Text summary
From: Website · Jeremy Allen Black · 1997
"Gilgameš, Enkidu and the Nether World" (ETCSL 1.8.1.4; Version C) provides a partial English translation of a Sumerian afterlife myth. The main actors are Gilgameš and his servant Enkidu. Version C contains 17 lines compiled from artifact UET 6 60. The text covers a portion where Gilgameš returned to Unug and addressed a statue.
Text: Full Translation, Collation (partial)
Sumerian ⟶ English a
| Line # | Translation |
|---|---|
| [Version C] A third version from Urim (UET 6 60) | |
| 1-10 | They returned to Unug, they returned to their city. He entered outfitted with tools and armaments, with an axe and a spear, and deposited them in his palace happily. Looking at the statue, the young men and women of Unug and the old men (?) and women of Kulaba rejoiced. As Utu came forth from his bedchamber, Gilgameš (?) raised his head and told them (?): "My father and my mother, drink clean water!" Midday had hardly passed when they touched the statue's (?) crown. |
| 11-16 | Gilgameš threw himself down at the place of mourning, he threw himself down for nine days at the place of mourning. The young men and women of Unug and the old men (?) and women of Kulaba wept. As soon as he had said that, he repulsed the citizen of Ĝirsu. "My father and my mother, drink clean water!" |
| 17 | Warrior Gilgameš, son of Ninsumun, sweet is your praise! |
| Source(s) a Black et al., "ETCSL 1.8.1.4: Gilgameš Nether World [Version C]." | |
Record notes
About these data
| Catalog no. | ETCSL 1.8.1.4 (C) |
| Retrieval date | Jun. 15, 2020 |
| Copyright | ETCSL @ Oxford |
Cite this page
MLA Modern Language Association (8th ed.)
OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. "ETCSL 1.8.1.4 (Version C): Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Nether World." OMNIKA – World Mythology Index, OMNIKA Foundation, 15 Jun. 2020, omnika.org/stable/632. Accessed 15 Dec. 2025.
APA American Psychological Association (6th ed.)
OMNIKA (2020, June 15). ETCSL 1.8.1.4 (Version C): Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Nether World. Retrieved from https://omnika.org/stable/632
CMS Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed.)
OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. "ETCSL 1.8.1.4 (Version C): Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Nether World." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created June 15, 2020. Accessed December 15, 2025. https://omnika.org/stable/632.
Bibliography
Black, Jeremy, Graham Cunningham, Jarle Ebeling, Esther Flückiger-Hawker, et al., eds. ETCSL: The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. Oxford, UK: The University of Oxford. http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk. Accessed June 11, 2020.
