Gilgamesh

by Stephen Mitchell

silver bracelet; to the housekeeper,...

mirror of alabaster, on the back of which was a picture of the Cedar Forest, inlaid with rubies and lapis...

a double-edged knife with a haft of lapis lazuli bearing a picture o...

After the funeral, Gilgamesh went out from Uruk, into the wilderness with matted hair, in a lion skin.

He is my last hope. I want to ask him how he managed to overcome death.”

For six days I would not let him be buried, thinking, ‘If my grief is violent enough, perhaps he will come back to life again.’

I mourned him, until a maggot fell out of his nose. Then I was frightened, I was terrified by death, and I set out to roam the wilderness.

Humans are born, they live, then they die, this is the order that the gods have decreed. But until the end comes, enjoy your life, spend it in happiness, not despair. Savor your food, make each of your days a delight, bathe and anoint yourself, wear bright clothes that are sparkling clean, let music and dancing fill your house, love the child who holds you by the hand, and give your wife pleasure in your embrace. That is the best way for a man to live.”

“Your own hands have prevented the crossing, since in your fury you have smashed the Stone Men, who crewed my boat and could not be injured by the Waters of Death.

push us forward, and do not touch the Waters of Death.

“Gilgamesh, why prolong your grief? Have you ever paused to compare your own blessed lot with a fool’s?

Can’t you see how fortunate you are? You have worn yourself out through ceaseless striving, you have filled your muscles with pain and anguish. And what have you achieved but to bring yourself one day nearer to the end of your days?

Though no one has seen death’s face or heard death’s voice, suddenly, savagely, death destroys us, all of us, old or young. And yet we build houses, make contracts, brothers divide their inheritance,

conflicts occur—as though this human life lasted forever. The river rises, flows over its banks and carries us all away, like mayflies floating downstream: they stare at the sun,

then all at once there i...

I was its king once, a long time ago, when the great gods decided to send the Flood.

Five gods decided, and they took an oath to keep the plan secret: Anu their father, the counselor Enlil, Ninurta the gods’ chamberlain, and Ennugi the sheriff. Ea also, the cleverest of the gods, had taken the oath, but I heard him whisper the secret to the reed fence around my house.

King of Shuruppak, quickly, quickly tear down your house and build a great ship, leave your p...

Then gather and take aboard the ship examples of every living creature.’

‘Tell them that Enlil hates you, that you can no longer live in their city or walk on the earth, which belongs to Enlil, that it is your fate to go down into the Great Deep and live with Ea your lord, and that Ea will rain abundance upon them. They will all have all that they want, and more.’

To Puzur-amurri the shipwright, the man who sealed the hatch, I gave my palace, with all its contents.

the infernal gods blazed and set the whole land on fire.

“Touch him on the shoulder, wake him, let him depart and go back safely to his own land, by the gate he came through.”

“All men are liars. When he wakes up, watch how he tries to deceive us. So bake a loaf for each day he sleeps, put them in a row beside him, and make a mark on the wall for every loaf.”

There is a small spiny bush that grows in the waters of the Great Deep, it has sharp spikes that will prick your fingers like a rose’s thorns. If you find this plant and bring it to the surface, you will have found the secret of youth.”