Tablet VII

1 ‘My friend, for what reason were the great gods taking counsel?’
2 [Missing text: 2–26.]
27 … […]
28 Enkidu [opened his mouth to speak,]
29 saying [to Gilgameš:]
30 ‘Come, [my] friend, […]
31 in … […]
32 The door […]
33 because … […]’
34 [No English translation is supplied for this damaged passage in the edition.]
35 [No English translation is supplied for this damaged passage in the edition.]
36 in … […] … […]
37 Enkidu […] raised [his eyes,]
38 talking with the door like [… :]
39 ‘O door of the woodland, not being … [… ,]
40 I have understanding, which [you] have not.
41 For twenty leagues I sought for you the [finest] timber,
42 until [in the forest] I found a tall cedar.
43 ‘Your tree had no rival [in the Forest of Cedar:]
44 six rods is your height, two rods your breadth, one [cubit your] thickness,
45 your pole, its top pivot and its bottom pivot are all of a piece;
46 I made you, I raised you up, in Nippur I hung you upright.
47 Had I but known, O door, that this would be your [reward,]
48 had I but known, O door, that this would be your bounty,
49 I would have picked up an axe, I would have cut you down,
50 I would have shipped you by raft to E-babbarra.
51 [To] E-babbarra, the temple of Šamaš, I would have brought [you,]
52 I would have set [up] the cedar [in the gate] of E-babbarra.
53 [In] its doorway I would have stood Lion-Bird [and bull colossus,]
54 […] … your entrance I would have […]
55 I would have … […] the city […] Šamaš,
56 and in Uruk … […,]
57 because Šamaš heard what I said,
58 and in time of [peril] … he [gave] me a weapon.
59 Now, O door, it was I who made you, I who raised [you] up!
60 I [also can curse you, I also can] tear you down!
61 May either a king who comes after me abhor you,
62 or … hang you [where you cannot be seen,]
63 May he remove my name and set up his own!’
64 He ripped off [his garments,] cast [his finery] away,
65 As he was listening to his words, swiftly and soon his [tears were flowing.]
66 As Gilgameš was listening to the words of Enkidu, his friend,
67 [swiftly and soon his] tears were [flowing.]
68 Gilgameš opened his mouth to speak, saying to Enkidu:
69 [‘My friend, …] … […] manifest,
70 [do you, who] had understanding and reason, [now speak] madness?
71 Why, my friend, did your heart talk profanities […?]
72 [the dream] was precious and the apprehension was much.
73 [your feverish lips] were buzzing like flies,
74 [the misgivings were] great, the dream was rare.
75 “To the one who survived grieving was left,
76 the [deceased] left sorrow to the one who survived.”
77 [I will] beg the great gods and entreat them,
78 I will seek out [Šamaš], I will appeal to your god.
79 ‘In [your presence] I will pray [to Anu,] father of the gods,
80 [May] Enlil, the great counsellor, [hear my] prayers in your presence,
81 may [my entreaty find favour with Ea!]
82 I will make a statue of you in gold without limit,
83 […] … […]
84 ‘[My friend,] you must not give silver, you must not … gold, [you must] not […]
85 The word [Enlil] spoke is not such that the gods can rescind,
86 “[What he] commanded, he did not [erase] again,
87 He does not erase [a single] wedge he writes down
88 My friend, [my destiny is] drawn,
89 people do go prematurely to their fate.’
90 At the very first light of dawn,
91 Enkidu lifted up his head, lamenting before Šamaš,
92 his tears flowing before the rays of the sun:
93 ‘[I appeal] to you, O Šamaš, on account of (my) life so precious!
94 [As for him, that] hunter, the trapper-man,
95 who did not let me be a match for my friend,
96 may the hunter not be a match for his friend!
97 Destroy his income, diminish his earnings!
98 [May] his share of the profits be [cut] in your presence!
99 [The house where he enters, may [its god] leave by the window!’
100 [After] he had cursed the hunter to his heart’s content,
101 he decided to curse [the prostitute] Šamḫat [also:]
102 ‘Come, Šamḫat, I will determine a destiny for you,
103 a destiny that will not end for all eternity:
104 [I will] curse you with a great curse,
105 [and] my curses shall afflict you swiftly and soon!
106 [May you not] found a household to delight in,
107 [never to] reside in the [midst] of a family!
108 [May you not] sit in the young women’s chair!
109 May the ground defile your fine-looking [garment!]
110 May [the drunkard] smear [with dust your festive gown!]
111 [May you not acquire a house with …] and lovely things,
112 ‘[For your home shall serve] a potter’s [clay pit!]
113 You shall have [neither bedroom, nor family shrine, nor hearth!]
114 No bed, chair or table, that people take pride in, shall be found in your chamber!
115 May [the bed you] delight in be a bench!
116 May [the junction] of the highway be where you sit!
117 [May the ruined houses be] where you sleep! May the lee of the city wall be where you stand!
118 May [thorn and] briar skin your feet!
119 May [drunk and] sober strike your cheek!
120 [May …] be plaintiff, may she claim against you!
121 May the builder not plaster [the roof of your house!]
122 [In your chamber] shall roost an owl!
123 ‘[Never in your house shall] banquet take place!
