Thoughts on Truth - Philosophy

612 BCE - Sack of Nineveh by Median and Babylonian alliance.

[Sargon's birth myth] pg. xvii

Exorcist spells in ancient Bablyonian, incantations to protect one from harm

By profession he was an excorsist, which is to say that he was trained in the art of the expulsion of evil by prayer, incantation, and magic ritual. This was a very important skill, whose principal applications were treating the sick, absolving sin, averting bad portents, and consecrating holy ground. pg. xxiv

Ancient tradition held Gilgamesh's reign to be 126 years, and he lived of a period when later ancients believed the gods still talked to man and took interest in their affairs. Important triad dieties. pg. xxxi

maturity is gained as much through failure as success. Life, of necessity, is hard, but one is the wiser for it. pg. xxxv

We know from many ancient Mesopatamian sources, in Summerian and in Akkadian, that the Babylonians believed the purpose of the human race to be the service of the gods and make man to carry the yoke, were free and wild, man from clay. Instructions of Amen-em-Opet; Instructions of Shuruppak; Cuthean Legend of Naram-Sin. pg. xxxvii

sacrifice to be cleansed, man's spirit is produced by the blood and flesh of a sacrificed god. Divine element in man. pg. xl

So too advised the author of Ecclesiastes: "Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart...Let thy garments be always white, and let not thy head lack ointment. Live joyfully with the wife thou lovest all the days of thy life." The themes of the vanity of human endeavor and of taking one's pleasure in one's family are typical of 'wisdom' literature of the kind found elsewhere in the ancient Near East. pg. xxxvi

then a man spent one hundred years as a boy, free of duties, another hundred years he spent, after he grew up, but still he performed no task of work. pg. xlix

[Gilgamesh saw the "Deep", the country's foundations. He also learnt of everything, the sum of wisdom, was wise in all matters. He built buildings that none could ever copy them, including a stairway that got close to Heaven.] pg. 1

[Seven sages; lapis lazuli; interesting that he is 2/3 god and 1/3 man] pg. 2

[Araru created mankind; making Enkidu as a rival to divert Gilgamesh] pg. 4

[Aruru made Enkidu out of clay] pg. 5

[Rock from the sky?] pg. 6

do not rely on the strength of a man! Go, my son, and fetch Shamhat the harlot, her allure is a match for even the mighty! When the herd comes down to the water-hole, she should strip off her raiment to reveal her charms. He will see her, and will approach her, his herd will spurn him, though he grew up amongst it." Paying heed to the advice of his father. 1-140

Uncradle your bosom, bare your sex, let him take in your charms! Do not recoil, but take in his scent: he will see you, and will approach you. Spread your clothing so he may lie on you, do for the man the work of a woman! Let his passion caress and embrace you. 1-180

When with her delights he was fully sated, he turned his gaze to his herd. The gazelles saw Enkidu, they started to run, the beasts of the field shied away from his presence. Enkidu had defiled his body so pure, his legs stood still, though his herd was in motion. Enkidu was weakened, could not run as before, but now he had reason, and wide understanding. 1-195

So she spoke to him and her word found favor, he knew by instinct, he should seek a friend. 1-213

You are handsome, Enkidu, you are just like a god. 1-207

One born in the wild is mighty, strength he possesses. 1-223

O Enkidu, as yet so ignorant of life, I will show you Gilgamesh, a man happy and carefree, look at him, regard his features! He is fair in manhood, dignified in bearing, graced with charm in his whole person. He has a strength more mighty than yours, unsleeping he is by day and by night. Oh Enkidu, cast aside your sinful thoughts! Gilgamesh it is who divine Shamash loves. The gods Anu, Enlil, and Ea have broadened his wisdom. 1-233

Let me acquire a friend to counsel me. 1-296

her words he heard, her speech found favor: the counsel of a women struck home in his heart. P-66

how like in build he is to Gilgamesh, tall in stature, proud as a battlement. 2-40

His mood became free, he started to sing, his heart grew merry, his face lit up. P-104

[7 goblets turned into a man by being groomed] pg. 14

[destiny and divine consent ordains the future] pg. 15

[doing things never done before.] pg. 17

[Gilgamesh chides Enkidu as being afraid of death then later is afraid himself] pg. 18

