The Quest for Eternal Life

The Epic of Gilgamesh (ca. 2750 B.C.E.)

The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the oldest surviving stories in world history. Fragments of the story can be found on tablets throughout the Mesopotamian region, but the most complete version of the text comes from twelve tablets written in the Akkadian language and dating to 1300 B.C.E. The epic tells the tale of Gilgamesh, the part-human, part-divine king of Uruk. In these excerpts, Gilgamesh meets his friend Enkidu. Together, they confront Ishtar, the goddess of war and fertility. After Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh sets out to find the secret of immortality. On his journey, he encounters Siduri, the tavern keeper, who challenges him to reconsider why he wants eternal life.

[This is the story of]

how Gilgamesh went through every hardship.

Supreme over other kings, lordly in appearance,

he is the hero. . . .

He walks out in front, the leader,

and walks at the rear, trusted by his companions.

Mighty net, protector of his people,

raging flood-wave who destroys even walls of stone! . . .

It was he who crossed the ocean, the vast seas, to the rising sun,

who explored the world regions, seeking life. . . .

Who can say like Gilgamesh: “I am King!”?

[The legend of Gilgamesh’s adventures begins with the people of his kingdom complaining about their king. They accuse him of taking away their sons, possibly as conscripts for his army, and of sexually exploiting young women. The people ask the gods to intervene with Gilgamesh. The goddess Aruru creates Enkidu to distract the king.]

In the wilderness (?) she created valiant Enkidu,

born of Silence, endowed with strength. . . .

His whole body was shaggy with hair,

he had a full head of hair like a woman,

his locks billowed in profusion. . . .

He knew neither people nor settled living, . . .

He ate grasses with the gazelles,

and jostled at the watering hole with the animals. . . .

[The local populace was afraid of Enkidu, and eventually Gilgamesh was called upon to defend them from the wild man. After a brief struggle, Gilgamesh defeats Enkidu in a fight, and the two become the best of friends. They fight monsters and have many adventures together, including the following encounter with the goddess Ishtar.]

When Gilgamesh placed his crown on his head,

Princess Ishtar raised her eyes to the beauty of Gilgamesh.

“Come along, Gilgamesh, be you my husband,

to me grant your lusciousness.

Be you my husband, and I will be your wife. . . .

Bowed down beneath you will be kings, lords, and princes.

The Lullubu people1 will bring you the produce of the mountains and countryside as tribute.” . . .

Gilgamesh addressed Princess Ishtar saying:

“What would I have to give you if I married you?

Do you need oil or garments for your body?

Do you lack anything for food or drink?

I would gladly feed you food fit for a god,

I would gladly give you wine fit for a king. . . .

See here now, I will recite the list of your lovers . . .

Tammuz, the lover of your earliest youth,

for him you have ordained lamentations year upon year! . . .

You loved the stallion, famed in battle,

yet you ordained for him the whip, the goad, and the lash. . . .”

When Ishtar heard this,

in a fury she went up to the heavens,

going to Anu, her father, and crying,

going to Anrum, her mother, and weeping:

“Father, Gilgamesh has insulted me over and over,

Gilgamesh has recounted despicable deeds about me,

despicable deeds and curses!”

Anu addressed Princess Ishtar, saying:

“What is the matter? Was it not you who provoked King Gilgamesh?

So Gilgamesh recounted despicable deeds about you,

despicable deeds and curses!”

Ishtar spoke to her father, Anu, saying:

“Father, give me the Bull of Heaven,

so he can kill Gilgamesh in his dwelling.

If you do not give me the Bull of Heaven

I will knock down the Gates of the Netherworld,

I will smash the door posts, and leave the doors flat down,

and will let the dead go up to eat the living!

And the dead will outnumber the living!”

Anu addressed Princess Ishtar, saying:

“If you demand the Bull of Heaven from me,

there will be seven years of empty husks for the land of Uruk.

Have you collected grain for the people!

Have you made grasses grow for the animals?”

Ishtar addressed Anu, her father, saying:

“I have heaped grain in the granaries for the people,

I made grasses grow for the animals,

in order that they might eat in the seven years of empty husks.

I have collected grain for the people,

I have made grasses grow for the animals.” . . .

[About six lines are missing here.]

When Anu heard her words,

he placed the nose rope of the Bull of Heaven in her hand.

Ishtar led the Bull of Heaven down to the earth.

When it reached Uruk it climbed down to the Euphrates. . . .

At the snort of the Bull of Heaven a huge pit opened up,

and 100 young men of Uruk fell in.

