The Epic of Gilgamesh

Appendix A: The Epic of Gilgamesh

Tablet 1

The one who saw all [Sha nagba imuru ]I will declare to the world,

The one who knew all I will tell about

[line missing]

He saw the great Mystery, he knew the Hidden:

He recovered the knowledge of all the times before the Flood.

He journeyed beyond the distant, he journeyed beyond exhaustion,

And then carved his story on stone. [naru : stone tablets ]

This great hero who had all knowledge [nemequ ], Gilgamesh, built the great city 

of Uruk; the tablet invites us to look around and view the greatness of this city, 

its high walls, its masonwork, and here at the base of its gates, as the foundation 

of the city walls, a stone of lapis lazuli on which is carved Gilgamesh's account 

of his exploits, the story you are about to hear.

The account begins: Gilgamesh, two-thirds god and one-third human, is the greatest 

king on earth and the strongest super-human that ever existed; however, he is 

young and oppresses his people harshly. The people call out to the sky-god Anu, 

the chief god of the city, to help them. In response, Anu creates a wild man, 

Enkidu, out in the harsh and wild forests surrounding Gilgamesh's lands. This 

brute, Enkidu, has the strength of dozens of wild animals; he is to serve as the 

subhuman rival to the superhuman Gilgamesh.

A trapper's son, while checking on traps in the forest, discovers Enkidu running 

naked with the wild animals; he rushes to his father with the news. The father 

advises him to go into the city and take one of the temple harlots, Shamhat, with 

him to the forest; 1 when she sees Enkidu, she is to offer herself sexually to 

the wild man. If he submits to her, the trapper says, he will lose his strength 

and his wildness.

Shamhat meets Enkidu at the watering-hole where all the wild animals gather; she 

offers herself to him and he submits, instantly losing his strength and wildness, 

but he gains understanding and knowledge. He laments for his lost state, but the 

harlot offers to take him into the city where all the joys of civilization shine 

in their resplendence; she offers to show him Gilgamesh, the only man worthy of 

Enkidu's friendship.

Gilgamesh meanwhile has two dreams; in the first a meteorite falls to earth which 

is so great that Gilgamesh can neither lift it nor turn it. The people gather 

and celebrate around the meteorite, and Gilgamesh embraces it as he would a wife, 

but his mother, the goddess Rimat-Ninsun, forces him to compete with the meteorite. 

In the second, Gilgamesh dreams that an axe appears at his door, so great that 

he can neither lift it nor turn it. The people gather and celebrate around the 

axe, and Gilgamesh embraces it as he would a wife, but his mother, again, forces 

him to compete with the axe. Gilgamesh asks his mother what these dreams might 

mean; she tells him a man of great force and strength will come into Uruk. Gilgamesh 

will embrace this man as he would a wife, and this man will help Gilgamesh perform 

great deeds. 

Tablet 2

Enkidu is gradually introduced to civilization by living for a time with a group 

of shepherds, who teach him how to tend flocks, how to eat, how to speak properly, 

and how to wear clothes. Enkidu then enters the city of Uruk during a great celebration. 

Gilgamesh, as the king, claims the right to have sexual intercourse first with 

every new bride on the day of her wedding; as Enkidu enters the city, Gilgamesh 

is about to claim that right. Infuriated at this abuse, Enkidu stands in front 

of the door of the marital chamber and blocks Gilgamesh's way. They fight furiously 

until Gilgamesh wins the upper hand; Enkidu concedes Gilgamesh's superiority and 

the two embrace and become devoted friends.

Both Enkidu and Gilgamesh gradually weaken and grow lazy living in the city, so 

Gilgamesh proposes a great adventure: they are to journey to the great Cedar Forest 

in southern Iran and cut down all the cedar trees. To do this, they will need 

to kill the Guardian of the Cedar Forest, the great demon, Humbaba the Terrible. 

Enkidu knows about Humbaba from his days running wild in the forest; he tries 

in vain to convince Gilgamesh not to undertake this folly. 

Tablet 3

[Most of tablet three doesn't exist] 

The elders of the city protest Gilgamesh's endeavor, but agree reluctantly. They 

place the life of the king in the hands of Enkidu, whom they insist shall take 

the forward position in the battle with Humbaba. Gilgamesh's mother laments her 

son's fate in a prayer to the sun-god, Shamash, asking that god why he put a restless 

heart in the breast of her son. Shamash promises her that he will watch out for 

Gilgamesh's life. Ramat-Ninsun, too, commands Enkidu to guard the life of the 

king and to take the forward position in the battle with Humbaba. In panic, Enkidu 

again tries to convince Gilgamesh not to undertake this journey, but Gilgamesh 

is confident of success. 

