196 THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH
Utnapishtim told Gilgamesh that
humans could not be immortal.
The gods, he said, decided the
length of each human life, and
did not reveal the time of death,
so there was no point in searching
for a way to avoid it.The immortal man
Utnapishtim told Gilgamesh that
he had earned immortality by
saving humanity during the Great
Flood. Such a thing could happenonly once; Gilgamesh would never
gain immortality that way. Seeking
to prove this point to Gilgamesh,
who still believed himself worthy
of immortality, Utnapishtim
challenged the king to stay awake
for a total of six days and seven
nights, instructing his wife to bake
a loaf of bread for every night that
Gilgamesh slept, so that he could
not deny his failure.
Gilgamesh accepted the
challenge, but immediately fell
asleep. When he finally woke up,
Utnapishtim rebuked the king for
his arrogance, noting that while
he wanted to overcome death,
he was not even able to overcome
his desire for sleep. So that no onecould find him again, Utnapishtim
banished the ferryman Urshanabi,
and sent Gilgamesh away.A parting gift
Before Gilgamesh and Urshanabi
left, Utnapishtim’s wife, who was
also immortal, convinced her
husband to give Gilgamesh a
present. He told the king that
if he wanted youth, a flower at the
bottom of the lake could provide it.
Hungry for this gift, Gilgamesh
tied stone weights to his feet, dived
into the lake, and retrieved the
plant. Cutting the weights free, he
resurfaced, found Urshanabi, and
told him that he would test the
plant on the oldest person in Uruk
before using it on himself. On his
way home, however, Gilgamesh
stopped to bathe in a spring. Just
at that moment, a snake stole the
flower from his grasp, shed its skin,
and was young again. Heartbroken,
Gilgamesh realized that youth,
like immortality, had escaped
him. Now, he was fated to age
and die. The king’s story ended
as it had begun, with Gilgamesh
walking the walls of his city,
surveying his domain. AlthoughUtnapishtim and his wife are
believed to be the subjects of this
devotional gypsum sculpture from
2600 bce, excavated from beneath
a shrine at Nippur, Iraq.The eternal life you are
seeking you shall not find.
When the gods created
mankind, they established
death for mankind, and
withheld eternal life
for themselves.
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ASIA 197
Gilgamesh could not become
immortal, he had become a good
king, who could describe not
just the limits of his city, but the
limits of human endeavor. His
acceptance of mortality and of
his own humanity left a lasting
impression on the people of
Uruk, who passed his story
down through the generations.Great Flood myths
The tale of how Utnapishtim and
his wife survived the Great Flood
is similar to other flood myths of
the ancient Near East, such as the
Sumerian flood myth of Ziusudra,
the biblical tale of Noah, and the
myth of Deucalion and Pyrrha in
Greek mythology. Each of these
revolves around a figure who rides
out the flood in a large boat.
The story told in the Epic of
Gilgamesh is remarkably similar to
the biblical story of Noah and the
ark. Utnapishtim tells how he had
once been the king of a beautiful
city called Shuruppak. Enlil argued
for the destruction of humankind
and, while his motives are unclear,The boat built by Utnapishtim to
survive the Great Flood is described
as having six decks, equivalent to
180 feet (55 m) high, and being in the
shape of a giant cube.The innkeeper’s
wisdomSome scholars argue that the
redemption of Gilgamesh was
due to his encounter with the
immortal Utnapishtim. Others
cite Siduri, the innkeeper
who lived on the edge of the
sea. From her remote tavern,
Siduri saw a man, Gilgamesh,
dressed in animal skins
approaching from the horizon.
At first, she locked the door in
fear, but then took pity on him.
She offered him food, but he
refused, saying he no longer
had such needs because he
was in search of immortality.
Siduri told the king that
death was part of being
human. Instead of seeking
immortality, he should take
delight wherever he could.
She said he should be proud
of his children, rejoice in them
holding his hand, and share
his happiness with friends.
These things, she said, were
what it meant to be human.the gods consented to his plan—
but Ea, the god of wisdom and
water, enabled Utnapishtim
and his wife to survive. Ea told
Utnapishtim to fashion a boat,
take aboard the seeds of all living
things, and eventually repopulate
the earth. When the boat was
finished, Utnapishtim took
animals, food, and beer onboard.
The flood raged for seven days
and seven nights, and when the
rains stopped, the boat drifted to
a halt atop Mount Nimush, known
today as Pir Omar Gudrun in Iraqi
Kurdistan. There, Utnapishtim
released a swallow, then a dove,
and finally a raven to find dry
ground. When none of the birds
returned, Unapishtim knew it was
safe to leave the boat. He made a
sacrifice to the gods; to thank him
for his deed, just like in the story of
Noah, they created a rainbow. ■So someday you
will depart, but ’til
that day, sing and dance.
Eat your fill of warm
cooked food and cool jugs
of beer. Cherish the children
your love gave life. Bathe
away life’s dirt in warm
drawn waters.
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