Why, my friend, do you speak like a weakling? With your spineless words you make me despondent. As for man, his days are numbered, whatever he may do, it is but wind. 2-232

your heart is tried and tested in combat. 2-240

[seven gates of Uruk; convenes assembly of elders; concern with might and an eternal name.] pg. 20

O young men of Uruk-the-Sheepfold, O young men of Uruk, who understood combat! Bold as I am I shall tread the distant path to the home of Humbaba, I shall face a battle I know not. I shall ride a road I know not: give me your blessings as I go on my journey, so I may see again your faces in safety, and return glad at heart through Uruk's gate! On my return I will celebrate New Year twice over, I will celebrate the festival twice in the year. Let the festival take place, the merriment begin, let the drums resound before Wild-Cow Ninsun!" Enkidu offered counsel to the elders, and the young men of Uruk, who understood combat (further down page). 2-260

The senior advisors rose, good counsel they offered Gilgamesh: "You are young, Gilgamesh, borne along by emotion, all that you talk of you don't understand. 2-287

do not rely, Oh Gilgamesh, on your strength alone, look long and hard, land a blow you can count on! "Who goes in front saves his companion, who knows the road protects his friend." Let Enkidu go before you, he knows the journey to the Forest of Cedar. He is tested in battle and tried in combat, he shall guard his friend and keep safe his companion. 3-2

Ninsun is clever and wise, well versed in everything, she will set our feet in steps of good counsel. 3-17

[went in the bathhouse seven times; sun god Shamash] pg. 24

Why did you afflict my son Gilgamesh with so restless a spirit? 3-46

let the days be long, let the nights be short, let his loins be girt, let his stride be sure! Let him pitch at nightfall a camp for the night. 3-82

[list of 13 winds; suplicant; Shamash carried by fleet-footed mules?] pg. 25

The officers must not assemble young men in the street. 3-208

[praying to mountain for a good sign, House of the Dream god] pg. 30

[seven cloaks] pg. 38

Why, my friend, do we speak like weaklings? Was it not we crossed all of the mountains? 4-243

Let your shout resound like a kettle drum, let the stiffness leave your arms, the tremors your knees! Take my hand, friend, and we shall go on together, let your thoughts dwell on combat! Forget death and seek life! 4-251

a three-ply rope is not easily broken. Even a mighty lion two cubs can overcome. 5-76

Let fools take counsel, Gilgamesh, with the rude and bruttish. 5-87

Though boldly we came up to his lair to defeat him, yet my heart will not quickly... Enkidu opened his mouth to speak, saying to Gilgamesh: "Why, my friend, do you speak like a weakling? With your spineless words you make me despondent. Now, my friend, but one is our task, the copper is already pouring into the mould! To stroke the furnace for an hour? To ... the coals for an hour? To send the Deluge is to crack the whip! Don't draw back, don't make a retreat! ...make your blow mighty!" 5-97

[Humbaba begging for his life, Enkidu tells Gilgamesh not to listen to his supplications] pg. 42

Humbaba who guards the Forest of Cedar: finish him, slay him, do away with his power, before Enlil the foremost hears what we do! The great gods will take against us in anger, Enlil in Nippur, Shamash in Larsa..., establish forever a fame that endures, how Gilgames slew ferocious Humbaba. 5-185

By your strength alone you slew the guardian, what could bring you dishonor? IM-20

On the beauty of Gilgamesh Lady Ishtar looked with longing: "Come, Gilgamesh, be you my bridegroom! Grant me your fruits, O grant me! Be you my husband and I your wife! 6-6

[She goes into a list of status symbols and wealth, then he responds harshly about how treacherous she is, mentions 77, how poorly she treats the things she loves or is fickle.] pg. 48

You loved Ishallanu, your father's gardener, who used to bring you dates in a basket, daily making your table gleam. You eyed him up and went to meet him: "O my Ishallanu, let us taste your vigor: put out your 'hand' and stroke my quim!" But Ishallanu said to you: "Me! What do you want of me? Did my mother not bake? Have I not eaten, that now I should eat the bread of slander and insults? Should I let only rushes cover me in winter?" When you heard what he'd said, you struck him and turned him into a dwarf. You sat him down in the midst of his labors, he cannot go up..., he cannot go down... Must you love me also and deal with me likewise?" The goddess Ishtar heard these words, she went up to Heaven in a furious rage. Weeping, she went to Anu, her father, before Antu, her mother, her tears did flow. [Then wants to kill him] 6-64

