Death Of Gilgamesh

Hello my name is Cameron and I was a close friend to Gilgamesh. I really miss the time when I went to go help Gilgamesh for when he killed Humbaba. As the gods have once said " A goddess made him, strong as a savage bull, none can withstand his arms". I remember when Gilgamesh and Enkidu and I killed the Bull of Heaven. “o Gilgamesh followed the Bull, he seized the thick of its tail, he thrust the sword between the nape and the horns and slew the Bull". Gilgamesh also expressed what was on his mind with love. “If I take you in marriage, what gifts can I give in return?Your lovers have found you like a brazier which smoulders in the cold,”. Ishtar was deeply in love with Gilgamesh but Gilgamesh told Ishtar how he felt he was the most honest person in Uruk. I remember when me Gilgamesh and Enkidu became friends.“When Enkidu was thrown he said to Gilgamesh, 'There is not another like you in the world. Ninsun, who is as strong as a wild ox in the byre, she was the mother who bore you, and now you are raised above all".  We were the best of friends Gilgamesh,Enkidu and I.“, the great gods made his beauty perfect, surpassing all others, terrifying like a great wild bull. Two thirds they made him god and one third man. Not only was Gilgamesh the strongest in all the land he was Demi-god. Thank you for your time and thank you for letting me say a formal good bye to my friend.

The plant and the serpent

So one day I woke up and I surrounded by a bunch of loaves of bread some of them looked good and some looked gross. “Count these loaves and learn how many days you slept, for your first is hard, your second like leather, your third is soggy, the crust of your fourth has mould, your fifth is mildewed, your sixth is fresh and your seventh was still over the glowing embers when I touched and woke you.” At this point I was back at Uruk and when I completed my journey Utnapishtim told me a secret. He said “Gilgamesh, I shall reveal a secret thing, it is a mystery of the gods that I am telling you. There is a plant that grows under the water, it has a prickle like a them, like a rose; it will wound your hands, but if you succeed in taking it, then your hands will hold that which restores his lost youth to a man." So I got the plant I planned on bringing it back to Uruk until it was stolen. “there was lying a serpent, and the serpent sensed the sweetness of the flower. It rose out of the water and snatched it away, and immediately it sloughed its skin and returned to the well. Then Gilgamesh sat down and wept, the tears ran down his face”.

The gods horrible decision

I ran into my father the other day and he told me a very interesting story about a flood. He said“Enlil heard the clamour and he said to the gods in council, "The uproar of mankind is intolerable and sleep is no longer possible by reason of the babel." So the gods agreed to exterminate mankind. Enlil did this, but Ea because of his oath warned me in a dream. ”  As soon as dad heard about the flood that will destroy all he immediately got on the idea of building a boat. “The ground-space was one acre, each side of the deck measured one hundred and twenty cubits, making a square. I built six decks below, seven in all, I divided them into nine sections with bulkheads between. I drove in wedges where needed, I saw to the punt-poles, and laid in supplies. The carriers brought oil in baskets, I poured pitch into the furnace and asphalt and oil; more oil was consumed in caulking, and more again the master of the boat took into his stores. I slaughtered bullocks for the people and every day I killed sheep. I gave the shipwrights wine to drink as though it were river water, raw wine and red wine and oil and white wine. ” Then he told me about when he was mortal.“Then Enlil went up into the boat, he took me by the hand and my wife and made us enter the boat and kneel down on either side, he standing between us. He touched our foreheads to bless us saying, "In time past Utnapishtim was a mortal man; henceforth he and his wife shall live in the distance at the mouth of the rivers." Thus it was that the gods took me and placed me here to live in the distance, at the mouth of the rivers."

Death,Good or Bad?

While I was mourning the death of Enkidu I realized I'm scared of death and not ready to die just yet. This is why I went to the gate keeper of the underworld to ask him if I can go in to get Enkidu's body for burial and ask my immortal dad if being immortal is worth it. At first the gate keeper said no but then I convinced him and this is what he said. “Man-Scorpion said, 'Go, Gilgamesh, I permit you to pass through the mountain of Mashu and through the high ranges; may your feet carry you safely home. The gate of the mountain is open." Then I walked a lot and meet Siduri. I asked her about death and she said “Gilgamesh, where are you hurrying to? You will never find that life for which you are looking. When the gods created man they allotted to him death, but life they retained in their own keeping. As for you, Gilgamesh, fill your belly with good things; day and night, night and day, dance and be merry, feast and rejoice. ”

Bull Meat

So today this girl Ishtar was hitting on me.“Come to me Gilgamesh, and be my bridegroom; grant me seed of your body, let me be your bride and you shall be my husband. I will harness for you a chariot of lapis lazuli and of gold, with wheels of gold and horns of copper". I was trying to tell her in a nice way I don't wanna marry her. “If I take you in marriage, what gifts can I give in return? What ointments and clothing for your body?" So after I told Ishtar no she plans to kill me.“ My father, give me the Bull of Heaven to destroy Gilgamesh. Fill Gilgamesh, I say, with arrogance to his destruction; but if you refuse to give me the Bull of Heaven I will break in the doors of hell and smash the bolts; ” So I killed the bull and I threw a chunk of it at her.“So Gilgamesh followed the Bull, he seized the thick of its tail, he thrust the sword between the nape and the horns and slew the Bull. When they had killed the Bull of Heaven they cut out its heart and gave it to Shamash,“Woe to Gilgamesh, for he has scorned me in killing the Bull of Heaven.' When Enkidu heard these words he tore out the Bull's right thigh and tossed it in her face saying, 'If I could lay my hands on you, it is this I should do to you”. I am deeply saddened by the death of my friend Enkidu he was like a brother to me.“My friend, the great goddess cursed me and I must die in shame. I shall not die like a man fallen in battle; I feared to fall, but happy is the man who falls in the battle, for I must die in shame.' And Gilgamesh wept over Enkidu. ”

Killing Humbaba

So today me and my new friend Enkidu got really bored so we got some really cool stuff to kill this guy Humbaba.“They went into the groves of the plain and cut willow and box-wood; they cast for them axes of nine score pounds, and great swords they cast with blades of six score pounds each one, with pommels and hilts of thirty pounds. ” We also walked way too much over the past couple of days.“After twenty leagues they broke their fast; after another thirty leagues they stopped for the night. Fifty leagues they walked in one day; in three days they had walked as much as a journey of a month and two weeks. They crossed seven mountains before they came to the gate of the forest.”“Gilgamesh, and I will be your servant, you shall be my lord; all the trees of the forest that I tended on the mountain shall be yours. I will cut them down and build you a palace.' He took him by the hand and led him to his house, so that the heart of Gilgamesh was moved with compassion”. Humbaba was gonna be my servant if I let him live but Enkidu ruined that by killing him.

My new friend Enkidu

 My new bro Enkidu today told me “There is not another like you in the world. Ninsun, who is as strong as a wild ox in the byre, she was the mother who bore you, and now you are raised above all men, and Enlil has given you the kingship, for your strength surpasses the strength of men.” “ 'Mother, last night I had a dream. I was full of joy, the young heroes were round me and I walked through the night under the stars of the firmament, and one, a meteor of the stuff of Anu, fell down from heaven. I tried to lift it but it proved too heavy.” I think that the meteor in my dream was my new friend. He used to be a crazy wild animal but now he's calm and a wonderful person. I love my new friend Enkidu he is a really cool dude :) !