• The Epic of Gilgamesh

Rebellion Against Life

Gilgamesh, the ruler of Uruk, was a tyrant upon the earth, rejoicing in his towering, giant stature, his immense body, and the dazzling beauty that captivated all who saw him. Two-thirds of him was divine, while the other third was human. He was a descendant of Shamash-Nishtin, the sole immortal creature who had survived the flood. No one resembled him in appearance, in his knowledge of the secrets of the unseen, and in his vision that saw all things, even those hidden in the farthest corners of the unknown world.

In his heart was a thirsty longing for love. Because of his endless adventures to quench this constant thirst, fathers and husbands complained daily to the goddess of love and beauty, Ishtar, of Gilgamesh’s attempts to harass their wives and maidens, begging her for protection for themselves and for their daughters and wives.

Ishtar heard the desperate pleas of the people and went to the goddess Aruru, the godmother of Gilgamesh, imploring her to create another son equal in power and might to Gilgamesh, who could occupy him in a prolonged struggle, allowing the minds of husbands and fathers across Uruk to find rest.

Aruru accepted Ishtar’s plea and kneaded pieces of clay, breathing life into them, and thus shaped Enkidu.

He came forth a man with the strength of a boar, the mane of a lion, and the ferocity of a bird, his body covered in thick hair and his shoulders draped with long hair like that of a woman, golden as the hair of the god of grain.

Since his creation, Enkidu cared nothing for the company of men. Instead, he isolated himself, keeping away from them. He lived with the wild animals, grazing grass with the gazelles, playing with the creatures of the sea, and quenching his thirst with the beasts of the fields.

One day, a hunter named Tesaidu tried to capture him with nets, but he failed. The hunter tried again on another day, but Enkidu was always skilled in escaping him. Anger filled the hunter’s heart, and he rushed to Gilgamesh to explain, saying: Enkidu has never fallen into any net, but there is another net that can capture him, and that is the net of women.

Gilgamesh replied:
“What is it you want from me? The woman or the net?”

The hunter answered:
“Enkidu claims he is stronger than you, and I want to bring him here before you so you may prove to him that his strength is weakness itself compared to yours. Thus, I beg you to lend me a beautiful priestess who can entangle Enkidu in the snare of her love and lead him to you.”

Gilgamesh said:
“Then go, hunter, and take with you the priestess Akhuta. When the beasts come with Enkidu to the water source to drink, have her reveal her face and legs. You hide yourself, and everything else you wish for will follow.”

The hunter and the priestess Akhuta went to where Enkidu came to drink with the beasts.

When the human-like beast approached, the sweet priestess stretched out her hand and began removing her veils one after another, then stood before him naked, her body trembling with thirst.

Enkidu turned his head toward the beautiful woman and paused. He began stealing glances at her with longing and desire, and a flame of fire ignited within him.

From his hiding place, the hunter urged the priestess Akhuta to approach Enkidu and give him all that would make him forget himself, his friends, and his wilderness.

Enkidu remained with the priestess for six days and seven nights, drinking deeply of happiness. When boredom overtook him and he regained his senses, he looked around and found all the wild animals and friends of his had dispersed and left him. Sorrow filled Enkidu’s heart, but the priestess shook him, saying:

“You, who have attained the greatness of the gods, how can you delight in living among the beasts and their kind? Come with me to the kingdom of Uruk where Gilgamesh lives, unmatched in might. Come, let me lead you to the magnificent palace where the god Anu and the goddess Ishtar reside, granting you the secrets of strength and vigor.”

Enkidu found the offer enticing and began yearning to meet Gilgamesh, announcing his agreement to follow the woman to the city of Uruk, saying:

“Let us go so I may see the place where Gilgamesh lives. I will fight him, defeat him, and show him my power and vigor.”

The three set off toward Uruk: Akhuta, Enkidu, and the hunter.

At that time, Uruk was celebrating the festival of Ishtar, and the people were feasting, drinking, and rejoicing when the news of Enkidu’s arrival, the rival of Gilgamesh, reached them.