Ah, but was it not you who provoked king Gilgamesh, so he told a tale of foulest slander, slander about you and insults too?' 6-89

[dead in a Netherworld; Ishtar seeking vengenance] pg. 51

My friend, we vaunted ourselves in our city: how shall we answer the thronging people? My friend, I have tested the might of the Bull, so learning its strength, and knowing its purpose. Let me test again the might of the Bull, I shall get myself behind the Bull of Heaven, I will seize it by the tuft of the tail. 6-130

[Bragging of what Gilgamesh got] pg. 53

[boasting] pg. 54

[Argument that an innocent should not die for something that Enlil did] pg. 55

[Value is put on one's name] pg. 56

do you, who had understanding and reason, now speak profanity? Why, my friend, does your heart talk profanity...? the dream was special, great the anxiety. Your feverish lips were buzzing like flies, the misgivings were great, the dream was rare. To the one who survives the gods leave grieving: the dream leaves sorrow to the one who survives. The great gods I'll beseech in supplication. 7-70

I will fashion your statue in gold without limit, ....My friend, give no silver, give no gold, give no...! The word Enlil spoke is not like the... gods', what he commands, he doesn't erase, what he sets down..., he doesn't erase. My friend, fixed is my destiny, people go to their doom before their time. 7-82

I will curse you with a mighty curse, my curse shall afflict you now and forthwith! A household to delight in you shall not acquire, never to reside in the midst of a family! In the young woman's chamber you shall not sit! Your finest garment the ground shall defile! You festive gown the drunkard shall stain in the dirt! Things of beauty you shall never acquire! ...of the potter. No...shall you have...! No table for a banquet, the people's abundance, shall be laid in your house! The bed you delight in shall be a miserable bench! The junction of highways shall be where you sit! A field of ruins shall be where you sleep! The shadow of the rampart shall be where you stand! Thorn and briar shall skin your feet! Drunk and sober shall strike your cheek! ...shall be plaintiff, and claim against you! The roof of your house no builder shall plaster! In your bedroom the owl shall roost! At your table never shall banquet take place. 7-104

[collection of curses, concept of defiled and being weakened by being defiled. Shamash chides him as a voice from the sky for putting improper blame on someone who gave to him and allowed good things to happen for consequences of what she did. Blessings; 7 children.] pg. 58

[Concepts of wealthy burial and honor and praise after death, having many people mourn, and to show signs of mourning all being good things and which calm Enkidu's anger. Blessings are made] pg. 59

I will fix your destiny! My mouth that cursed you shall bless you as well! Governors shall love you and noble men too! At one league off men shall slap their thighs, at two leagues out they shall shake out their hair! No soldier shall be slow to drop his belt for you, obsidian he shall give you, lapis lazuli and gold! Earrings and jewelry shall be what he gives you! Ishtar, the ablest of gods, shall gain you entrance to the man whose home is established and wealth heaped high! For you his wife shall be deserted, though mother of seven! 7-151

[description of the Netherworld] pg. 61

[wanting to be remembered, and the trials and sacrifices made] pg. 62

My friend, one who falls in combat makes his name, but I, I do not fall in combat, and shall not make my name. 7-266

[Gilgamesh wants all to mourn] pg. 63-64

like a hired mourner-woman I shall bitterly wail. 8-45

Now what is this sleep that has seized you? You've become unconscious, you do not hear me!" But he, he lifted not his head. He felt his heart, but it beat no longer. He covered, like a bride, the face of his friend, like an eagle he circled around him. Like a lioness deprived of her cubs, he paced to and fro, this way and that. His curly hair he tore out in clumps, he ripped off his finery, like something taboo he cast it away. 8-55

[made an expensive statue which seems to affect his status in the Netherworld.] pg. 65

[Tries to impress us with the expense, sacrificed animals, and gifts paid the gods to accept; and accompany Enkidu.] pg. 66

