Th e story of the Epic of Gilgamesh is a timeless one of
adventure, seduction, rivalry, peril, battles, twists of fate, and
fl oods. It infl uenced later epics, such as those written by the
Greek poet Homer, as well as later epics written in the medi-
eval period. Th e fi rst tablet, or book, introduces Gilgamesh,
the king of Uruk. He is one-third human and two-thirds god,
and he is the strongest, most heroic person every created. At
the opening of the epic he has become somewhat saddened
and uncertain of his role as king. His subjects, however, be-
lieve his rule is too harsh; when they complain, Aruru, the
goddess of creation, creates Enkidu to serve as Gilgamesh’s
rival, thinking that a rival will both perk up Gilgamesh and
keep him in line. Enkidu is described as a wild man, but he is
seduced by a priestess, Shamhat, who tames him and makes
him a fi tter companion for and rival to the king.
In the second book Enkidu challenges Gilgamesh. Th e
two engage in a mighty battle, but Gilgamesh breaks off the
fi ghting and proposes that the two adventure to the Cedar
Forest to kill a demon. Cedar was a highly valuable wood in
the region, for its oils make it resistant to rot from moisture;
for this reason, cedar would have held great cultural signifi -
cance as a symbol of some permanence in a world that could
abruptly change from fl ooding. Th e third book details their
preparations for the journey, and readers learn that they have
gained the support of Shamash, the sun god. Th e fourth book
narrates the events of their journey to the Cedar Forest, and
then, in the fi ft h book, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, with help
from Shamhat, kill Humbaba, a demon who guards the for-
est. Th ey then fell the trees, turn them into a huge raft , and
fl oat them back to Uruk.
In the sixth book Gilgamesh is tempted by Ishtar, a god-
dess who is the daughter of Anu. Ishtar grows angry because
Gilgamesh rejects her sexual advances, so she asks her father
to send the Bull of Heaven to avenge her, but Gilgamesh and
Enkidu kill the bull. Now the gods are angry, and in the sev-
enth book they want to exact punishment on someone for
killing the bull. Th e gods condemn Enkidu to death, but in
the meantime he becomes ill. As he is dying, he describes the
Netherworld, or underworld, to Gilgamesh. Th e eighth book
consists of Gilgamesh’s lament for the death of the man who
has become his friend and companion.
Gilgamesh, having seen his friend die, wants to avoid
death, so in the ninth book he makes a journey fi lled with
perils to consult with Ut-napishtim and his wife. Th ese two
were the only humans to have survived the Great Flood, and
the gods granted them immortality. Gilgamesh hopes that
they can share with him the secret of immortality. While he
is on the journey, he encounters Siduri, an alewife who tries
to turn his from his quest.
In the 10th book Gilgamesh crosses the Waters of Death
in the company of a ferryman, Urshanabi. In the epic’s cli-
mactic 11th book Gilgamesh meets up with Ut-napishtim,
who recounts for him the events surrounding the Great
Flood—again, a common motif in a region susceptible to
fl ooding. With reluctance, he agrees to off er Gilgamesh a
chance at immortality by telling him that if he can remain
awake for six days and seven nights, he will achieve immor-
tality. Gilgamesh, however, has been fatigued by his travels
and adventures and falls asleep. Ut-napishtim believes that
Gilgamesh will deny that he has slept, so he has his wife bake
one loaf of bread for each day Gilgamesh sleeps. Th e loaves of
bread would be proof of Gilgamesh’s failure.
When Gilgamesh awakens, Ut-napishtim off ers his king
another chance at immortality by telling him about a plant
that will make him young again if he eats it, but only if he
can retrieve the plant from the bottom of the sea. Gilgamesh
succeeds in obtaining the plant, but he does not eat it, for he
wants share it with others in Uruk. He decides to bathe, so
he places the plant on the shore, where a snake steals it. Gil-
gamesh has lost both of his opportunities to achieve immor-
tality. When he returns to Uruk and sees its imposing walls,
he realizes that mortals can achieve a kind of immortality
by building lasting cultures and civilizations. While the epic
nominally consists of 12 books, the last book was written later
and added to the fi rst 11. In that book Enkidu is still alive, so
the book is out of sequence. Most literary historians regard
the 12th book as a separate work.THE ATRAHASIS EPIC
In a region of the world that fl ooded every year, it comes as
no surprise that fl oods and their consequences would play a
major role in the fate of characters. Flooding, too, occurs in
cycles, and it was this cycle of death and rebirth that people
wanted to understand and, if possible, escape. In the Epic of
Gilgamesh, one of the central events narrated is the Great
Flood, but as noted, the epic is in a sense a compilation of
stories and myths. One of these myths is the Atrahasis epic,
which provides more detail about a great fl ood. Scholars be-
lieve that the Atrahasis epic formed the basis of the fl ood
story in Gilgamesh and that, in fact, the Atrahasis epic was
incorporated into Gilgamesh. It is also worth noting that
historians and theologians believe that the Babylonian fl ood
stories formed the basis for the story of the biblical Flood
and Noah’s ark in the book of Genesis. For this reason the
Atrahasis epic is sometimes referred to as the “Babylonian
Genesis.”
Historians date the oldest copy of the Atrahasis epic to
sometimes around 1646 to 1626 b.c.e., during the reign of
Ammisaduqa, the great-grandson of the great Babylonian
lawgiver, Hammurabi. For hundreds of years scribes con-
tinued to copy and transmit the epic, which was originally
written in Akkadian. Th e epic outlines the cosmology of the
ancient Babylonians—that is, their view of the world and
or creation—who saw the heavens as ruled by the god Anu,
the earth ruled by Enlil, and the oceans by Enki. Th e epic
opens with Enlil ordering the lesser gods to work the land as
farmers and to control the waters with irrigation ditches, but
when the lesser gods refuse to continue work aft er a period
of 3,600 years, Enki proposes that humans be created to do
the work. Th us, a goddess named Mami creates humans out648 literature: The Middle East