The people danced more joyfully, and the gods rejoiced, for they were pleased that Gilgamesh, the abductor of wives and maidens, might be defeated and dethroned from the seat he had defiled.

Indeed, Enkidu possessed the strength to defeat Gilgamesh, but something else had happened. Ishtar had seen Gilgamesh and admired him, deciding to prevent the brutal conflict that was to occur. She appeared to Enkidu in a dream, whispering in his ear that Gilgamesh was stronger than he and that it would be wise to avoid the conflict.

The same happened with Gilgamesh. It seemed to him as if his mother appeared in a dream, warning him against fighting Enkidu and urging him to become friends with him.

And so it was. Those who were meant to be enemies met and became loyal friends. They walked daily side by side, protecting Uruk from the attacks of Elam, returning victorious after performing the greatest of deeds.

Yet Enkidu could not endure city life for long. He began to grow weary of it, yearning to return to the forest where he once lived. In a dream, the spirit of Shamash-Nishtin appeared to him, enticing him to remain on earth and guiding him toward the rewards of living within it. Shamash-Nishtin said:

“Gilgamesh is your friend and your brother. He will grant you a grand bed to sleep on and a throne-like seat at his left side, and he will make all the kings of the earth kneel beneath your feet in admiration and respect.”

Temptation swayed Enkidu, and he agreed to remain alongside Gilgamesh, no longer lamenting his stay in the kingdom of Uruk.

Gilgamesh himself was pleased by Enkidu’s presence, declaring that peace had come, removing his armor of war, donning sacred white robes, adorning himself with the royal insignia, and wearing the crown.

At that moment, Ishtar appeared, astonished by his beauty and might, gazing upon him with her enchanting eyes, saying:

“Come, Gilgamesh, and be my husband. Let us share the cups of love and passion. I will place you in a chariot of lapis lazuli and gold, inlaid with agate, drawn by seven lions. You will enter our house with incense rising around you from cedarwood. Come, I will grant you dominion, and your feet will embrace all lands bordering the sea, and I will make the heads of kings bow before you, bringing you the fruits of the mountains and plains as tribute.”

But Gilgamesh knew Ishtar well, aware of her violent, terrifying tales. He shook his head, saying:

“You are a betrayer, Ishtar. My head will not rest upon my shoulders if I place faith in your love and surrender to your arts of passion.”

Ishtar replied:
“And what do you know of my betrayals, young man?”

Gilgamesh answered:
“Everyone here speaks of what your treacherous love has done to all who have fallen into your snare. You loved the eagle and then clipped its wings, and you adored the horse until it perished, and you poured cups of love for the lion until it lost its mane.”

Ishtar interrupted:
“But have you heard of my sacrifices for those I loved? Have you heard my story with my beloved Tammuz?”

Gilgamesh shrugged his shoulders, and the goddess of love and beauty began to tell him her tale:

Tammuz was a shepherd youth, full of vigor, descended from the great god Ea. Ishtar, the goddess of love and beauty, saw him tending his flock beneath the sacred “Arbad” tree that spread its shade over the earth, and she fell deeply in love with him, choosing him as her husband while she was still in the bloom of youth.

The two lovers lived for a long time in a tender, beautiful love story that the heavens had never witnessed before, until one day Tammuz went out to graze his flock, and a wild boar attacked him, striking him with a fatal blow. Tammuz fell as the dead fall, descending to “Aralu,” the dark underworld.

Ishtar’s sister, Ereshkigal, ruled the vast kingdom of Aralu deep within the earth. She was jealous of her sister and filled with envy. No sooner had the youth descended into her realm than she sealed the gates and swore that he would never return to the earth alive.

Yet Ishtar decided to descend to Aralu in a desperate attempt to reclaim her beloved husband.

Ishtar embarked on a long, harsh journey, during which she passed through terrifying dangers until she reached the gates of Aralu, seeking permission to enter.

Ereshkigal ordered the keeper of the gates never to open them to her sister.

Ishtar screamed in anger, pounding on the gates of Aralu, threatening and vowing to destroy them and crush their locks and bars if she were not allowed entry.

The gatekeeper was filled with terror and panic, rushing to Ereshkigal, begging her to save him by allowing her sister to enter.