[wearing lion skins, digging wells, chasing the winds, Enkidu's death has made Gilgamesh more aware of his own mortality.] pg. 71

'O Gilgamesh, where are you wandering? The life that you seek you never will find." Said Gilgamesh to him, to the hero Shamash: "After roaming, wandering all through the wild, when I enter the Netherworld will rest be scarce? I shall lie there sleeping all down the years! Let my eyes see the sun and be sated with light! The darkness is hidden, how much light is there left? When may the dead see the rays of the sun?' Si i-7

[Some neat mythology about the sun and end of the world and scorpion men] pg. 71

in fear and dread he covered his face, then he collected his wits. 9-46

[mention of 24 hour cycle - 12 double hours] pg. 73-74

If you and Enkidu were the ones who slew the Guardian, destroyed Humbaba, who dwelt in the forest of Cedar, killed lions in the mountain passes, seized and slew the Bull come down from heaven - why are your cheeks so hollow, your face so sunken, your mood so wretched, your visage so wasted? Why in your heart does sorrow reside, and your face resemble one come from afar? Why are your features burnt by frost and by sunshine, and why do you wander the wild in lion's garb?" Said Gilgamesh to her, to the tavern-keeper: "Why should I not [be all these things]? My friend, a wild ass on the run, donkey of the uplands, panther of the wild, my friend, whom I loved so dear, who with me went through every danger: the doom of mortals overtook him. Six days I wept for him and seven nights. I did not surrender his body for burial, until a maggot dropped from his nostril. Then I was afraid that I too would die, I grew fearful of death, and so wander the wild. What became of my friend was too much to bear, so on a far road I wander the wild. How can I keep silent? How can I stay quiet? My friend, whom I loved, has turned to clay. Shall I not be like him, and also lie down, never to rise again, through all eternity?" 10-36

your own hands, O Gilgamesh, have prevented your crossing: you smashed the Stone Ones, threw them in the river. 10-156

[numbers 12 and 120] pg. 82

I thought: "I will find Uta-napishiti the Distant, of whom men tell," and I wandered journeying through every land. Many times I passed through terrible mountains, many times I crossed and recrossed all the oceans. Of slumber sweet my face had too little, I scourged myself by going sleepless. I have filled my sinews with sorrow, and what have I acheived by my toil? I had yet to reach the tavern-keeper, my clothing was worn out. I killed bear, hyena, lion, panther, cheetah, deer, ibex, the beasts and game of the wild: I ate their flesh, their pelts I flayed. Now let the gate of sorrow be barred, let its door be sealed with tar and pitch, for my sake they shall interrupt the dancing no more, for me, happy and carefree..." Said Uta-napishti to him, to Gilgamesh: "Why, Gilgamesh, do you ever chase sorrow? You, who are built from gods' flesh and human, whom the gods did fashion like your father and mother! Did you ever, Gilgamesh, compare your lot with the fool? They placed a throne in the assembly, and told you, "Sit!" The fool gets left over yeast instead of fresh ghee, bran and grist instead of best flour. He is clad in rag instead of fine garments, instead of a belt, he is girt with old rope. Because he has no advisors to guide him, his affairs lack counsel... Have thought for him, Gilgamesh,... 10-250

Enkidu indeed they took to his doom. But you, you toiled away, and what did you achieve? You exhaust yourself with ceaseless toil, you fill your sinews with sorrow, bringing forward the end of your days. Man is snapped off like a reed in a canebrake! The comely young man, the pretty young woman - all too soon in their prime Death abducts them! No one at all sees Death, no one at all sees the face of Death, no one at all hears the voice of Death, Death so savage, who hacks men down. Ever do we build our households, ever do we make our nests, ever do brothers divide their inheritance, ever do fueds arise in the land. Ever the river has risen and brought us the flood, the mayfly floating on the water. On the face of the son its countenance gazes, then all of a sudden nothing is there! The abducted and the dead, how alike is their lot! But never was drawn the likeness of Death, never in the land did the dead greet a man. The Anunnaki, the great gods, held an assembly, Mammitum, maker of destiny, fixed fates with them: both Death and Life they have established, but the day of Death they do not disclose. 10-296

