THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH

THE SEARCH FOR EVERLASTING LIFE

BITTERLY Gilgamesh wept for his friend Enkidu; he wandered over the wilderness as a hunter, he roamed over 

the plains; in his bitterness he cried, ‘How can I rest, how can I be at peace? Despair is in my heart. What my brother is 

now, that shall I be when I am dead. Because I am afraid of death I will go as best I can to find Utnapishtim whom they 

call the Faraway, for he has entered the assembly of the gods.' So Gilgamesh travelled over the wilderness, he wandered 

over the grasslands, a long journey, in search of Utnapishtim, whom the gods took after the deluge; and they set him to 

live in the land of Dilmun, in the garden of the sun; and to him alone of men they gave everlasting life. 

At night when he came to the mountain passes Gilgamesh prayed: ‘In these mountain passes long ago I saw lions, I 

was afraid and I lifted my eyes to the moon; I prayed and my prayers went up to the gods, so now, O moon god Sin, 

protect me.' When he had prayed he lay down to sleep, until he was woken from out of a dream. He saw the lions round 

him glorying in life; then he took his axe in his hand, he drew his sword from his belt, and he fell upon them like an arrow 

from the string, and struck and destroyed and scattered them. 

So at length Gilgamesh came to Mashu, the great mountains about which he had heard many things, which guard the 

rising and the setting sun. Its twin peaks are as high as the wall of heaven and its paps reach down to the underworld. At its 

gate the Scorpions stand guard, half man and half dragon; their glory is terrifying, their stare strikes death into men, their 

shimmering halo sweeps the mountains that guard the rising sun. When Gilgamesh saw them he shielded his eyes for the 

length of a moment only; then he took courage and approached. When they saw him so undismayed the Man-Scorpion 

called to his mate, ‘This one who comes to us now is flesh of the gods.' The mate of the Man-Scorpion answered, ‘Two 

thirds is god but one third is man.' 

Then he called to the man Gilgamesh, he called to the child of the gods: ‘ Why have you come so great a journey; 

for what have you travelled so far, crossing the dangerous waters; tell me the reason for your coming?' Gilgamesh 

answered, ‘For Enkidu; I loved him dearly, together we endured all kinds of hardships; on his account I have come, for the 

common lot of man has taken him. I have wept for him day and night, I would not give up his body for burial, I thought 

my friend would come back because of my weeping. Since he went, my life is nothing; that is why I have travelled here in 

search of Utnapishtim my father; for men say he has entered the assembly of the gods, and has found everlasting life: I 

have a desire to question him, concerning the living and the dead.' The Man-Scorpion opened his mouth and said, 

speaking to Gilgamesh, ‘No man born of woman has done what you have asked, no mortal man has gone into the