Despite the bitterness and hatred Ereshkigal held for her sister, she had to conceal these feelings before the terrified gatekeeper and permitted him to open the gates. Yet when she gave this permission, she stated that it did not prevent her from treating her sister according to the divine law that prohibited entry into Aralu except for the naked.

The gatekeeper allowed Ishtar to enter, stripping her of a part of her garments and jewelry at each of the seven gates she passed through on her way into the kingdom of darkness.

Ishtar did not protest, for her only concern was to reach the place where Tammuz was, nothing more.

At the first gate, the gatekeeper removed her crown, at the second, her earrings, then her necklace, then her breast ornaments, then her sacred jeweled belt, and then her embroidered, glittering robe that covered her arms and legs.

Despite all this, the gatekeeper was not satisfied, demanding that before she could pass through the final gate, she must remove her last garment. At first, Ishtar resisted gently, but then she yielded and surrendered.

Ishtar descended naked into the depths of Aralu.

Ereshkigal opened her eyes in wrath and hatred, for her sister was enchanting, stunning in her beauty, while she herself was ugly, deformed, and lame. She felt it was her right to pour out her anger and vengeance upon her sister.

Ereshkigal commanded her messenger Namtar:
“Go, Namtar, and imprison her in my palace. Inflict upon her sixty diseases: disease of the eyes upon her eyes, disease of the side upon her side, disease of the feet upon her feet, disease of the heart upon her heart, and disease of the head upon her head. Afflict every part of her detestable body with every disease you know.”

Namtar executed his mistress’s command.

Ishtar found herself within her sister’s prison, her body plagued by vicious diseases.

The earth looked around and found no trace of Ishtar, the goddess of love, beauty, and spring. It felt it had lost all that her presence inspired, and all arts and ways of love were forgotten. Animals no longer felt the heat of desire, and even the inhabitants of the earth, men and women, became separated from one another, and no new generation could be born.

Humanity began to dwindle, and the gods were terrified when they saw the decline in offerings sent to them by humans. Panic seized them when they witnessed many people abandoning their worship since Ishtar had vanished behind the prison bars.

The sun god was the saddest of all the heavenly gods for the people of earth, and he went to the earth god Ea, weeping, carrying to him the tale of ruin and destruction that had befallen all creatures, as he witnessed daily between sunrise and sunset.

Ea grieved over the calamities that had struck his earth and created a messenger named Ashushunampar, who went carrying his message to Aralu, requesting Ereshkigal in the name of all the gods to release Ishtar.

Ereshkigal raged when the sacred command in the name of the gods reached her through Ashushunampar, cursing and reviling him, then ordering that he be thrown into a dark pit in the depths of Aralu to die.

Yet Ereshkigal could not withstand the collective will of all the gods. Before long, she commanded her messenger Namtar to release her sister, the goddess Ishtar.

Namtar ascended with his mistress’s command, but to his surprise, Ishtar refused to leave the prison, swearing she would not depart or return to earth unless she was allowed to take her husband Tammuz with her.

Ereshkigal refused, and the earth remained barren, weeping.

The gods became angry and sent another command to Ereshkigal, ordering the release of Tammuz in response to Ishtar’s plea. Despite herself, the mistress of the underworld sent her messenger Namtar to pour the water of life upon Tammuz’s body and release him from the walls of Aralu, along with Ishtar.

Thus, Ishtar, victorious, passed back through the seven gates of Aralu with her husband, receiving at each gate what she had previously removed: her lower garments, her belt, her breast ornaments, her earrings, and her crown.

The earth looked and saw Ishtar and Tammuz returning. Plants began to grow again, animals multiplied, and people once more sought to increase their offspring. Ishtar again sat upon the throne of love, beauty, and spring.

Gilgamesh listened in astonishment to the story of Ishtar and Tammuz. But when she finished, he shook his shoulders, recalling the harsh end that befell Tammuz himself, having heard that Tammuz lost a part of his senses each day until madness overtook him and he died.

Gilgamesh swore he would never surrender to Ishtar’s love, saying as he walked away:
“You love me now, but you will destroy me as you have destroyed all those before me.”

