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1. PIHANS. UITGAVEN VAN HET
NEDERLANDS INSTITUUT VOOR HET NABIJE OOSTEN TE LEIDEN
voorheen Publications de l’Institut historique-archéologique néerlandais de Stamboul
onder redactie van
J.G. DERCKSEN, J. EIDEM, K. van der TOORN en K.R. VEENHOF
CXVIII
AKKADE IS KING
A COLLECTION OF PAPERS BY FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES
PRESENTED TO AAGE WESTENHOLZ
ON THE OCCASION OF HIS 70TH
BIRTHDAY 15TH
OF MAY 2009

2. “He saw the secret and uncovered the hidden, he brought back a message from distant times”

3. AKKADE IS KING
A COLLECTION OF PAPERS BY FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES
PRESENTED TO AAGE WESTENHOLZ
ON THE OCCASION OF HIS 70TH
BIRTHDAY 15TH
OF MAY 2009
edited by
Gojko Barjamovic
Jacob L. Dahl
Ulla Susanne Koch
Walter Sommerfeld
Joan Goodnick Westenholz
NEDERLANDS INSTITUUT VOOR HET NABIJE OOSTEN
LEIDEN
2011

4. Copyright 2011 by
Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten
Witte Singel 25
Postbus 9515
2300 RA Leiden, Nederland
NinoPublications@hum.leidenuniv.nl
www.nino-leiden.nl
All rights reserved, including the rights to translate or
to reproduce this book or parts thereof in any form
PIHANS = Uitgaven van het Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten te Leiden
(ISSN 1571-5728; 118)
(voorheen Uitgaven van het Nederlands Historisch-Archaeologisch Instituut te Istanbul
= Publications de l’Institut historique-archéologique néerlandais de Stamboul)
ISBN 978-90-6258-329-4
Akkade is King: a collection of papers by friends and colleagues presented to Aage Westenholz on
the occasion of his 70th
birthday 15th
of May 2009 / edited by Gojko Barjamovic, Jacob L. Dahl,
Ulla Susanne Koch, Walter Sommerfeld, and Joan Goodnick Westenholz. — Leiden: Nederlands
Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten.
Printed in Belgium
Cover illustration
A modern impression of the Old Akkadian seal BM 89137 kept at the British Museum in
London, reproduced by kind permission from The Trustees of the British Museum. The seal
belonged to Kalki, a scribe in the service of Yubil-Aštar, the king’s brother. It shows a
procession of dignitaries; the scribe, tablet in hand, follows directly behind Yubil-Aštar,
recognizable as a member of the royal family by his hair-knot and conical cap. One civilian
and two military officials complete the procession, followed only by servants carrying a
stool and a cluster of fruits. For further discussions, cf. Aa. Westenholz, OBO 160/3: 88.

5. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction 1
Bibliography of the publications of Aage Westenholz 5
Alster, B. Some New Sumerian Proverbs 9
Andersson, J. A Modest Addition to Early Syro-Mesopotamian Calendars 29
Bulgarelli, O. Financial and Economic Activity in Mesopotamia 37
Dahl, J. L. The Statue of Nin-e’iga 55
Dercksen, J. G. The Seal of Bďl : Sealing Practices and Babylonian Religious
Motifs in the Seleucid Period 67
Eidem, J. The Towers of Shemshara 79
Fadhil, A. and M. Hilgert „Verwandelt meine Verfehlungen in Gutes!“
Ein šigû-Gebet an Marduk aus dem Bestand der «Sippar-Bibliothek» 93
Feldt, L. and U. S. Koch A Life’s Journey — Reflections on Death in the Gilgamesh Epic 111
Foster, B. R. The Sargonic Period: Two Historiographical Problems 127
George, A. R. Erridupizir’s Triumph and Old Akkadian sa’pum “Foot” 139
Glassner, J.-J. Le corps de la victime dans le sacrifice divinatoire 143
Johnson, J. C. The Metaphysics of Mantic/Prophetic Authentication
Devices in Old Babylonian Mari 151
Kogan, L. Old Babylonian Ǧopies of Sargonic Royal Inscriptions as
Linguistic Evidence 163
Marchesi, G. Goods from the Queen of Tilmun 189
Markina, E. Observations on Gasur Akkadian 201
Oelsner, J. Bemerkungen zu den „Archivfunden“ aus den hellenistischen
Heiligtümern Uruks 217
Pomponio, F. Quello che Accade (forse) dopo la morte di Šar-kali-šarrĦ 227
Reade, J. The Search for Old Akkadian Rule at Nineveh 245
Salgues, E. Naram-Sin’s Conquests of Subartu and Armanum 253
Selz, G. J. Reconstructing the Old Sumerian Administrative Archives of the
é-mí – é-d
ba-ba6
- Institution 273
Sommerfeld, W. Altakkadische Duelle 287
Visicato, G. The Careers of Some Bureaucrats in ED IIIb and Sargonic Girsu 301
Westenholz, J. G. Who was Aman-Aštar? 315