Tablet 4

Tablet four tells the story of the journey to the cedar forest. On each day of 

the six day journey, Gilgamesh prays to Shamash; in response to these prayers, 

Shamash sends Gilgamesh oracular dreams during the night. These dreams are all 

ominous: The first is not preserved. In the second, Gilgamesh dreams that he wrestles 

a great bull that splits the ground with his breath. Enkidu interprets the dream 

for Gilgamesh; the dream means that Shamash, the bull, will protect Gilgamesh. 

In the third, Gilgamesh dreams: 

The skies roared with thunder and the earth heaved,

Then came darkness and a stillness like death.

Lightening smashed the ground and fires blazed out;

Death flooded from the skies.

When the heat died and the fires went out,

The plains had turned to ash.

Enkidu's interpretation is missing here, but like the other dreams, it is assumed 

he puts a positive spin on the dream. The fourth dream is missing, but Enkidu 

again tells Gilgamesh that the dream portends success in the upcoming battle. 

The fifth dream is also missing.

At the entrance to the Cedar Forest, Gilgamesh begins to quake with fear; he prays 

to Shamash, reminding him that he had promised Ninsun that he would be safe. Shamash 

calls down from heaven, ordering him to enter the forest because Humbaba is not 

wearing all his armor. The demon Humbaba wears seven coats of armor, but now he 

is only wearing one so he is particularly vulnerable. Enkidu loses his courage 

and turns back; Gilgamesh falls on him and they have a great fight. Hearing the 

crash of their fighting, Humbaba comes stalking out of the Cedar Forest to challenge 

the intruders. A large part of the tablet is missing here. On the one part of 

the tablet still remaining, Gilgamesh convinces Enkidu that they should stand 

together against the demon. 

Tablet 5

Gilgamesh and Enkidu enter the gloriously beautiful Cedar Forest and begin to 

cut down the trees. Hearing the sound, Humbaba comes roaring up to them and warns 

them off. Enkidu shouts at Humbaba that the two of them are much stronger than 

the demon, but Humbaba, who knows Gilgamesh is a king, taunts the king for taking 

orders from a nobody like Enkidu. Turning his face into a hideous mask, Humbaba 

begins to threaten the pair, and Gilgamesh runs and hides. Enkidu shouts at Gilgamesh, 

inspiring him with courage, and Gilgamesh appears from hiding and the two begin 

their epic battle with Humbaba. Shamash intrudes on the battle, helping the pair, 

and Humbaba is defeated. On his knees, with Gilgamesh's sword at his throat, Humbaba 

begs for his life and offers Gilgamesh all the tress in the forest and his eternal 

servitude. While Gilgamesh is thinking this over, Enkidu intervenes, telling Gilgamesh 

to kill Humbaba before any of the gods arrive and stop him from doing so. Should 

he kill Humbaba, he will achieve widespread fame for all the times to come. Gilgamesh, 

with a great sweep of his sword, removes Humbaba's head. But before he dies, Humbaba 

screams out a curse on Enkidu: "Of you two, may Enkidu not live the longer, 

may Enkidu not find any peace in this world!" 

Gilgamesh and Enkidu cut down the cedar forest and in particular the tallest of 

the cedar trees to make a great cedar gate for the city of Uruk. They build a 

raft out of the cedar and float down the Euphrates river to their city. 

Tablet 6

After these events, Gilgamesh, his fame widespread and his frame resplendent in 

his wealthy clothes, attracts the sexual attention of the goddess Ishtar, who 

comes to Gilgamesh and offers to become his lover. Gilgamesh refuses with insults, 

listing all the mortal lovers that Ishtar has had and recounting the dire fates 

they all met with at her hands. Deeply insulted, Ishtar returns to heaven and 

begs her father, the sky-god Anu, to let her have the Bull of Heaven to wreak 

vengeance on Gilgamesh and his city: 

Father, let me have the Bull of Heaven

To kill Gilgamesh and his city.

For if you do not grant me the Bull of Heaven,

I will pull down the Gates of Hell itself,

Crush the doorposts and flatten the door,

And I will let the dead leave

And let the dead roam the earth 

And they shall eat the living.

The dead will overwhelm all the living!

Anu reluctantly gives in, and the Bull of Heaven is sent down into Uruk. Each 

time the bull breathes, its breath is so powerful that enormous abysses are opened 

up in the earth and hundreds of people fall through to their deaths. Working together 

again, Gilgamesh and Enkidu slay the mighty bull. Ishtar is enraged, but Enkidu 

begins to insult her, saying that she is next, that he and Gilgamesh will kill 

her next, and he rips one of the thighs off the bull and hurls it into her face. 

