"Why did I labor? For nothing. I have not gained any good."
They forged weapons: axes of twelve pounds, swords of fifty pounds. Gilgamesh prayed to the sun god Shamash, who hated Humbaba. Shamash gave him three dreams, each more dreadful than the last. In the first, a mountain fell on him. In the second, a bull split the earth. In the third, a thunderbird set the world on fire.
He carved his story on a tablet of lapis lazuli, sealed it in a copper chest, and placed it at the foot of the city walls. And he wrote: He who saw the Deep, the foundation of the land. He who knew all things, wise in all matters. Gilgamesh, who saw the secret and uncovered the hidden. He brought back a tale from before the Flood. Go up on the wall of Uruk and walk around. Examine its foundation, inspect its brickwork. Is not even the core of the wall made of kiln-fired brick? And is it not written on a lapis tablet that the walls themselves are eternal? The story does not end with death. It ends with brick, with cedar, with a name carved into a city. Gilgamesh could not defeat death. But he taught his people how to build—and how to weep for a friend—and that was enough. epic of gilgamesh full version
"I have lost my brother Enkidu. I have sat at his graveside. Now I am afraid of death. I want to find Utnapishtim, the Faraway, who survived the Flood."
That night, while he bathed in a cool spring, a serpent smelled the plant. It slithered up, swallowed the flower, and shed its skin. The serpent was young again. Gilgamesh sat down and wept. "Why did I labor
They tore out the bull's right thigh and threw it in Ishtar's face.
They sailed. At the end of the world, Gilgamesh met and his wife—the only mortals granted eternal life. Tablet XI: The Flood and the Serpent Utnapishtim told his story. Long ago, the gods resolved to destroy humanity with a flood. But Ea, god of wisdom, whispered to Utnapishtim through a reed wall: Tear down your house, build a boat. Abandon possessions, save life. Take male and female of all living things. Gilgamesh prayed to the sun god Shamash, who hated Humbaba
Gilgamesh laughed in her face. "What lover have you kept? Tammuz—you turned him into a bird, wounded year after year. The lion—you dug seven pits for him. The stallion—you made him a slave to the whip. The shepherd—you turned him into a wolf. The gardener—you struck him into a mole. You will do the same to me."