Ishtar screamed, striking the earth and rushing toward the heavens. In her furious anger, she went to Anu, the greatest of the gods, demanding that he create a monstrous bull from the beasts to kill Gilgamesh. But Anu refused her request, saying:
“Do you not feel shame, Ishtar, now that Gilgamesh has reminded you of all your disgraces, scandals, and treacheries?”

Ishtar continued to scream, threatening to disable all love and reproductive instincts in the universe until everything perished.

The memory of the earth’s previous devastation was still vivid in Anu’s mind, forcing him to submit to Ishtar’s will, and he sent a mighty bull named Alu to challenge Gilgamesh.

Alu and Gilgamesh met.

In the fierce battle that erupted between them, Gilgamesh was nearly slain, but his friend Enkidu rushed to save him from the claws of the savage bull, and together they killed it.

Ishtar looked down in mad fury, seeing the bull dying and Gilgamesh standing over its body, striking all its limbs with his spear. Ishtar shouted:
“Cursed are you, Gilgamesh! You have angered me, I who do not anger, you who have killed the bull I sent from the heavens!”

Enkidu heard Ishtar’s curses, leapt upon the beast, tore off one of its limbs, and threw it into the face of the goddess of love and beauty, shouting:
“Shut your mouth, you deceiver, or I will attack and destroy you as we destroyed your messenger!”

Shame filled Ishtar’s mind, and she swore revenge.

Within days, Enkidu fell in the prime of his glory, struck by a fatal disease that laid him low for twelve miserable days.

It was Ishtar who had sent him the disease of death.

Sorrow filled Gilgamesh’s heart, and the image of death appeared to him as hideous and terrifying. He began to contemplate a way to escape the inevitable fate.

His thoughts led him to a single dear person, untouched by death—his great-grandfather, Shamash-Nishtin, the immortal who knew the secret of eternal life.

Gilgamesh decided to set out in search of the place where Shamash-Nishtin resided, even if his quest required him to circle the entire earth.

He departed on his journey toward the ends of the earth, where the sun sets. After traveling for days across mountains and plains, he reached a great mountain guarded by animals and beasts that would not allow him passage until the god Sin, lord of the moon, cast sleep upon them, allowing Gilgamesh to pass. He crossed the terrifying mountain to find himself before another, even more fearsome and towering, the Mountain of Sunset, where the western horizon ends between the earth and the underworld.

Two mighty guardians stood watch at its gate, their heads touching the dome of the sky, their chests reaching the depths of the earth.

Gilgamesh approached them, his face reflecting all shades of fear and dread. The guardians stopped him, asking what he wanted by approaching the entrance to the underworld. Gilgamesh answered that he wished to reach his great-grandfather, Shamash-Nishtin.

The guardians advised him to return, knowing that the secret of immortality was beyond the reach of any human being. But Gilgamesh pleaded with them, weeping, and their hearts softened, allowing him to pass.

Gilgamesh traveled twelve miles inside a tunnel shrouded in darkness. When he reached its end, light began to appear, and he found himself standing before the shore of a vast sea upon whose waters rose the throne of the virgin goddess Sibtu, mistress of the seas.

He called out to her, asking her to help him cross the waters, but the goddess of the sea refused. Gilgamesh wept, threatened, and swore that if he could not reach Shamash-Nishtin, he would cast himself from the mountain’s peak to die. Sibtu pitied him and allowed him to cross the sea in a boat steered by one of her loyal servants.

Gilgamesh began a long and terrifying journey that lasted forty days and nights, until he finally found himself standing before a small island where Shamash-Nishtin, the eternally immortal, resided.

Shamash-Nishtin was astonished when he saw Gilgamesh approaching the island, for by then, the hero had fallen in the boat, afflicted by a severe disease. From his bed, Gilgamesh pleaded with his great-grandfather to grant him the secret of immortality for which he had faced so many dangers and terrors.