At his second snort a huge pit opened up,

and 200 young men of Uruk fell in.

At his third snort a huge pit opened up,

and Enkidu fell in up to his waist.

Then Enkidu jumped out and seized the Bull of Heaven by its horns. . . .

Enkidu stalked and hunted down the Bull of Heaven.

He grasped it by the thick of its tail

and held onto it with both his hands (?),

while Gilgamesh, like an expert butcher,

boldly and surely approached the Bull of Heaven. . . .

He thrust his sword.

After they had killed the Bull of Heaven, . . .

Then the brothers sat down together.

Ishtar went up onto the top of the Wall of Uruk-Haven,

cast herself into the pose of mourning, and hurled her woeful curse:

“Woe unto Gilgamesh who slandered me and killed the Bull of Heaven!”

When Enkidu heard this pronouncement of Ishtar,

he wrenched off the Bull’s hindquarter and flung it in her face:

“If I could only get at you I would do the same to you!

I would drape his innards over your arms!”

The men of Uruk gathered together, staring at them.

Gilgamesh said to the palace retainers:

“Who is the bravest of the men?

Who is the boldest of the males?”

[Enkidu reveals that he is dying, and that the afterlife will be a place of sorrow. After Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh goes on a journey to find the secret of eternal life. He travels for some time and encounters Siduri, who owns a tavern.]

Gilgamesh said to the tavern-keeper:

“I am Gilgamesh . . .

I grappled with the Bull that came down from heaven, and killed him.”

The tavern-keeper spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:

“If you are Gilgamesh, . . . why are your cheeks emaciated, your expression desolate?

Why is your heart so wretched, your features so haggard?

Why is there such sadness deep within you?

Why do you look like one who has been traveling a long distance

so that ice and heat have seared your face?” . . .

Gilgamesh spoke to her, to the tavern-keeper he said:

“Tavern-keeper, should not my cheeks be emaciated?

Should my heart not be wretched, my features not haggard?

Should there not be sadness deep within me?

Should I not look like one who has been traveling a long distance,

and should ice and heat not have seared my face?

My friend, . . . Enkidu, the wild ass who chased the wild donkey,

panther of the wilderness,

we joined together, and went up into the mountain.

We grappled with and killed the Bull of Heaven. . . .

Enkidu, whom I love deeply, who went through every hardship with me,

the fate of mankind has overtaken him.

Six days and seven nights I mourned over him

and would not allow him to be buried

until a maggot fell out of his nose.

I was terrified by his appearance (?),

I began to fear death, and so roam the wilderness.

How can I stay silent, how can I be still?

My friend whom I love has turned to clay.

Am I not like him? Will I lie down, never to get up again?”

[The tavern-keeper sends Gilgamesh to find the one man, Utnapishtim (oot-nuh-PISH-tim), who has been granted immortality by the gods. She warns him, however, about what he will find on the journey.]

The tavern-keeper spoke to Gilgamesh, saying: . . .

The crossing is difficult, its ways are treacherous —

and in between are the Waters of Death that bar its approaches!

And even if, Gilgamesh, you should cross the sea,

when you reach the Waters of Death what would you do?

[After his long, arduous journey Gilgamesh finally finds Utnapishtim, who tells him that no human can be immortal. He does, however, tell Gilgamesh of a plant that will restore his youth. Utnapishtim instructs a ferryman, Urshanabi, to take Gilgamesh back to Uruk, after Gilgamesh finds the plant.]

[Gilgamesh says,] “[T]his plant is a plant against decay

by which a man can attain his survival.

I will bring it to Uruk and have an old man eat the plant to test it.

The plant’s name is ‘The Old Man Becomes a Young Man.’ ”

Then I will eat it and return to the condition of my youth.” . . .

Seeing a spring and how cool its waters were,

Gilgamesh went down and was bathing in the water.

A snake smelled the fragrance of the plant,

silently came up and carried off the plant. . . .

At that point Gilgamesh sat down, weeping,

his tears streaming over the side of his nose.

“Counsel me, O ferryman Urshanabi!

For whom have my arms labored, Urshanabi!

For whom has my heart’s blood roiled!

I have not secured any good deed for myself, . . .”

They arrived in Uruk. Gilgamesh said to Urshanabi, the ferryman:

“Go up, Urshanabi, onto the wall of Uruk and walk around.

Examine its foundation, inspect its brickwork thoroughly. . . .

From The Epic of Gilgamesh, trans. Maureen Gallery Kovacs (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1989), pp. 4, 6, 51–56, 84–86, 106–107.