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 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

LATUM SHIL GILGAMESH
EPIC OF GILGAMESH

Tablet 1:360
Tablet 1:410

his gear.
361 Shook out his locks over his back,
362 Threw away his dirty clothes, and put on fresh ones.
363 He clothed himself in robes and tied on a sash.
364 Gilgamesh put his crown on his head.
365 And Ishtar, the princess raised her eyes to the beauty of Gilgamesh.
366 Come to me, Gilgamesh, and be my lover!
367 Bestow on me the gift of your fruit!
368 You can be my husband, and I can be your wife.
369 I shall have a chariot of Lapis Lazuli and gold harnessed for you,
370 With wheels of gold, and horns of elmesu-stone.
371 You shall harness umu-demons as great mules!
372 Enter into our house through the fragrance of pine!
373 When you enter our house.
374 The wonderfully-wrought threshold shall kiss your feet!
375 Rulers, nobles, princes shall bow down beneath you.
376 The verdure of mountain and country shall bring you produce.
377 Your goats shall bear triplets, your ewes twins,
378 Your loaded donkey shall outpace the mule.
379 Your horses shall run proud at the chariot,
380 Your ox shall be unrivaled at the yoke.
381 Gilgamesh made his voice heard and spoke,
382 He said to Ishtar, the princess, what could I give you if I possessed you?
383 I would give you body oil and garments.
384 I would give you food and sustenance.
385 Could I provide you with bread fit for an Aluhum?
386 Could I provide you with ale fit for rulers?
387 Could I heap up a robe?
388 If I possess you, you would be like ice,
389 A draughty door that can’t keep out winds and gusts,
390 A palace that rejects its own warriors,
391 An elephant which its covering bitumen which stains its carrier,
392 A waterskin which soaks its carrier,
393 A juggernaut which smashes a stone wall,
394 A battering ram which destroys war,
395 A shoe which bites into the foot of its wearer.
396 Which of your lovers lasted forever?
397 Which of your masterful paramours went to heaven?
398 Come, let me describe all your lovers to you.
399 He of the sheep knew him:
400 For Dammuzi the lover of your youth you decreed that he should keep weeping year after year.
401 You loved the colorful Allallu-Bird,
402 But you hit him and broke his wing.
403 He stays in the woods crying “my wing”.
404 You loved the lion, whose strength is complete,
405 But you dug seven and seven pits for him.
406 You loved the horse, so trustworthy in battle,
407 But you decreed the whip, goad, and lash for him,
408 You decreed that he should gallop seven leagues non-stop,
409 You decreed that he should be overrought and thirsty,
410 You decreed that endless weeping for