THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH

THE COMING OF ENKIDU

GILGAMESH went abroad in the world, but he met with none who could withstand his arms till be came to 

Uruk. But the men of Uruk muttered in their houses, ‘Gilgamesh sounds the tocsin for his amusement, his arrogance 

has no bounds by day or night. No son is left with his father, for Gilgamesh takes them all, even the children; yet the 

king should be a shepherd to his people. His lust leaves no virgin to her lover, neither the warrior's daughter nor the 

wife of the noble; yet this is the shepherd of the city, wise, comely, and resolute.' 

The gods heard their lament, the gods of 

heaven cried to the Lord of Uruk, to Anu the god of 

Uruk: ‘A goddess made him, strong as a savage bull, 

none can withstand his arms. No son is left with his 

father, for Gilgamesh takes them all; and is this the 

king, the shepherd of his people? His lust leaves no 

virgin to her lover, neither the warrior's daughter nor 

the wife of the noble. When Anu had heard their 

lamentation the gods cried to Aruru, the goddess of 

creation, ‘You made him, O Aruru; now create his 

equal; let it be as like him as his own reflection, his 

second self; stormy heart for stormy heart. Let them 

contend together and leave Uruk in quiet.' 

So the goddess conceived an image in her 

mind, and it was of the stuff of Anu of the 

firmament. She dipped her hands in water and 

pinched off clay, she let it fall in the wilderness, and 

noble Enkidu was created. There was virtue in him 

of the god of war, of Ninurta himself. His body was 

rough, he had long hair like a woman's; it waved 

like the hair of Nisaba, the goddess of corn. His 

body was covered with matted hair like Samugan's, 

the god of cattle. He was innocent of mankind; he 

knew nothing of the cultivated land. 

Enkidu ate grass in the hills with the gazelle 

and lurked with wild beasts at the water-holes; he 

had joy of the water with the herds of wild game. 

But there was a trapper who met him one day face to 

face at the drinking-hole, for the wild game had 

entered his territory. On three days he met him face 

to face, and the trapper was frozen with fear. He