The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria Part 51

Thy inhabitants [appeal for aid?].

Gilgamesh does not leave a son to his father.

Day and night,...

He, the ruler of walled Uruk,...

He, their ruler,...

The strong, the preeminent, the cunning,...

Gilgamesh does not leave the virgin to [her mother], The daughter to her warrior, the wife to her husband.

The G.o.ds [of heaven] hear their cry.

They cry aloud to Aruru, "Thou hast created him, Now create a rival (?) to him, equal to taking up the fight against him (?)."

So much at least is clear from the badly mutilated lines that Gilgamesh has played sad havoc with the inhabitants of Uruk. In personal combat, as it would appear, he has triumphed over the warriors of the place. The son is taken away from his father, the virgins are taken captive, warriors and husbands are s.n.a.t.c.hed from those dear to them. Aruru is here appealed to as the creator of mankind.[867] She who has created the hero is asked to produce some one who can successfully resist Gilgamesh.

Aruru proceeds to do so.

Aruru, upon hearing this, forms a man of Anu.[868]

Aruru washes her hands, takes a bit of clay, and throws it on the ground.

She creates Eabani, a hero, a lofty offspring, the possession of Ninib.[869]

This creature Eabani is described as having a body covered with hair. He has long flowing locks and lives with the animals about him.

Eating herbs with gazelles, Drinking from a trough with cattle, Sporting with the creatures of the waters.

The description evidently recalls man living in a savage state, and, to judge from ill.u.s.trations of Eabani on seal cylinders, the mythological fancy of the period when strange monsters existed of hybrid formation, half-man, half-beast, has influenced the conception of this strange creature who is to combat the invincible Gilgamesh. But Gilgamesh frustrates the plan. He sends a messenger known as _Sadu_, that is, 'the hunter,' and described as a "wicked man," to ensnare Eabani.[870] For three days in succession, the hunter sees Eabani drinking at the trough with the cattle, but is unable to catch him. The sight of this 'wild man of the woods' frightens the hunter. He returns to Gilgamesh for further instructions.

Gilgamesh spoke to the hunter:

Go, hunter mine, and take with thee Ukhat When the cattle comes to the trough, Let her tear off her dress and disclose her nakedness.

He[871] will see her and approach her.

His cattle, which grew up on his field, will forsake him.

_Ukhatu_ is a name for a harlot devoted to the wors.h.i.+p of Ishtar. Other names for such devotees are _Kharimtu_[872] and _Kizritu_.[873]

Elsewhere the city Uruk is called "the dwelling of Anu and Ishtar, the city of the _Kizreti_, _Ukhati_, and _Kharimati_"[874] and in a subsequent tablet of the Gilgamesh epic[875] these three cla.s.ses of harlots are introduced as the attendants of Ishtar, obedient to her call. The conclusion is therefore justified that Uruk was one of the centers--perhaps the center--of the obscene rites to which Herodotus[876] has several references. Several other incidental allusions in cuneiform literature to the sacred prost.i.tution carried on at Babylonian temples confirm Herodotus' statement in general,[877]

although the rite never a.s.sumed the large proportions that he reports.

On the other hand, Herodotus does not appear to have understood the religious significance of the custom that he designates as 'shameful.'

The name given to the harlot among Babylonians and Hebrews,[878]

_Kadishtu_ or _K'desha_, that is, 'the sacred one,' is sufficient evidence that, at its origin, the rite was not the product of obscene tendencies, but due to nave conceptions connected with the wors.h.i.+p of Ishtar as the G.o.ddess of fertility.

The introduction of Ukhat, however, as an aid to carry out the designs of Gilgamesh is devoid of religious significance, and one is inclined to regard the Eabani episode, or at least certain portions of it, as having had at one time an existence quite independent of Gilgamesh's adventures. The description of Eabani is, as we have seen, based upon mythological ideas. The creation of Eabani recalls the Biblical tradition of the formation of the first man, and Ukhat appears to be the Babylonian equivalent to the Biblical Eve, who through her charms entices Eabani away from the gazelles and cattle,[879] and brings him to Uruk, the symbol of civilized existence.

It is significant that in the Biblical narrative, the s.e.xual instinct and the beginnings of culture as symbolized by the tree of knowledge are closely a.s.sociated. According to rabbinical traditions, the serpent is the symbol of the s.e.xual pa.s.sion.[880]

Eve obtains control of Adam with the aid of this pa.s.sion. In the episode of Eabani, Ukhat, and the hunter--who, be it noted, plays the part of the tempter--we seem to have an ancient legend forming part of some tradition regarding the beginnings of man's history, and which has been brought into connection with the Gilgamesh epic,--when and how, it is impossible, of course, to say.

The hunter follows the instructions of Gilgamesh. Eabani falls a victim to Ukhat's attractions.

Ukhat exposed her breast, revealed her nakedness, took off her clothing.

Unabashed she enticed him.

The details of the meeting are described with a frank simplicity that points again to the antiquity of the legend.

For six days and seven nights Eabani enjoyed the love of Ukhat.

After he had satiated himself with her charms, He turned his countenance to his cattle.

The reposing gazelles saw Eabani, The cattle of the field turned away from him.

Eabani was startled and grew faint, His limbs grew stiff as his cattle ran off.

But Ukhat has gained control of him. He gives up the thought of gazelles and cattle, and returns to enjoy the love of Ukhat. His senses return,

And he again turns in love, enthralled at the feet of the harlot, Looks up into her face and listens as the woman speaks to him.

The woman[881] speaks to Eabani: "Lofty art thou, Eabani, like to a G.o.d.

Why dost thou lie with the beasts?

