The Mythology Book

ASIA 193

Meanwhile, Gilgamesh had

dreamed of a being whom he would

love more than a woman—someone

as strong as himself. Gilgamesh’s

mother, Ninsun, a minor goddess

and a priestess in the temple,

interpreted the dream and told him

he would meet a man who would

be an equal to him and a

companion in his adventures.

Gilgamesh and Enkidu

eventually met when Enkidu

blocked Gilgamesh from entering

the quarters of a new bride. The

two men wrestled, and although

Gilgamesh beat Enkidu, the king

acknowledged Enkidu as an equal

and as a brother.

Hunting Humbaba

Gilgamesh had long wanted to go

on a quest to prove his strength.

He set his sights on vanquishing

Humbaba, the divinely appointed

demon-protector of the cedar

forests, and on stealing the tallest

trees to take back as valuable

timber for Uruk. Both man and

beast, Humbaba was a formidable

opponent: his strength was

immense and he could breathe fire.

Gilgamesh armed himself to the

teeth and sought blessings from the

temple priests. Alarmed, the city

elders warned Gilgamesh that he ❯❯

See also: The quest of Odysseus 66–71 ■ The descent of Inanna 182–87 ■

Marduk and Tiamat 188–89

Worshipped as a

judge in the

Underworld

Traditionally

regarded as the

fifth King of Uruk

In Sumerian

sources, the

brother of Ishtar

(Inanna)

Supposed tomb

discovered by

archaeologists

in 2003

Sometimes

linked to

Dumuzid the

shepherd

Named in the

Sumerian

King List

In myth

King

Gilgamesh

Written in clay

The clay tablets from which

the fullest version of the

Gilgamesh epic have been

pieced together were found in

1853 during excavations of the

Library of Ashurbanipal II, in

the ancient Assyrian city of

Nineveh. Building on an oral

tradition and on earlier written

versions of the myth, the 12

tablets combine many different

stories about Gilgamesh into a

single epic poem. While some

verses from the epic date to

ca. 2100 bce, the most recent

version of the text, composed

in Akkadian cuneiform, an

ancient Semitic form of writing

from Mesopotamia, dates to

the Neo-Assyrian period

(9th–6th century bce).

Gaps in the Ninevite

version of the poem have been

filled by text from the Middle

Babylonian period (15th–11th

century bce) found in other

locations. The discovery of

the tablets changed the way

scholars understood daily

life in ancient Mesopotamia.

Part of The Epic of Gilgamesh

is reproduced in this plaster cast

dating from the 9th–7th century

bce. This tablet, the 11th of the

famous 12, recounts the story of

Utnapishtim and the Great Flood.

Humbaba’s mouth is fire; his

roar is the floodwater; he

breathes and there is death.

The Epic of Gilgamesh

In history

US_190_197_Gilgamesh.indd 193 05/12/17 4:16 pm