Tablet 10
Gilgamesh comes to a tavern by theocean shore; the tavern is kept by Siduri. Frightened by Gilgamesh's raggedappearance, Siduri locks the tavern door and refuses to let Gilgamesh in.Gilgamesh proves his identity and asks Siduri how to find Utnapishtim. Like thegiant scorpions, she tells him that his journey is futile and fraught with dangers.However, she directs him to Urshanabi, the ferryman, who works for Utnapishtim.Gilgamesh approaches Urshanabi with great arrogance and violence and in theprocess destroys the "stone things" that are somehow critical for thejourney to Utnapishtim. When Gilgamesh demands to be taken to Utnapishtim, theferryman tells him that it is now impossible, since the "stonethings" have been destroyed. Nevertheless, he advises Gilgamesh to cutseveral trees down to serve as punting poles; the waters they are to cross arethe Waters of Death, should any mortal touch the waters, that man willinstantly die. With the punting poles, Gilgamesh can push the boat and nevertouch the dangerous waters. After a long and dangerous journey, Gilgamesharrives at a shore and encounters another man. He tells this man that he islooking for Utnapishtim and the secret of eternal life; the old man advisesGilgamesh that death is a necessary fact because of the will of the gods; allhuman effort is only temporary, not permanent. gilgamesh-untitled-part-1
YOU ARE READING
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...