Tablet 7

Enkidu falls ill after having a set of ominous dreams; he finds out from the priests 

that he has been singled out for vengeance by the gods. The Chief Gods have met 

and have decided that someone should be punished for the killing of Humbaba and 

the killing of the Bull of Heaven, so of the two heroes, they decide Enkidu should 

pay the penalty. Enraged at the injustice of the decision, Enkidu curses the great 

Cedar Gate built from the wood of the Cedar Forest, and he curses the temple harlot, 

Shamhat, and the trapper, for introducing him to civilization. Shamhash reminds 

him that, even though his life has been short, he has enjoyed the fruits of civilization 

and known great happiness. Enkidu then blesses the harlot and the trapper. In 

a dream, a great demon comes to take Enkidu and drags him to Hell, a House of 

Dust where all the dead end up; as he is dying, he describes Hell: 

The house where the dead dwell in total darkness,

Where they drink dirt and eat stone,

Where they wear feathers like birds,

Where no light ever invades their everlasting darkness,

Where the door and the lock of Hell is coated with thick dust.

When I entered the House of Dust,

On every side the crowns of kings were heaped,

On every side the voices of the kings who wore those crowns,

Who now only served food to the gods Anu and Enlil,

Candy, meat, and water poured from skins.

I saw sitting in this House of Dust a priest and a servant,

I also saw a priest of purification and a priest of ecstasy,

I saw all the priests of the great gods.

There sat Etana and Sumukan,

There sat Ereshkigal, the queen of Hell,

Beletseri, the scribe of Hell, sitting before her.

Beletseri held a tablet and read it to Ereshkigal.

She slowly raised her head when she noticed me

She pointed at me:

"Who has sent this man?"

Enkidu commends himself to Gilgamesh, and after suffering terribly for twelve 

days, he finally dies. 

Tablet 8

Gilgamesh is torn apart by the death of his friend, and utters a long lament, 

ordering all of creation to never fall silent in mourning his dead friend. Most 

of this tablet is missing, but the second half seems to be a description of the 

monument he builds for Enkidu. 

Tablet 9

Gilgamesh allows his life to fall apart; he does not bathe, does not shave, does 

not take care of himself, not so much out of grief for his friend, but because 

he now realizes that he too must die and the thought sends him into a panic. He 

decides that he can't live unless granted eternal life; he decides to undertake 

the most perilous journey of all: the journey to Utnapishtim and his wife, the 

only mortals on whom the gods had granted eternal life. Utnapishtim is the Far-Away, 

living at the mouth of all rivers, at the ends of the world. Utnapishtim was the 

great king of the world before the Flood and, with his wife, was the only mortal 

preserved by the gods during the Flood. After an ominous dream, Gilgamesh sets 

out. He arrives at Mount Mashu, which guards the rising and the setting of the 

sun, and encounters two large scorpions who guard the way past Mount Mashu. They 

try to convince him that his journey is futile and fraught with danger, but still 

they allow him to pass. Past Mount Mashu is the land of Night, where no light 

ever appears. Gilgamesh journeys eleven leagues before the light begins to glimmer, 

after twelve leagues he has emerged into day. He enters into a brilliant garden 

of gems, where every tree bears precious stones. 

Tablet 10

Gilgamesh comes to a tavern by the ocean shore; the tavern is kept by Siduri. 

Frightened by Gilgamesh's ragged appearance, Siduri locks the tavern door and 

refuses to let Gilgamesh in. Gilgamesh proves his identity and asks Siduri how 

to find Utnapishtim. Like the giant scorpions, she tells him that his journey 

is futile and fraught with dangers. However, she directs him to Urshanabi, the 

ferryman, who works for Utnapishtim. Gilgamesh approaches Urshanabi with great 

arrogance and violence and in the process destroys the "stone things" 

that are somehow critical for the journey to Utnapishtim. When Gilgamesh demands 

to be taken to Utnapishtim, the ferryman tells him that it is now impossible, 

since the "stone things" have been destroyed. Nevertheless, he advises 

Gilgamesh to cut several trees down to serve as punting poles; the waters they 

are to cross are the Waters of Death, should any mortal touch the waters, that 

man will instantly die. With the punting poles, Gilgamesh can push the boat and 

never touch the dangerous waters.

After a long and dangerous journey, Gilgamesh arrives at a shore and encounters 

another man. He tells this man that he is looking for Utnapishtim and the secret 

of eternal life; the old man advises Gilgamesh that death is a necessary fact 

because of the will of the gods; all human effort is only temporary, not permanent. 

