400 The Religions of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia‘Isullanu mine, let us eat the gourds together;
put forth thine hand and touch one ...’
Isullanu answered her:
‘Of me what requirest thou?
Has my mother not baked, have I not eaten,
that I should eat such food?
Thorns and thistles are hidden therein’(?).
When thou didst hear these his words,
thou didst smite him, and change him into a column (?),
and didst plant him in the midst of [the garden?].”Istar flew to her father Anu in heaven, and demanded from
him vengeance upon Gilgames for the slight he had put upon
her. Accordingly a monstrous bull was created, which ravaged
the country, and threatened the life of Gilgames himself. But
Gilgames was more than a match for the monster. With the
help of Ea-bani the bull was slain, and its huge horns carried
in triumph through the streets of Erech; while Istar stood in
impotent rage on the walls of the city, lamenting the death of the
bull, and calling on her harlot priestesses to weep over it with
her.
But the death of“the divine bull”had evil consequences for
the two heroes. The curse of Istar falls upon them; Gilgames
himself is smitten with a grievous sickness, and Ea-bani dies after
lingering in pain for full twelve days. Gilgames is inconsolable;
vainly he protests against the law of death which carries away the
[436] strong equally with the weak, the hero equally with the common
man. The ninth book thus begins—
“Gilgames for his friend Ea-bani
weeps bitterly and lies outstretched upon the ground.
“'Shall I not die like Ea-bani?
Grief has entered my body;
I fear death, and lie outstretched upon the ground.’ ”