124 […]
125 […]
126 […] … […]
127 ‘[…] purple clothing […]
128 … of the defiled lap […]
129 whose lap is defiled […]
130 Because [you made] me [weak], me [who was pure!]
131 And me who was pure, [you made] me [weak] when I was in the wild.’
132 Šamaš heard [what] he had spoken,
133 straight away a [voice] was crying to him [from] the heavens:
134 ‘Why, O Enkidu, do you curse the prostitute Šamḫat,
135 who gave you bread to eat, fit for a god,
136 gave you beer to drink, fit for a king,
137 clothed you in a great garment,
138 and let you have for a comrade the fine Gilgameš?
139 Now Gilgameš, your friend and brother,
140 [will] lay you out on a great bed.
141 [On] a bed of honour he will lay you out,
142 [he will] set you on a restful seat, the seat to (his) left,
143 [the princes] of the earth will kiss your feet.
144 [He will make] weep for you the people of Uruk, he will make them sob for you,
145 the people [so beautiful] he will fill full of grief for you.
146 [And] he, after you are gone he will have himself bear the matted locks of mourning,
147 [he will don] the skin of a lion and go roaming the [wild.]’
148 Enkidu [heard] the words of Šamaš the hero,
149 […] his angry heart grew calm,
150 [… his] furious [heart grew] calm.
151 ‘Come, [Šamḫat, I shall determine a destiny for you,]
152 [my] mouth [that] cursed you shall return and bless [you:]
153 May [governors] and noblemen love you,
154 may he [that is one league (distant)] slap his thigh!
155 May he [that is two leagues (distant)] shake out his locks,
156 may no soldier [be slow] to undo his belt for you!
157 May he [give you] obsidian, lapis lazuli and gold,
158 multiple earrings shall be your gift!
159 To a man whose household [is well off], whose storage bins are heaped high,
160 may Ištar, [the most able] of the gods, send you in!
161 [On your account may] the first wife be deserted, the mother of seven!’
162 [As for Enkidu], his mind was deranged.
163 He was lying on his own [thinking,]
164 what was on his mind he told to his friend:
165 ‘Quite something, my friend, (was) the dream I saw during the course of this night!
166 the heavens thundered, the earth responded,
167 with me standing (there) between them.
168 There was a man, his expression was grim,
169 his face was like that of an Anzû-bird.
170 His hands were a lion’s paws, his claws an eagle’s talons,
171 he took hold of my locks, he was too strong for me.
172 I struck him but he sprang back like a skipping-rope,
173 he struck me and capsized me like a raft.
174 Like a mighty wild bull he trampled over me,
175 [drenching] my body with poisonous saliva.
176 “Rescue me, my friend! […]”
177 But you were afraid of him and […]
178 You … […]’
179 […] … […]
180 […] … […]
181 […] … […]
182 ‘[He struck] me, he turned me into a dove.
183 [He bound] my arms like (the wings of) a bird,
184 to lead me captive to the house of darkness, the seat of Irkalla:⁠a
185 to the house which those who enter cannot leave,
186 on the journey whose way cannot be retraced;
187 to the house whose residents are deprived of light,
188 where dust is their sustenance, their food clay.
189 They are clad like birds in coats of feathers,
190 and they cannot see light (but) dwell in darkness.
191 On the door [and the bolt the dust lies thick,]
192 on the House [(of Dust) a deathly quiet is poured.]
193 In the House of Dust that I entered,
194 I looked and (saw) the crowns stowed away:
195 there sat [kings], the crowned heads who ruled the land since days of old,
196 who used to serve roasted meat [at the] tables of Anu and Enlil,
197 who used to serve baked (bread), to pour chilled water from skins.
198 In the House of Dust that I entered,
199 there sat en-priests and lagar-priests;
200 there sat purification priests and lumaḫḫu-priests,
201 there sat the gudapsû-priests of the great gods;
202 there sat Etana, there sat Šakkan,
203 [there sat the] queen of the netherworld, Ereškigal
204 Before her was squatting [Bēlet]-ṣēri, the scribe of the netherworld,
205 holding [a tablet] and reading aloud in her presence.
206 [She raised] her head, she saw me:
207 “[Who was] it fetched this man here?
208 [Who was it] brought [this fellow] here?
209 […] made ready,
210 […] tomb.”
211 […] …
212 […] …
213 ‘[…] me,
214 […] Ereškigal.
215 […] the deluge.’
216 […] …
217 […] …
218 [Missing text: 218–219.]
220 […] …
221 ‘[…] I saw his person.’
222 […] …
223 […] …
224 […] …
225 […] …
226 […] …
227 [Missing text: 227–248.]
249 … […]
250 … […]
251 ‘(Me) who [endured] all hardships [with you,]
252 remember [me,] my [friend,] lest [you forget] all I went through.’
253 ‘My friend saw a vision which will never [be equalled]’
254 The day he saw the dream [his strength] was exhausted.
255 Enkidu was cast down and (lay) sick for one day, [a second day.]
256 Enkidu [lay] on his bed, [his sickness worsened,]
257 A third day and a fourth day, [the sickness of Enkidu worsened]
258 a fifth, a sixth and a seventh, an eighth, a ninth and a tenth (day).
259 the sickness of Enkidu worsened…
260 an eleventh and a twelfth day, […]
261 Enkidu on the bed […]
262 he called to Gilgameš and […:]
263 ‘[My god] has spurned me, my friend, […]
264 [I do not die] like one who [falls] in the midst of battle.
265 I was afraid of combat […,]
266 my friend, one who [falls] in combat [makes his name,]
267 but I, [I do not fall] in [combat, and shall not make my name.]
268 [Missing text: 268–297.]
298 […]