Tablet 11

At this point, Gilgamesh realizes that he is talking to Utnapishtim, the Far-Away; 

he hadn't expected an immortal human to be ordinary and aged. He asks Utnapishtim 

how he received immortality, and Utnapishtim tells him the great secret hidden 

from humans: In the time before the Flood, there was a city, Shuruppak, on the 

banks of the Euphrates. There, the counsel of the gods held a secret meeting; 

they all resolved to destroy the world in a great flood. All the gods were under 

oath not to reveal this secret to any living thing, but Ea (one of the gods that 

created humanity) came to Utnapishtim's house and told the secret to the walls 

of Utnapishtim's house, thus not technically violating his oath to the rest of 

the gods. He advised the walls of Utnapishtim's house to build a great boat, its 

length as great as its breadth, to cover the boat, and to bring all living things 

into the boat. Utnapishtim gets straight to work and finishes the great boat by 

the new year. Utnapishtim then loads the boat with gold, silver, and all the living 

things of the earth, and launches the boat. Ea orders him into the boat and commands 

him to close the door behind him. The black clouds arrive, with the thunder god 

Adad rumbling within them; the earth splits like an earthenware pot, and all the 

light turns to darkness. The Flood is so great that even the gods are frightened: 

The gods shook like beaten dogs, hiding in the far corners of heaven,

Ishtar screamed and wailed:

"The days of old have turned to stone:

We have decided evil things in our Assembly!

Why did we decide those evil things in our Assembly?

Why did we decide to destroy our people?

We have only just now created our beloved humans;

We now destroy them in the sea!"

All the gods wept and wailed along with her,

All the gods sat trembling, and wept.

The Flood lasts for seven days and seven nights, and finally light returns to 

the earth. Utnapishtim opens a window and the entire earth has been turned into 

a flat ocean; all humans have been turned to stone. Utnapishtim then falls to 

his knees and weeps.

Utnapishtim's boat comes to rest on the top of Mount Nimush; the boat lodges firmly 

on the mountain peak just below the surface of the ocean and remains there for 

seven days. On the seventh day: 

I [Utnapishtim] released a dove from the boat,

It flew off, but circled around and returned,

For it could find no perch.

I then released a swallow from the boat,

It flew off, but circled around and returned,

For it could find no perch.

I then released a raven from the boat,

It flew off, and the waters had receded:

It eats, it scratches the ground, but it does not circle around and return.

I then sent out all the living things in every direction and sacrificed a sheep 

on that very spot.

The gods smell the odor of the sacrifice and begin to gather around Utnapishtim. 

Enlil, who had originally proposed to destroy all humans, then arrives, furious 

that one of the humans had survived, since they had agreed to wipe out all humans. 

He accuses Ea of treachery, but Ea convinces Enlil to be merciful. Enlil then 

seizes Utnapishtim and his wife and blesses them: 

At one time Utnapishtim was mortal.

At this time let him be a god and immortal;

Let him live in the far away at the source of all the rivers.

At the end of his story, Utnapishtim offers Gilgamesh a chance at immortality. 

If Gilgamesh can stay awake for six days and seven nights, he, too, will become 

immortal. Gilgamesh accepts these conditions and sits down on the shore; the instant 

he sits down he falls asleep. Utnapishtim tells his wife that all men are liars, 

that Gilgamesh will deny having fallen asleep, so he asks his wife to bake a loaf 

of bread every day and lay the loaf at Gilgamesh's feet. Gilgamesh sleeps without 

ever waking up for six days and seven nights, at which point Utnapishtim wakes 

him up. Startled, Gilgamesh says, "I only just dozed off for half a second 

here." Utnapishtim points out the loaves of bread, showing their states of 

decay from the most recent, fresh bread, to the oldest, moldy, stale bread that 

had been laid at his feet on the very first day. Gilgamesh is distraught: 

O woe! What do I do now, where do I go now?

Death has devoured my body,

Death dwells in my body,

Wherever I go, wherever I look, there stands Death!

Utnapishtim's wife convinces the old man to have mercy on him; he offers Gilgamesh 

in place of immortality a secret plant that will make Gilgamesh young again. The 

plant is at the bottom of the ocean surrounding the Far-Away; Gilgamesh ties stones 

to his feet, sinks to the bottom, and plucks the magic plant. But he doesn't use 

it because he doesn't trust it; rather he decides to take it back to Uruk and 

test it out on an old man first, to make sure it works.

Urshanabi takes him across the Waters of Death. Several leagues inland, Gilgamesh 

and Urshanabi stop to eat and sleep; while they're sleeping, a snake slithers 

up and eats the magic plant (which is why snakes shed their skin) and crawls away. 

Gilgamesh awakens to find the plant gone; he falls to his knees and weeps: 

For whom have I labored? For whom have I journeyed?

For whom have I suffered?

I have gained absolutely nothing for myself,

I have only profited the snake, the ground lion!

The tale ends with Gilgamesh, at the end of his journey standing before the gates 

of Uruk, inviting Urshanabi to look around and view the greatness of this city, 

its high walls, its masonwork, and here at the base of its gates, as the foundation 

of the city walls, a stone of lapis lazuli on which is carved Gilgamesh's account 

of his exploits.