[uta-Napishti's eternal life] pg. 88

a matter most secret, to you I will tell a mystery of gods. The town of Shurruppak, a city well known to you, which stands on the banks of the river Euphrates: this city was old - the gods once were in it - when the great gods decided to send down the Deluge. Their father Anu swore on oath, and their counselor, the hero Enlil, their chamberlain, the god Ninurta, and their sheriff, the god Ennugi. Princely Ea swore with them also, repeating their words to a fence made of reed: "O fence of reed, O wall of brick! Hear this, O fence! Pay heed, O wall! O man of Shurruppak, son of Ubar-Tutu, demolish the house, and build a boat! Abandon wealth, and seek survival! Spurn property, Save life! Take on board the boat all living things' seed! The boat you will build, her dimensions all shall be equal: her length and breadth shall be the same, cover her with a roof, like the Ocean Below." I understood and spoke to Ea, my master: "I obey, O master, what thus you told me. I understood, and I shall do it, but how do I answer my city, the crowd, and the elders?" Ea opened his mouth to speak, saying to me, his servant: "Also you will say to them this: 'For sure the god Enlil feels for me hatred. In your city I can live no longer, I can tread no more on Enlil's ground. I must go to the Ocean Below, to live with Ea, my master, and he will send you a rain of plenty: an abundance of birds, a profusion of fishes, he will provide a harvest of riches. In the morning he will send you a shower of bread-cakes, and in the evening a torrent of wheat." pg. 88-90

[boat is one acre, 10 rods, six decks, 7 total divisions, 9 internal compartments, 30,000 measures of pitch, tar, oil; 10,000 made in libations, etc.] pg. 90

For my workmen I butchered oxen, and lambs I slaughtered daily, beer and ale, oil and wine like water from a river I gave my workforce, so they enjoyed a feast like the days of New Year. 11-71

Everything I ... do without slumber!' pg. 91-95 [is the story of the flood

See the fellow who so desired life! Sleep like a fog, already breathes over him. 11-213

Man is deceitful, he will deceive you. Go, bake for him his daily bread loaf, and line them up by his head. 11-220

What should I do and where should I go? A thief has taken hold of my flesh! For there in my bed-chamber Death does abide, and wherever I turn, there too will be Death.' ......As for the man that you led here, his body is tousled with matted hair, the pelts have ruined his body's beauty. Take him, Ur-shanabi, lead him to the washtub, have him wash his matted locks as clean as can be! Let him cast off his pelts, and the sea bear them off, let his body be soaked till fair! Let a new kerchief be made for his head, let him wear royal robes, the dress fitting his dignity! Until he goes home to his city, until he reaches the end of his road, let the robes show no mark, but stay fresh and new!" 11-243

This plant, Ur-shanabi, is the plant of "Heartbeat", with it a man can regain his vigor. To Uruk-the-sheepfold I will take it, to an ancient I will feed some and put the plant to the test! It's name shall be "Old man Grown Young", I will eat it myself, and be again as I was in my youth!" At twenty leagues they broke bread, and thirty leagues they stopped for the night. Gilgamesh found a pool whose water was cool, down he went into it, to bathe in the water. Of the plant's fragrance a snake caught scent, came up in silence, and bore the plant off. As it turned away it sloughed its skin. Then Gilgamesh sat down and wept, down his cheeks the tears were coursing. ...he spoke to Ur-shanabi, the boatman: "For whom, Ur-shanabi, toiled my arms so hard, for whom ran dry the blood of my heart? Not for myself did I find a bounty, for the "Lion of the Earth" I have done a favor! Now far and wide the tide is rising. Having opened the channel I abandoned the tools: what thing would I find that served as my landmark? Had I only turned back, and left the boat on the shore!" 11-295

[seven sages]

Surpassing all other kings

Then the stars of the sky hid from me, a piece of the sky fell down to me. I picked it up, but it was too heavy for me, I pushed at it but I could not dislodge it. The land of Uruk was gathered about it, the young men were kissing its feet. [Gilgamesh's dream that his mother intreprets as the sending of Enkidu from the gods to be his friend] P-6

While the two of them together were making love, he forgot the wild where he was born. P-46

