeth himself in the skin
of the lion, and pursueth thee over the plain." When Enkidu heard
these words his anxious heart had peace.
To the Third Tablet probably belongs the fragment in which Enkidu
relates to Gilgamish a horrifying dream which he had had. In his dream
it seemed to him that there were thunderings in heaven and quaking upon
earth, and a being with an awful visage, and nails like all eagle's
talons, gripped him and carried him off and forced him to go down into
the dark abyss of the dread goddess, Irkalla. From this abode he who
once "went in never came out, and he who travelled along that road
never returned, he who dwelleth there is without light, the beings
therein eat dust and feed upon mud; they are clad in feathers and have
wings like birds, they see no light, and they live in the darkness
of night." Here Enkidu saw in his dream creatures who had been kings
when they lived upon the earth, and shadowy beings offering roasted
meat to Anu and Enlil, and cool drinks poured out from waterskins. In
this House of Dust dwelt high priests, ministrants, the magician and
the prophet, and the deities Etana, Sumukan, Eresh-kigal, Queen of
the Earth, and Bêlitsêri, who registered the deeds done upon the earth.
When Gilgamish heard this dream, he brought out a table, and setting
on it honey and butter placed it before Shamash.
The Fourth Tablet.
Gilgamish then turned to Enkidu and invited him to go with him to
the temple of Nin-Makh to see the servant of his mother, Ninsunna, in
order to consult her as to the meaning of the dream. They went there,
and Enkidu told his dream, and the wise woman offered up incense and
asked Shamash why he had given to her son a heart which could never
keep still. She next referred to the perilous expedition against the
mighty King Khumbaba, which he had decided to undertake with Enkidu,
and apparently hoped that the god would prevent her son from leaving
Erech. But Gilgamish was determined to march against Khumbaba, and
he and Enkidu set out without delay for the mountains where grew
the cedars.
The Fifth Tablet.
In due course the two heroes reached the forest of cedars, and they
contemplated with awe their great height and their dense foliage. The
cedars were under the special protection of Bêl, who had appointed
to be their keeper Khumbaba, a being whose voice was like the roar
of a storm, whose mouth was like that of the gods, and whose breath
was like a gale of wind. When Enkidu saw how dense was the forest
and how threatening, he tried to make Gilgamish turn back, but all
his entreaties were in vain. As they were going through the forest
to attack Khumbaba, Enkidu dreamed two or three dreams, and when he
related them to Gilgamish, this hero interpreted them as auguries of
their success and the slaughter of Khumbaba. The fragmentary character
of the text here makes it very difficult to find out exactly what
steps the two heroes took to overcome Khumbaba, but there is no doubt
that they did overcome him, and that they returned to Erech in triumph.