Shamash-Nishtin shook his head and said to him:
“Death is the end of every human. It is forbidden for any man to know the moment when his life will end. In the heavens sit the goddesses of fate, spinning the threads of life for every human and determining his end. But when will the spinning for his life cease, and at what hour? This is something no one knows, not even the spinners themselves.”

Gilgamesh replied:
“I do not seek to transgress the gods’ authority, but I wonder why you are immortal while I must die, even though my appearance is no different from yours. I resemble you exactly. You are not wiser nor more prudent than I, and I have a heart as bold and strong as yours. How is it that you enter the assembly of the gods, while I cannot? How do you find the secret of immortality while I cannot?”

Shamash-Nishtin could only attempt to convince him by telling him the story of creation, the flood, and immortality.

When Shamash finished his tale, Gilgamesh fell into deep despair and exhaustion within the depths of his boat.

Shamash-Nishtin was moved with compassion for his grandson, promising to restore his health and cure him.

Gilgamesh slept for six days and seven nights, and during his deep sleep, Shamash-Nishtin’s wife was filled with tenderness and mercy toward him, eventually asking her husband to return him safely to his daughter.

Shamash-Nishtin heeded his wife’s plea, asking her to bring him a magical substance containing seven sacred elements, which he placed between the sleeping Gilgamesh’s lips in the depths of the boat.

Six days passed, and on the seventh day, when Gilgamesh awoke, he again asked his great-grandfather for the secret of immortality.

Shamash permitted him to descend to the shore, sending him to a sacred spring to wash away the impurities of his past life. Gilgamesh cleansed himself in the sacred waters, then returned to his great-grandfather, confident that he would now receive the secret of immortality.

And so it was. Shamash-Nishtin took the hero by the hand and led him to where he could find the plant of immortality.

This sacred plant, which restores youth and grants eternal life to whoever eats it, was a type of creeping grass, its thorns sharp enough to draw blood from anyone who tried to gather it.

Gilgamesh obtained the plant and asked his great-grandfather’s permission to return to Uruk.

Thus began his journey home, in the sacred boat steered by Sibtu’s loyal helmsman, protecting him throughout the journey.

Gilgamesh traveled the first part of the journey, which took thirty segments, until he reached a place where there was a small island with a well at its center. The helmsman told him it contained sweet water, inviting him to bathe.

Gilgamesh removed his clothes and descended into the well to bathe...

Unbeknownst to Gilgamesh, a mottled serpent lay near where he had placed his clothes, catching the scent of the sacred plant. It crept forward, seized it in an instant, and disappeared.

Gilgamesh screamed as he saw the plant of immortality lost, and he wept like a child, tears streaming down his cheeks, but there was nothing he could do.

Gilgamesh resumed his journey, sorrowful, back toward the earth. Upon reaching Uruk, he roamed around its temples, praying to the gods to return Enkidu to life, even if only for a moment so that he might speak with him once more.

Despite the offerings he made to the gods Sin and Marduk, none of them answered him.

Finally, Gilgamesh went to the god Ea, who pitied him and commanded his messenger Nergal to bring him the spirit of his beloved Enkidu.

A fissure opened in the earth, and from it, the spirit of Enkidu emerged like a breath of perfume. Gilgamesh spoke to his friend:
“Tell me, my friend, what you have seen. I can no longer remain immortal upon the earth, and sooner or later, I will join you. What do you see there so that I may prepare myself?”

Enkidu replied:
“I cannot reveal the secrets of the underworld.”

Gilgamesh wept, insisting that his friend sit with him and speak. The spirit of Enkidu’s heart softened toward him, and he began to tell him the tale of the horrors of Aralu, describing how matters proceed in the underworld.

Enkidu recounted how the martyr who dies in battle sleeps upon a bed, drinks pure water, and is surrounded by his mother, father, children, and wife. But the man who dies with his corpse abandoned in the fields without burial rites must feed upon the refuse and filth discarded by others.

Enkidu concluded:
“I died a martyr, so I am blessed in the underworld. Now, the choice is yours.”

At that moment, the earth split open beneath Enkidu, and he vanished. As for Gilgamesh, he gazed around him in astonishment, then fell to the ground, his heart filled with confusion between the desire for death and the desire for life.