Mythology Book

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 happen

only 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 one

could 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. Although

Utnapishtim 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.

The Epic of Gilgamesh

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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

wisdom

Some 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.

The Epic of Gilgamesh

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