ETCSL 1.8.1.4 (Version C) Gilgameš, Enkidu and the Nether World

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.
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Text: Full Translation, Collation (partial)

Sumerian  ⟶  English a

Line # Translation
[Version C] A third version from Urim (UET 6 60)
1-10They 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.
11-16Gilgameš 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!"
17Warrior 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 13 Nov. 2024.

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 November 13, 2024. 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.
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About

Gilgameš, Enkidu, and the Netherworld Afterlife myth Myth icon
Sumerian Belief system
Gilgameš Main deity

While Enki was saling, the south wind uprooted a single ḫalub tree on the bank of the Euphrates river. A woman found it, planted it in Inanna's garden, and watered it by only using her feet; it grew massive after ten years. Inanna wanted to use it for a chair, but its bark would not break. Inanna cried and asked her brother, Gilgameš, to do it. Gilgameš cut the tree with his strength and also made a powerful mallet from its branches. During a game, both the ball and the mallet fell down into the netherworld. When Gilgameš could not recover items, his servant Enkidu offered to retrieve it. Enkidu became trapped there. Gilgameš asked Enki and Enlil to rescue Enkidu, but without success. Utu, however, obliged and made a hole for Enkidu to return. Gilgameš rejoiced and asked Enkidu how different kinds of people fare in the netherworld, ending the poem.