"Aruru, you made Gilgamesh. Now make his equal. Let them clash like wild bulls, and let Uruk find peace."
"I have lost my brother Enkidu. I have sat at his graveside. Now I am afraid of death. I want to find Utnapishtim, the Faraway, who survived the Flood."
This is the story of the king who built those walls: Gilgamesh, the man who saw the deep. He was two-thirds god and one-third man. He knew all things—every secret, every hidden trail. He brought back a tale from before the Flood. He carved his deeds on a lapis lazuli tablet and sealed it in a copper chest.
They tore out the bull's right thigh and threw it in Ishtar's face. epic of gilgamesh full version
Enkidu relented and blessed her instead.
"I will kill Humbaba," Gilgamesh said, "and carve my name on the mountains."
Ishtar screamed in fury. She ran to heaven, to her father Anu. "Father, make the Bull of Heaven! If you do not, I will break the doors of the underworld and let the dead outnumber the living!" "Aruru, you made Gilgamesh
He came to the twin peaks of Mount Mashu, whose gates were guarded by scorpion-men whose terror was death. The scorpion-man saw the desperation in his eyes. "No mortal has passed this mountain. But go. The path of the sun is ahead."
"But Gilgamesh," Utnapishtim said, "who will gather the gods for you? Let me test you. Stay awake for six days and seven nights."
Anu gave her the bull. It came down to Uruk—a creature whose first snort opened pits in the earth, killing two hundred men. Its second snort killed three hundred. Gilgamesh and Enkidu caught the bull by its horns. Enkidu leaped onto its back and drove his sword into the nape. Gilgamesh plunged his dagger into the heart. I have sat at his graveside
Gilgamesh tied stones to his feet, dove to the abyss, and plucked the plant. He surfaced, laughing. He would take it to Uruk, test it on an old man first, then eat it himself.
The gods wept. Ishtar screamed, "How could you destroy my people?" Enlil was furious—but Ea shamed him. "You made the flood without reason. Punish the guilty, not the innocent." Enlil relented and granted Utnapishtim eternal life.
He refused to die. "You will not find the life you seek," the elders said. Gilgamesh did not listen. He put on the skin of a lion, let his hair grow wild, and fled into the east. He had one question: How can I escape death?
They entered the Cedar Forest. The ground trembled. The seven auras flickered like heat lightning. Humbaba appeared—a giant with a face of coiled intestines, claws of vulture, and a voice that shattered rock.
"No one has passed through here alive," she said. "Why do you wander, Gilgamesh? You will not find eternal life."