Over the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk there once ruled a wise and powerful but tyrannical king named Gilgamesh. He was two-thirds a god and one-third a mortal, famed for his exploits in war and for his prowess as an unbeatable wrestler. Gilgamesh was also lustful and he would abduct any woman who took his fancy whether she was single or married. The people of Uruk were greatly distressed at this, for no one could overcome Gilgamesh. So they prayed to the goddess Aruru to fashion a man who could overpower Gilgamesh in order that he would leave their women in peace.
Aruru then created the mighty Enkidu, a hairy man with legs like a bull. Enkidu roamed with the wild beasts and enabled them to escape the traps of hunters. On hearing of Enkidu's strength, Gilgamesh sent a courtesan out to Enkidu's watering place to entice him. When she saw Enkidu the courtesan disrobed, exposing her breasts, and Enkidu went to lie with her. After this his animal companions shunned him because Enkidu had lost his natural innocence. Enkidu then had nothing to do but follow the courtesan's advice and return with her to Uruk.
Back in his palace Gilgamesh dreamed of struggling with a powerful man who could master him. When he told the dream to his mother, Ninsun, she said it meant that he and Enkidu would become close companions. And after an awesome wrestling match Gilgamesh and Enkidu sat down together as friends. Enkidu was invited to live in the palace and share the honors with Gilgamesh.
One night Enkidu had a nightmare in which he was snatched up by a strange, terrible creature with eagle claws who cast him into the underworld of death. When Gilgamesh heard of the dream he offered a sacrifice to Shamash, the sun god, who advised him to go and fight Khumbaba the Strong, the king of the Cedar Mountain. When they learned of his plan to go to the Cedar Mountain, Enkidu, Ninsun, and the people of Uruk tried to dissuade Gilgamesh, to no avail. Gilgamesh was determined to make the long, arduous journey and battle Khumbaba, so Enkidu joined his friend and the two set forth.
They traveled northwest, leaving their fertile land behind, crossing a vast desert, reaching the Amanus Mountains, and finally arriving at the resplendent Cedar Mountain and the stockade of the monster Khumbaba. Enkidu's heart quailed within him, but Gilgamesh issued a challenge to Khumbaba. No answer came, so they made a sacrifice to the gods and settled down for the night. During the night Gilgamesh had a dream of victory. In the morning Khumbaba charged them, and after a terrific fight Gilgamesh was able to knock Khumbaba to the ground, where Enkidu cut his head off. With the monster dead, Gilgamesh was able to cut down the sacred cedars for the temples of Uruk.
The two heroes bathed, dressed, and made offerings to the gods. Then Ishtar appeared to Gilgamesh and tried to seduce him, but he spurned her, saying that her lovers usually had dire fates. When Gilgamesh and Enkidu returned to Uruk with the cedars Ishtar had her vengeance planned. With the help of Anu she loosed the Bull of Heaven against Uruk. In the course of wrecking the city the bull was caught and slaughtered by Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Then in an act of utter rashness Enkidu threw the bull's hide in Ishtar's face, telling her he'd do the same to her if he could. The goddess Ishtar then laid a mortal curse upon Enkidu and after twelve days of sickness he died.
Gilgamesh was inconsolable over the death of his friend, for he realized that he must die one day as well. Determined to find the secret of immortality, Gilgamesh went forth in search of Uta-Napishtim, the man on whom Enlil had conferred life everlasting. He traveled west to the far-off Mount Mashu, which was guarded by Scorpion-Men. With a trembling heart Gilgamesh approached the chief Scorpion-Man, who permitted him passage into the mountain. After a long time in a tunnel he stepped out into the garden of a goddess. The goddess advised Gilgamesh to return home, enjoy life, and accept death gracefully; but Gilgamesh was insistent on finding Uta-Napishtim, so the goddess directed him to Uta-Napishtim's boatman. The boatman warned of the turbulent waters of death that surrounded Uta-Napishtim's dwelling. However, Gilgamesh would not be put off, and with the boatman's help he managed to cross the perilous waters. At last Gilgamesh arrived at the home of the immortal man.
When Gilgamesh told Uta-Napishtim of his quest for eternal life, Uta-Napishtim laughed at his foolishness and told his own story of how he had won immortality. Then Uta-Napishtim challenged Gilgamesh to stay awake, as he himself had done, for six days and seven nights. But the exhausted Gilgamesh had already fallen asleep.
The wife of Uta-Napishtim took pity on the sleeping hero and persuaded her husband to reveal the secret of immortality. They awoke Gilgamesh and told him of a prickly plant that lay at the bottom of the sea. Gilgamesh set off at once to find the plant, and when he came to the ocean edge he tied boulders to his feet and plunged in. He sank to the bottom, found and plucked the prickly plant, untied the boulders and swam to the surface with the precious plant. Gilgamesh went homeward with a high heart, for now he could confer everlasting life on himself and the people of Uruk. He crossed the waters of death, the garden of the goddess; he went through Mount Mashu and traveled eastward.
Within a few day's journey of home Gilgamesh laid the plant on a rock and dove into a small lake to bathe. And while he was swimming a snake approached the plant and ate it. Gilgamesh wept long and bitterly to think he had wasted his enormous effort to gain eternal life. The snakes would live forever, but human beings must die. Gilgamesh returned to Uruk with a broken heart. He knew what a miserable existence the dead lived in the netherworld, for Enkidu had revealed it to him. His only consolation was that the walls of Uruk would outlast him as monuments to Gilgamesh's reign.