Come, I will bring thee to walled Uruk, To the glorious house,[882] the dwelling of Anu and Ishtar, To the seat of Gilgamesh, perfect in power, Surpa.s.sing men in strength, like a mountain bull."

It would appear from these lines that previous to the coming of Ukhat, Eabani had satisfied his desire on the beasts. In Ukhat, however, he found a worthier mate, and he accordingly abandons his former a.s.sociates to cling to her.

He yields and obeys her command.

In the wisdom of his heart he recognized a companion.[883]

In the continuation of the story Eabani becomes the companion of Gilgamesh, but I venture to think that the t.i.tle was transferred in the development of the epic from Ukhat, to whom it originally belonged. It is she who awakens in Eabani a sense of dignity which made him superior to the animals. The word translated 'companion'[884] may be appropriately applied to Ukhat. Eabani clings to her, as Adam does to Eve after she 'is brought'[885] to him. Ukhat becomes Eabani's 'companion,' just as Eve becomes the 'helpmate' of Adam.

These considerations strengthen the supposition that the Eabani-Ukhat episode is quite distinct from the career of Gilgamesh. Had the epic originated in Babylon or Nippur, Eabani and Ukhat would have been brought to Babylon or Nippur. As it is, Eabani asks Ukhat to conduct him

To the glorious dwelling, the sacred seat of Anu and Ishtar, To the seat of Gilgamesh, perfect in power, Surpa.s.sing men in strength like a mountain bull.

Unfortunately, the tablet at this point is defective,[886] and the following three tablets are represented by small fragments only, from which it is exceedingly difficult to determine more than the general course of the narrative.

Ukhat and Eabani proceed to Uruk. There is an interesting reference to 'a festival' and to festive garments,[887] but whether, as would appear, Ukhat and Eabani are the ones who clothe themselves[888] upon reaching Uruk or whether, as Jeremias believes, a festival was being celebrated at the place it is impossible to say. Eabani is warned in a dream not to undertake a test of strength with Gilgamesh,[889]

Whose power is stronger than thine, Who rests not, ... neither by day or night.

O Eabani, change thy ...

Shamash loves Gilgamesh, Anu, Bel, and Ea have given him wisdom.

Before thou comest from the mountain Gilgamesh in Uruk will see thy dream.[890]

Dreams play an important part in the epic. They const.i.tute the regular means of communication between man and the G.o.ds, so regular that at times the compilers of the epic do not find it necessary to specify the fact, but take it for granted. To Gilgamesh, Eabani's coming is revealed and he asks his mother Aruru to interpret the dream.

The third and fourth tablets take us back to the history of Uruk.

Gilgamesh, aided by his patron Shamash, succeeds in gaining Eabani as a 'companion' in a contest that is to be waged against Khumbaba, who threatens Uruk. The name of this enemy is Elamitic, and it has been customary to refer the campaign against him to the tradition recorded by Berosus of a native uprising against Elamitic rule, which took place about 2400 B.C.[891] It must be said, however, that there is no satisfactory evidence for this supposition. Elam, lying to the east of the Euphrates, was at all times a serious menace to Babylonia.

Hostilities with Elam are frequent before and after the days of Hammurabi. If Gilgamesh, as seems certain, is a Ca.s.site,[892] the conflict between him and Khumbaba would represent a rivalry among Ca.s.sitic or Elamitic hordes for the possession of Uruk and of the surrounding district. While the Ca.s.sites do not come to the front till the eighteenth century, at which time the center of their kingdom is Nippur, there is every reason to believe that they were settled in the Euphrates Valley long before that period. The course of conquest--as of civilization in Babylonia--being from the south to the north, we would be justified in looking for the Ca.s.sites in Uruk before they extended their dominion to Nippur. At all events, the conflict between Gilgamesh and Khumbaba must be referred to a much more ancient period than the rise of the city of Babylon as a political center.

Shamash and Gilgamesh promise Eabani royal honors if he will join friends.h.i.+p with them.

Come, and on a great couch, On a fine couch he[893] will place thee.

He will give thee a seat to the left.

The rulers of the earth will kiss thy feet.

All the people of Uruk will crouch before thee.

Eabani consents, and in company with Gilgamesh proceeds to the fortress of Khumbaba. It is a long and hard road that they have to travel. The terror inspired by Khumbaba is compared to that aroused by a violent storm, but Gilgamesh receives a.s.surances, in no less than three dreams, that he will come forth unharmed out of the ordeal.

The fortress of Khumbaba is situated in a grove of wonderful grandeur, in the midst of which there is a large cedar, affording shade and diffusing a sweet odor. The description reminds one forcibly of the garden of Eden, and the question suggests itself whether in this episode of the Gilgamesh epic, we have not again a composite production due to the combination of Gilgamesh's adventures with the traditions regarding Eabani. Unfortunately the description of the contest with Khumbaba is missing. There is a reference to the tyrant's death,[894] but that is all. In the sixth tablet, Gilgamesh is celebrated as the victor and not Eabani. We may conclude, therefore, that the episode belongs originally to Gilgamesh's career, and that Eabani has been introduced into it. On the other hand, for Eabani to be placed in a beautiful garden would be a natural consequence of his deserting the gazelles and cattle,--the reward, as it were, of his clinging to Ukhat. Separating the composite elements of the epic in this way, we have as distinct episodes in Gilgamesh's career, the conquest of Uruk and of other places,[895] and his successful campaign against Khumbaba. With this story there has been combined a popular tradition of man's early savage state, his departure from this condition through the s.e.xual pa.s.sion aroused by Ukhat, who becomes his 'companion,' and with whom or through whom he is led to a beautiful garden as a habitation.

The sixth tablet introduces a third element into the epic,--a mythological one. The G.o.ddess Ishtar pleads for the love of Gilgamesh.