OF THE PROUD LADY ISHTAR, WHO SOUGHT THE HERO AFTER HIS EXPLOIT AGAINST HUMBABA

Column I

(Gilgamesh is removing the stains of combat)

Now he is washing his stains, and is cleansing his garments in tatters,

braiding the locks of his hair to descend loose over his shoulders,

laying aside his garments besmirched, and donning his clean ones,

putting on armlets, and girding his body about with a baldric;

Gilgamesh binds his fillet, and girds himself with a baldric.

(Ishtar sees him and seeks to wed him)

Now the lady Ishtar, a proud woman of the great house, espied the beauty of Gilgamesh, and said:

"Gilgamesh, come, be my husband; I shall be thy consort.

I will furnish a chariot for thee, all azure and golden,

golden its wheel, and its yoke of precious stones, each day to be harnessed

unto great mules. Enter our house with the fragrance of cedar.

When thou enterest into our house shall threshold and dais

kiss thy feet, and beneath thee do homage kings, princes, and rulers,

bringing thee yield of the mountains and plains as a tribute; thy she-goats

shall bring forth in plenty, thy ewes shall bear twins, thy asses attaining

each to the size of a mule, and thy steeds in thy chariot winning

fame for their gallop; thy mules in the yoke shall never have a rival."

Gilgamesh opened his mouth in reply, to answer the lady Ishtar:

"Aye, but what must I give thee if I should take thee in marriage?

I must provide thee with oil for thy body, and clothing; also

give thee thy bread and thy victual; there must be sustenance ample

meet for a queen; I too must give thee thy drink fit for royalty.

What then will be my advantage, supposing I take thee in marriage?

Thou art but a ruin which gives no shelter to man from the weather,

thou art but a back door not giving resistance to blast or to windstorm,

thou art but a palace which dashes the heroes within it to pieces,

thou art but a pitfall which lets its covering give way, all treacherous,

thou art but pitch which defiles the man who carries it with him,

thou art but a bottle which leaks on him who carries it with him,

thou art but limestone which lets stone ramparts fall crumbling in ruin,

thou art but chalcedony failing to guard in an enemy's country,

thou art but a sandal which causes its owner to trip by the wayside.

Who was ever thy husband thou faithfully lovedst for all time?

Who has been ever thy lord who has gained over thee the advantage?

Come, and I will unfold to thee the endless tale of thy husbands.

Thou shalt vouch for the truth of this list: the husband of thy youth,

for whom, each year, thou dost make wailing, and then comes

next the bird, the roller, gay-feathered, whom thou lovedst, and yet thou didst smite him,

breaking his wing; in the grove he stands crying, 'My wing!'

Thou lovedst also a lion, in all the full strength of his vigour,

yet thou didst dig for him seven and seven deep pits to entrap him.

Thou lovedst also a stallion, magnificent in the battle;

thou wert the cause of a bridle, a spur, and a whip to him; also

thou wert the cause of his fifty miles galloping; thou wert the cause too

of exhaustion and sweating, and of lamentation for his mother Silili.

Thou lovedst also a shepherd, a neatherd, who for thee without ceasing

each day would heap thee his charcoal, and slaughter yeanlings for thee;

yet thou didst smite him, transforming him into a jackal; his herd boy

himself drove him away, and his own dogs tore his flanks.

Thou lovedst, too, Ishullanu, the gardener of thy sire,

who brought thee delights ceaseless, while daily he garnished thy platter;

and thou didst cast thine eyes on him and say to him,

'O Ishullanu of mine, come, let me taste of thy vigour.'

But he, Ishullanu, said to thee, 'What dost thou ask of me?

Save only what my mother has baked, nought have I eaten; and what I should eat

would be bread of transgression and iniquity; further, the reeds are a cloak against winter.'

Thou this his answer didst hear, and didst smite him and make him a spider,

making him lodge midway up a dwelling, not to move upwards

lest there be drainage, nor down, lest a crushing o'erwhelm him.

So, too, me in my turn thou wouldst love, and then reckon me like them."

Ishtar heard this; she burst into rage and went to her father's house,

she went to her father, a great lord, and to her mother,

and came to tell them: "O father, Gilgamesh loads me with insult;

Gilgamesh tells of my sins, my sins and iniquities tells."

Her father made answer, speaking to the lady Ishtar:

"Nay, but thou didst seek him, thou didst ask him to take thee;

hence he tells the tale of thy sins, thy sins and iniquities tells."

(The coming of the Bull which is to destroy the heroes)

Ishtar made answer, and said to her father:

"Father, O let a mighty bull, a wonder of the heavens, be loosed which shall vanquish Gilgamesh,

filling its body with flame . . .

But if thou wilt not let loose this bull, then . . .

I will smite . . ."

Her father answered, and said to the lady Ishtar:

"If I let loose the mighty bull for which thou dost ask me,

then seven years of lean husks must needs follow after its onslaught.

Hast thou gathered corn for mankind, and increased for the cattle the fodder?"

Ishtar made answer, and said to her father:

"Corn for mankind have I hoarded, have grown for the cattle the fodder;

if seven years of lean husks must needs follow after its onslaught,

I have gathered corn for mankind and increased for the cattle the fodder."

(About seven lines are so badly mutilated that little can be gleaned from them, except that the fight with the great bull is about to take place in Erech. After these a hundred men descend upon the bull, but with his fiery breath he annihilates them. Then come two hundred with the same result, and then three hundred more, again to be overcome.)

Enkidu girded his middle, and straightway Enkidu, leaping,

seized on the bull by his horns, and headlong before him

cast down the bull his full length . . .

by the thick of his tail.

Enkidu chased him, . . . the bull . . .

seized him by the thick of his tail . . .

So, what time they the bull had killed, its heart they removed,

and before God they offered it in sacrifice and charity; when the libation

they had poured out before Him, they sat them down, the two brothers.

(The Frenzy of Ishtar)

Then Ishtar mounted the crest of the ramparts of Erech, the high-walled,

and to the roof-top ascended, and there gave voice to her wailing:

"Woe unto Gilgamesh, he who by killing the bull

made me lament."

(The Triumph of Gilgamesh)

Gilgamesh called to the masters of craft, the artists, all of them,

that at the size of its horns all the guilds of the crafts speak their praises.

Each had of azure in weight thirty minas to be as their setting,

two fingers their thickness; both of them held six measures of oil;

this oil he devoted for charity, in memory of his forefathers,

and brought in the horns and let them hang there

in the house of his forefathers.

And now in the River Euphrates,

washing their hands, they start on their progress and come to the city;

now are they striding the highway of Erech, the heroes of Erech

thronging about them to see them. Then Gilgamesh uttered a riddle

unto the notables:

"Who, I pray thee, is most splendid of heroes,

who, I pray thee, is most famous of giants?

Gilgamesh—he is most splendid of heroes,

Enkidu—he is most famous of giants."

So in his palace Gilgamesh held high feast; thereafter,

while all the heroes asleep on their nightly couches were lying,

Enkidu, too, was asleep, and a vision beheld, and so waking,

Enkidu now his dream to reveal; thus spoke he unto his comrade.