[Seven terrors] pg. 109

Who is there, my friend, can climb to the sky? Only the gods dwell forever in sunlight. As for man, his days are numbered, whatever he may do, it is but wind. Here are you, afraid of death! What has become of your mighty valor? Let me walk in front of you, and you can call to me "go on without fear!" If I should fall, let me make my name: "Gilgamesh joined battle with ferocious Huwawa!" You were born and grew up in the wild, a lion attacked you, you experienced all. Grown men fled away from your presence, ...you in the evening. Why now do you speak like a weakling? with your spineless words you make me despondent. Let me start out, I will chop down the cedar! A name that is eternal I will establish for ever! Y-140

[Bribing the gods for a good outcome] pg. 113

[bow, blessing] pg. 113

Do not rely, Gilgamesh, on your strength alone! Let your eyes be sharp, guard yourself well! Let Enkidu walk before you, he is versed in the path, well traveled on the road. He knows the ways into the forest, and all the tricks of Humwawa. "The one who goes in front keeps safe his comrade, the one whose eyes are sharp will protect his person." May Shamash permit you to win your victory, may your eyes be witness to the deeds you have talked of. May he open for you the paths that are shut, may he ready the road for your footsteps! For your feet may he ready the mountain, may the night bring you something to cheer you! May Lugalbanda assist in your victory; win your victory like a little child! In Humwawa's river, that which you strive for, wash your feet! When you camp for the night, dig a well; in your bottle shall be fresh water always! You must offer chilled water to Shamash, and remember your god, Lugalbanda. Enkidu opened his mouth saying to Gilgamesh: "Where you've set your mind begin the journey, let your heart have no fear, keep your eyes on me! In the forest I knew his lair, and the ways, too, that Humwawa wanders. Y-249

[dream interpretation] pg. 119

I would not meet death, that I fear so much." Said the tavern-keeper to him, to Gilgamesh: "O Gilgamesh, where are you wandering? The life that you seek you will never find: when the gods created mankind, death they dispensed to all mankind, life they kept for themselves. But you, Gilgamesh, let your belly be full, enjoy yourself always by day and by night! Make merry each day, dance and play day and night! Let your clothes be clean, let your head be washed, may you bathe in water! Gaze on the child who holds your hand, let your wife enjoy your repeated embrace! For such is the destiny of mortal men. Si ii-14

The Envoys of Akka

Before his city's elders Bilgames laid the matter, seeking a solution. 3

Before his city's young men Bilgames laid the matter a second time, seeking a solution: "To empty the wells, to empty the wells of the land, to empty the shallow wells of the land, to empty the deep wells furnished with hoisting ropes:" let us not submit to the house of Kish, let us wage war! 18

let weapons of war return to your grasp! Let them create terror and a dread aura, so when he arrives fear of me overwhelms him, so his good sense is confounded and his judgement undone! 44

The Lord to the Living One's Mountain

Since no man can escape life's end, I will enter the mountain and set up my name. 4

Young man, in your own place you are a nobleman, but there in the mountain what would you be?' 19

my gaze fell on a corpse drifting down the river, afloat on the water: I too shall become like that, just so shall I be! "No man can stretch to the sky, no matter how tall, no man can compass a mountain, no matter how broad!" 26

[Seven are they constellations?] pg. 151

[Seven; the whole group freaking out and freezing] pg. 153 and 163

Until I discover whether that fellow is a man or a god, my mountain-bound feet I shall not turn home to the city!" The servant makes life pleasant, makes life sweet. 93

Two men together cannot die: that lashed to a boat cannot sink, no man can cut a three-ply rope, a flood cannot sweep a man off a wall, fire in a reed hut cannot be extinguished! You join with me, I will join with you, what can anyone do to us then? 106

Fright is countered with fright, cunning with cunning. 117

[Bilgames is frightened of Huwawa's seven auras of terror so that it freezes him in inaction, so Bilgames says he wishes to join Huwawa's family and asks for a trade for each of his auras in return for gifts of various things, then Bilgames attacks Huwawa when his auras have been given away.] pg. 155

[seven] pg. 158

Even the tallest, if lacking good counsel, Namtar will devour and he will not know it! 170

