An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic
entire third column is taken up with this introduction of Enkidu
to civilized life in a pastoral community, and the scene ends with
Enkidu becoming a guardian of flocks. Now all this has nothing to
do with Gilgamesh, and clearly sets forth an entirely different
idea from the one embodied in the meeting of the two heroes. In the
original Enkidu tale, the animal-man is looked upon as the type of a
primitive savage, and the point of the tale is to illustrate in the
naïve manner characteristic of folklore the evolution to the higher
form of pastoral life. This aspect of the incident is, therefore,
to be separated from the other phase which has as its chief _motif_
the bringing of the two heroes together.
We now obtain, thanks to the new section revealed by the Pennsylvania
tablet, a further analogy [107] with the story of Adam and Eve,
but with this striking difference, that whereas in the Babylonian
tale the woman is the medium leading man to the higher life, in the
Biblical story the woman is the tempter who brings misfortune to
man. This contrast is, however, not inherent in the Biblical story,
but due to the point of view of the Biblical writer, who is somewhat
pessimistically inclined and looks upon primitive life, when man went
naked and lived in a garden, eating of fruits that grew of themselves,
as the blessed life in contrast to advanced culture which leads
to agriculture and necessitates hard work as the means of securing
one's substance. Hence the woman through whom Adam eats of the tree
of knowledge and becomes conscious of being naked is looked upon as
an evil tempter, entailing the loss of the primeval life of bliss in
a gorgeous Paradise. The Babylonian point of view is optimistic. The
change to civilized life--involving the wearing of clothes and the
eating of food that is cultivated (bread and wine) is looked upon as an
advance. Hence the woman is viewed as the medium of raising man to a
higher level. The feature common to the Biblical and Babylonian tales
is the attachment of a lesson to early folk-tales. The story of Adam
and Eve, [108] as the story of Enkidu and the woman, is told _with
a purpose_. Starting with early traditions of men's primitive life
on earth, that may have arisen independently, Hebrew and Babylonian
writers diverged, each group going its own way, each reflecting the
particular point of view from which the evolution of human society
was viewed.
Leaving the analogy between the Biblical and Babylonian tales aside,
the main point of value for us in the Babylonian story of Enkidu
and the woman is the proof furnished by the analysis, made possible
through the Pennsylvania tablet, that the tale can be separated
from its subsequent connection with Gilgamesh. We can continue this
process of separation in the fourth column, where the woman instructs
Enkidu in the further duty of living his life with the woman decreed
for him, to raise a family, to engage in work, to build cities and
to gather resources. All this is looked upon in the same optimistic
spirit as marking progress, whereas the Biblical writer, consistent
with his point of view, looks upon work as a curse, and makes Cain,
the murderer, also the founder of cities. The step to the higher
forms of life is not an advance according to the J document. It is
interesting to note that even the phrase the "cursed ground" occurs
in both the Babylonian and Biblical tales; but whereas in the latter
(Gen. 3, 17) it is because of the hard work entailed in raising the
products of the earth that the ground is cursed, in the former (lines
62-63) it is the place in which Enkidu lives _before_ he advances to
the dignity of human life that is "cursed," and which he is asked
to leave. Adam is expelled from Paradise as a punishment, whereas
Enkidu is implored to leave it as a necessary step towards _progress_
to a higher form of existence. The contrast between the Babylonian
and the Biblical writer extends to the view taken of viniculture. The
Biblical writer (again the J document) looks upon Noah's drunkenness
as a disgrace. Noah loses his sense of shame and uncovers himself
(Genesis 9, 21), whereas in the Babylonian description Enkidu's jolly
spirit after he has drunk seven jars of wine meets with approval. The
Biblical point of view is that he who drinks wine becomes drunk;
[109] the Babylonian says, if you drink wine you become happy. [110]
If the thesis here set forth of the original character and import
of the episode of Enkidu with the woman is correct, we may again
regard lines 149-153 of the Pennsylvania tablet, in which Gilgamesh
is introduced, as a later addition to bring the two heroes into
association. The episode in its original form ended with the
introduction of Enkidu first to pastoral life, and then to the still
higher city life with regulated forms of social existence.
