Tablet 7
Enkidu falls ill after having a set ofominous dreams; he finds out from the priests that he has been singled out forvengeance by the gods. The Chief Gods have met and have decided that someoneshould be punished for the killing of Humbaba and the killing of the Bull ofHeaven, so of the two heroes, they decide Enkidu should pay the penalty.Enraged at the injustice of the decision, Enkidu curses the great Cedar Gatebuilt from the wood of the CedarForest, and he curses thetemple harlot, Shamhat, and the trapper, for introducing him to civilization.Shamhash reminds him that, even though his life has been short, he has enjoyedthe fruits of civilization and known great happiness. Enkidu then blesses the harlotand the trapper. In a dream, a great demon comes to take Enkidu and drags himto Hell, a House of Dust where all the dead end up; as he is dying, hedescribes Hell: The house where the dead dwell in total darkness, Where theydrink dirt and eat stone, Where they wear feathers like birds, Where no lightever invades their everlasting darkness, Where the door and the lock of Hell iscoated with thick dust. When I entered the House of Dust, On every side thecrowns of kings were heaped, On every side the voices of the kings who worethose crowns, Who now only served food to the gods Anu and Enlil, Candy, meat,and water poured from skins. I saw sitting in this House of Dust a priest and aservant, I also saw a priest of purification and a priest of ecstasy, I saw allthe priests of the great gods. There sat Etana and Sumukan, There satEreshkigal, the queen of Hell, Beletseri, the scribe of Hell, sitting beforeher. Beletseri held a tablet and read it to Ereshkigal. She slowly raised herhead when she noticed me She pointed at me: "Who has sent this man?"Enkidu commends himself to Gilgamesh, and after suffering terribly for twelvedays, he finally dies.
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Epic of Gilgamesh (summary)
Historical FictionGilgamesh was an historical king of Uruk in Babylonia, on the River Euphrates in modern Iraq; he lived about 2700 B.C. Although historians (and your textbook) tend to emphasize Hammurabi and his code of law, the civilizations of the Tigris-Euphrates...