A captive warrior given freedom, a captive priestess returned to the cloister, a captive priest returned to the wig, from days of old who ever saw such a thing? The mountain road he will confound before you, the mountain path he will confuse before you. UnB

Oh Enkidu, you use evil words to him about me: a hired man is hired for his keep, following behind his leader. Why use evil words to him?" But as he said these words, in rage and fury Enkidu severed his head at the neck. 176

Ho, Hurrah

I saw a corpse afloat on the water. The mind despairs the heart is stricken: the end of life being inescapable - the grave, the oppresive Netherworld, which spares no man: "No man can reach across a mountain, no matter how lofty, no man can compass a mountain, no matter how broad." - because no man can escape life's end. 8

"The gifts of Inana must not enter your chamber, the divine Palace Lady must not weaken your warrior's arm!" O Lady Inana, you must not block my path! A i-8

O my child, why are you weeping, why are you crying?" "It is the great bull on the rampage in Uruk, the great bull Bilgames on the rampage in Uruk! Because he would not let me give my own self to him, I am weeping, I am crying! O my father, please give me the Bull of Heaven! Let me kill the lord. A ii-9

[Seven; goddess Inannu flew off like a dove] pg. 177

[punishment in afterlife] pg. 189

[flood myth and not allowing eternal life; passing judgement in afterlife; funeral games?] pg. 191

I made your destiny a destinty of kingship, but I did not make it a destiny of eternal life. For mankind, whatever life it has, be not sick at heart, be not in despair, be not heart-stricken! The bane of mankind is thus come, I have told you, what was fixed when your naval-cord was cut is thus come, I have told you. The darkest day of mortal man has caught up with me, the solitary place of mortal man has caught up with you, the flood-wave that cannot be breasted has caught up with you, the battle that cannot be fled has caught up with you, the combat that cannot be matched has caught up with you, the fight that shows no pity has caught up with you! But do not go down to the Great City with heart knotted in anger, let it be undone before Utu, let it be unraveled like palm-fibre and peeled like an onion! pg. 200

[Gilgamesh's tomb is hidden under the river Euphrates, he is the governor of the underworld. Describes the tomb and some burial practices, gifts for gods and such. Gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair in mourning] pg. 201

Sumerian Mythology
Enki tells Namunu to shape man out of clay.
Ninmah imposes the fate of hard work on mankind.
There is a concept of Heaven and the underworld.
One with seven sons is close to gods (Gilgamesh).
There were seven gates in the underworld.
Seven rays of splendor
Water of Life
Demons and evil spirits
Enten creates all living things
In the Sumerian tales of Gilgamesh, a demon takes the form of a serpent among the roots of a tree.

Babylonia
Seven sages
Seven winds
Tablets of Destiny
Man is created from clay and the blood of the god Kingu by the god Ea.
The solar diety Shemash is just, impartial, and compassionate

Important themes were justice, morality, personal piety, and concerns of death and the underworld.

Anu offers Adapa the water and bread of life which would make him like the gods but is really offered the water and bread of Death

There is a Sumerian flood myth about Ziusudra who escapes the deluge by secret instructions of Euki

The Babylonia myth has man created from clay and the blood of a god. The goddess makes seven couples and gives orders about procreation. Thereafter it man is to reproduce and labor for the gods. Humans are too loud so Enlil sends plague, then famine, then sends the flood to eradicate all mankind. Enki warns Atrahasis to build a boat and get on it with his family and different animals. Everything else perished. After the flood, Atrahasis makes a sacrifice, he is given eternal life. Flood subsides on the seventh day.

Important themes were justice, morality, personal piety and concerns of death and the underworld.
Anu offers Adapa the water and bread of life which would make him like the gods but is really offered the water and bread of death.
There is a Sumerian flood myth about Ziusudra who escapes the deluge by secret instructions of Euki.
The Babylonian myth has man created from clay and the blood of a god. The goddess makes seven couples and gives orders about procreation. Thereafter it man is to reproduce and labor for the gods. Humans are too loud so Enlil sends plague, then famine, then sends the flood to eradicate all mankind. Enki warns Atrahasis to build a boat and get on it with his family and different animals. Everything else perished. After the flood Atrahasis makes a sacrifice, he is given eternal life. The flood subided on the seventh day.