Now, to be sure, this Enkidu has little in common with the Enkidu
who is described as a powerful warrior, a Hercules, who kills lions,
overcomes the giant Huwawa, and dispatches a great bull, but it is
the nature of folklore everywhere to attach to traditions about
a favorite hero all kinds of tales with which originally he had
nothing to do. Enkidu, as such a favorite, is viewed also as the
type of primitive man, [111] and so there arose gradually an Epic
which began with his birth, pictured him as half-animal half-man,
told how he emerged from this state, how he became civilized, was
clothed, learned to eat food and drink wine, how he shaved off the
hair with which his body was covered, [112] anointed himself--in short,
"He became manlike." [113]
Thereupon he is taught his duties as a husband, is introduced to
the work of building, and to laying aside supplies, and the like. The
fully-developed and full-fledged hero then engages in various exploits,
of which _some_ are now embodied in the Gilgamesh Epic. Who this Enkidu
was, we are not in a position to determine, but the suggestion has
been thrown out above that he is a personage foreign to Babylonia,
that his home appears to be in the undefined Amurru district, and
that he conquers that district. The original tale of Enkidu, if this
view be correct, must therefore have been carried to the Euphrates
Valley, at a very remote period, with one of the migratory waves that
brought a western people as invaders into Babylonia. Here the tale
was combined with stories current of another hero, Gilgamesh--perhaps
also of Western origin--whose conquest of Erech likewise represents
an invasion of Babylonia. The center of the Gilgamesh tale was Erech,
and in the process of combining the stories of Enkidu and Gilgamesh,
Enkidu is brought to Erech and the two perform exploits in common. In
such a combination, the aim would be to utilize all the incidents of
_both_ tales. The woman who accompanies Enkidu, therefore, becomes
the medium of bringing the two heroes together. The story of the
evolution of primitive man to civilized life is transformed into the
tale of Enkidu's removal to Erech, and elaborated with all kinds of
details, among which we have, as perhaps embodying a genuine historical
tradition, the encounter of the two heroes.
Before passing on, we have merely to note the very large part taken
in both the old Babylonian and the Assyrian version by the struggle
against Huwawa. The entire Yale tablet--forming, as we have seen,
the third of the series--is taken up with the preparation for the
struggle, and with the repeated warnings given to Gilgamesh against
the dangerous undertaking. The fourth tablet must have recounted the
struggle itself, and it is not improbable that this episode extended
into the fifth tablet, since in the Assyrian version this is the
case. The elaboration of the story is in itself an argument in favor
of assuming some historical background for it--the recollection of
the conquest of Amurru by some powerful warrior; and we have seen
that this conquest must be ascribed to Enkidu and not to Gilgamesh.
VIII.
If, now, Enkidu is not only the older figure but the one who is the
real hero of the most notable episode in the Gilgamesh Epic; if,
furthermore, Enkidu is the Hercules who kills lions and dispatches
the bull sent by an enraged goddess, what becomes of Gilgamesh? What
is left for him?
In the first place, he is definitely the conqueror of Erech. He builds
the wall of Erech, [114] and we may assume that the designation of
the city as _Uruk supûri_, "the walled Erech," [115] rests upon this
tradition. He is also associated with the great temple Eanna, "the
heavenly house," in Erech. To Gilgamesh belongs also the unenviable
tradition of having exercised his rule in Erech so harshly that the
people are impelled to implore Aruru to create a rival who may rid
the district of the cruel tyrant, who is described as snatching sons
and daughters from their families, and in other ways terrifying the
population--an early example of "Schrecklichkeit." Tablets II to
V inclusive of the Assyrian version being taken up with the Huwawa
episode, modified with a view of bringing the two heroes together,
we come at once to the sixth tablet, which tells the story of how
the goddess Ishtar wooed Gilgamesh, and of the latter's rejection
of her advances. This tale is distinctly a nature myth. The attempt
of Gressmann [116] to find some historical background to the episode
is a failure. The goddess Ishtar symbolizes the earth which woos the
sun in the spring, but whose love is fatal, for after a few months
the sun's power begins to wane. Gilgamesh, who in incantation hymns
is invoked in terms which show that he was conceived as a sun-god,
[117] recalls to the goddess how she changed her lovers into animals,
like Circe of Greek mythology, and brought them to grief. Enraged at
Gilgamesh's insult to her vanity, she flies to her father Anu and cries
for revenge. At this point the episode of the creation of the bull is
introduced, but if the analysis above given is correct it is Enkidu
who is the hero in dispatching the bull, and we must assume that the
sickness with which Gilgamesh is smitten is the punishment sent by Anu
to avenge the insult to his daughter. This sickness symbolizes the
waning strength of the sun after midsummer is past. The sun recedes
from the earth, and this was pictured in the myth as the sun-god's
rejection of Ishtar; Gilgamesh's fear of death marks the approach
of the winter season, when the sun appears to have lost its vigor
completely and is near to death. The entire episode is, therefore,
a nature myth, symbolical of the passing of spring to midsummer and
then to the bare season. The myth has been attached to Gilgamesh as
a favorite figure, and then woven into a pattern with the episode
of Enkidu and the bull. The bull episode can be detached from the
nature myth without any loss to the symbolism of the tale of Ishtar
and Gilgamesh.
As already suggested, with Enkidu's death after this conquest
of the bull the original Enkidu Epic came to an end. In order to
connect Gilgamesh with Enkidu, the former is represented as sharing
in the struggle against the bull. Enkidu is punished with death,
while Gilgamesh is smitten with disease. Since both shared equally
in the guilt, the punishment should have been the same for both. The
differentiation may be taken as an indication that Gilgamesh's disease
has nothing to do with the bull episode, but is merely part of the
nature myth.
Gilgamesh now begins a series of wanderings in search of
the restoration of his vigor, and this _motif_ is evidently a
continuation of the nature myth to symbolize the sun's wanderings
during the dark winter in the hope of renewed vigor with the coming
of the spring. Professor Haupt's view is that the disease from which
Gilgamesh is supposed to be suffering is of a venereal character,