Gilgamesh, Sumerian Cycle: Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Nether World

The story of the death of Enkidu and his burial is in all likelihood of Babylonian rather than Sumerian origin. According to the Sumerian poem "Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Nether World", Enkidu did not die at all in the ordinary sense of the word but was seized and held fast by Kur, a dragon-like demon in charge of the nether world. The incident of the death of Enkidu was invented by the Babylonian authors of the "Epic of Gilgamesh" in order to motivate dramatically Gilgamesh's quest for immortality, which climaxes the poem.

But it is only the first eleven tablets of the "Epic of Gilgamesh" which can be described as a Semitic literary creation - in spite of obvious borrowings from Sumerian sources. Tablet XII - the last tablet of the epic, however, is nothing more than a practically verbatim translation into the Semitic Akkadian - also known as Babylonian or Assyrian - of the second half of a Sumerian poem. The Babylonian scribes tacked this on to the first eleven tablets in total disregard of the sense and continuity of the epic as a whole.

It had long been suspected that the 12th tablet was nothing more than an appendage to the first 11 tablets, which constitute a reasonably well-integrated unit, but the proof was not available until the text of the Sumerian poem "Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Nether World" was pieced together and translated. However, as early as 1930, in connection with his publication of a Sumerian tablet from Ur inscribed with part of the poem, C.J. Gadd, formerly of the British Museum, recognized the close relationship between its contents and those of the 12th tablet of the Semitic epic. For the modern scholars this is very fortunate, since, with the aid of the Sumerian version,

Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Nether World.
Tablet held in University Museum, which helped to clarify plot.

it was possible to restore numerous broken words, phrases, and whole lines in the Akkadian text, and thus clarify, at long last, the contents of the 12th tablet, which had remained unintelligible in spite of the efforts of a number of distinguished cuneiformists.

The full text of the poem "Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Nether World" is still unpublished (1961!). See further in "Gilgamesh and the Huluppu-Tree", Assyriological Study No. 8 of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago; and Sumerian Mythology, pages 30 ff.

Brief Sketch of the Poem:

The poem begins with an introduction of 27 lines, the contents of which have nothing to do with the story itself. The first 13 lines of this passage contain some of the basic data for the analysis of the Sumerian concepts of the creation of the universe, while the remaining 14 lines describe the struggle between Enki and Kur. Then follows the story:

Once upon a time a huluppu-tree (perhaps a willow), planted on the bank of the Euphrates and nurtured by its waters, was violently attacked by the South Wind and flooded by the waters of the Euphrates. The goddess Inanna, walking by, took the tree in her hand and brought it to her city, Erech, where she planted it in her holy garden. There she tended it most carefully, for she planned that when the tree had grown big she would make of its wood a chair for herself and a couch.

Years passed. The tree matured and grew big. But Inanna found herself unable to cut it down, for at its base the snake who "knows no charm" had built its nest; in its crown, the Imdugud-bird had placed its young; in its middle, Lilith had built her house. And so Inanna, the lighthearted and ever joyful maid, shed bitter tears.

As dawn broke, and her brother, the sun-god Utu, came forth from his sleeping chamber, Inanna tearfully repeated to him all that had befallen her huluppu-tree. Thereupon Gilgamesh, who presumably heard her plaint, chivalrously came to her aid. He donned his armour, weighing 50 minas; and with his ax of the road, 7 talents and 7 minas in weight, he slew the snake who "knows no charm" at the base of the tree. Seeing this, the Imdugud-bird fled with its young to the mountain, while Lilith tore down her house and fled to the desolate places. Gilgamesh and the men of Erech who accompanied him then cut down the tree, and gave it to Inanna for her chair and couch.

What did Inanna do? From the base of the tree she fashioned a pukku (perhaps a drum); and from its crown, a mikku (drumstick). There follows a passage of 12 lines describing Gilgamesh's activity in Erech with this pukku and mikku, or "drum" and "drumstick". Despite the fact that the text is in perfect condition, it is still impossible to penetrate its meaning. It is probable that it describes certain tyrannical acts which brought woe to the inhabitants of Erech. When the story becomes intelligible once again, it continues with the statement that "because of the outcry of the young maidens", the pukku and the mikku fell into the nether world. Gilgamesh put in his hand and his foot to retrieve them, but was unable to reach them. He then seated himself at the gate of the nether world and lamented:

"O my pukku, O my mikku,
My pukku with lustiness irresistible,
My mikku with dance-rhythm unrivalled,
My pukku which was with me formerly in the house of the carpenter-
The wife of the carpenter was with me then like the mother who gave birth to me,
The daughter of the carpenter was with me then like my younger sister-
My pukku, who will bring it up from the nether world,
My mikku, who will bring it up from the 'face' of the nether world?"

Gilgamesh's servant Enkidu thereupon volunteered to descend to the nether world and bring them up for him, saying:

"O my master, why do cry, why is your heart sick?
Your pukku, lo I will now bring it up from the nether world,
Your mikku, I will bring it up from the 'face' of the nether world."

Hearing his servant's generous offer, Gilgamesh warned him of a number of nether-world taboos which he must guard against. The passage runs as follows:

Gilgamesh says to Enkidu:
"If now you will descend to the nether world,
A word I speak to you, take my word,
Instruction I offer you, take my instruction.
Do not put on clean clothes,
Lest like an enemy the (nether world) stewards will come forth,
Do not anoint yourself with the good oil of the bur-vessel,
Lest at its smell they will crowd about you.
"Do not throw the throw-stick in the nether world,
Lest they who were struck by the throw-stick will surround you,
Do not carry a staff in you hand,
Lest the shades will flutter all about you.
"Do not put sandals on your feet,
In the nether world make no cry;
Kiss not your beloved wife,
Strike not your hated wife,
Kiss not your beloved son,
Strike not your hated son,
Lest the outcry of Kur will seize you,
(The outcry) for her who is lying, for her who is lying,
To the mother of Ninazu who is lying,
Whose holy body no garment covers,
Whose holy breast no cloth wraps."

The mother of Ninazu in these lines may refer to the goddess Ninlil, who, according to the myth concerning the birth of the moon-god Sin, accompanied the god Enlil to the nether world.

Enkidu did not heed the instructions of his master, but committed those very acts against which Gilgamesh had warned him. And so he was seized by Kur and was unable to ascend again to the earth. Thereupon Gilgamesh proceeded to Nippur and wept before Enlil:

"O Father Enlil, my pukku fell into the nether world,
My mikku fell into the 'face' of the nether world,
I sent Enkidu to bring them up, Kur has seized him.
Namtar (the demon of death) has not seized him, Asag (the demon of disease) has not seized him,
Kur has seized him.
Nergal's ambusher (that is Death), who spares no one, has not seized him,
Kur has seized him.
In battle, the place of manliness, he has not fallen,
Kur has seized him."

But Enlil refused to stand by Gilgamesh, who then proceeded to Eridu and repeated his plea before Enki. The latter ordered the sun-god Utu to open a hole in the nether world and allow the shade of Enkidu to ascend to the earth. Utu did as bidden, and the shade of Enkidu appeared before Gilgamesh. Master and servant embraced, and Gilgamesh questioned Enkidu about what he saw in the nether world. The first seven questions concern the treatment in the nether world of those who were fathers of from one to seven sons. The remaining text of the poem is poorly preserved, but we have parts of the Gilgamesh-Enkidu colloquy concerning the treatment, in the nether world, of the palace servant, of the birth-giving woman, of him who falls in battle, of him whose shade has no one to care for it, and of him whose body lies unburied in the plain.

Here the text breaks off.