7. ABBREVIATIONS
All abbreviations are those of The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
(Chicago: Oriental Institute, 1956-), The Sumerian Dictionary of the University Museum of the University
of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: The University Museum, 1984-), and the CDLI (http://cdli.ucla.edu s.v.
Abbreviations for Assyriology), with the following exceptions and additions:
AAE = Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy.
AI = Read as ana ittishu.
AOTb = Tablets from Telloh in the Collections of the Musée du Louvre (Visicato).
Arb. = Arabic.
AUWE Ausgrabungen in Uruk-Warka. Endberichte. Mainz (12-13 = von Weiher 1993-1998; 17 = Kose 1998;
19 = Wallenfels 1994; 20 = Lindström 2003).
AWAB = G. J. Selz (forthcoming): Die altsumerischen Wirtschaftsurkunden aus Berlin (Neue Beihefte zur
WZKM; Wien: LIT-Verlag).
AWAS = G. J. Selz (1993): Die altsumerischen Wirtschaftsurkunden aus amerikanischen Sammlungen.
Altsumerische Verwaltungstexte aus Lagaš. Teil 2, 1. Abschnitt: Die Texte aus dem Harvard Semitic Museum
(FAOS 15/2-1; Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag).
AWEL= G. J. Selz (1989): Die altsumerischen Wirtschaftsurkunden der Eremitage zu Leningrad,Altsumerische
Verwaltungstexte aus Lagaš (FAOS 15/1; Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag).
BCH = Bulletin du Correspondance Hellénique.
BDB = F. Brown, S.R. Driver and Ch. A. Briggs (1907), A Hebrew and English lexicon of the Old Testament
(Oxford).
BWL = W. G. Lambert (1960), Babylonian Wisdom Literature (Oxford: Clarendon Press).
CDG = W. Leslau (1987), Comparative Dictionary of Geएez (Classical Ethiopic), (Wiesbaden).
CDLI = Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative; directed by Robert K. Englund of the University of California
at Los Angeles and Peter Damerow of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin (http://cdli.
ucla.edu).
DCCLT = Digital Corpus of Cuneiform Lexical Texts, directed by Niek Veldhuis of the University of California
at Berkeley (http://psd.museum.upenn.edu/dcclt), Berkeley, 2003-.
DUL = G. del Olmo Lete, J.Sanmartín (2003), A Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language in the Alphabetic
Tradition (Leiden and Boston).
ePSD = electronic version of PSD, to be found at (http://psd.museum.upenn.edu/epsd).
ETCSL = Black, J.A., Cunningham, G., Ebeling, J., Flückiger-Hawker, E., Robson, E., Taylor, J., and Zólyomi,
G., The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/), Oxford: 1998–2006.
FuB = Forschungen und Berichte der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin.

8. VIII AKKADE IS KING
Gez. = Geez.
HALOT = L. Koehler, W. Baumgartner, J. J. Stamm (1994-2000), The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old
Testament (Leiden, New York, Cologne).
HL = T. M. Johnstone (1977), ˔DUVXVL/H[LFRQ (London).
Jib. = Jibbali.
JL = T. M. Johnstone (1981), Jibbali Lexicon (Oxford).
ML = T. M. Johnstone (1987), Mehri Lexicon (London).
/$ ,EQ0DQʿŗU /LVăQXOएarab (Beirut).
Lane = E. W. Lane (1867), $UDELF(QJOLVK/H[LFRQ (London).
Mhr. = Mehri.
MSA = Modern South Arabian languages.
OBO = Orbis biblicus et orientalis (Fribourg, Suisse / Göttingen: Éditions Universitaires; Vandenhoeck
Ruprecht)
PS = Proto-Semitic.
RIDA = Revue Internationale des Droits de l’Antiquité.
S = Donbaz, V. and B. Foster (1982): Sargonic Texts from Telloh in the Istanbul Archaeological Museums (S;
Philadelphia: University Museum).
SD = A. F. L. Beeston, s. A. Ghul, W. W. Müller, J. Ryckmans (1982), 6DEDLF'LFWLRQDU (QJOLVK)UHQFK
Arabic) (Louvain-la-Neuve).
SED I = A. Militarev, L. Kogan (2000), Semitic Etymological Dictionary. Vol. 1. Anatomy of Man and Animals
(Münster).
SP = Proberb Collection, see B. Alster (1997), Proverbs of Ancient Sumer I-II (Bethesda, Md.: CDL Press).
Sab. = Sabaic.
Ugr. = Ugaritic.

9. $/,)(¶6-2851(²5()/(7,21621'($7+,17+(*,/*$0(6+(3,1
LAURA FELDT AND ULLA SUSANNE KOCH, COPENHAGEN
The Babylonian Epic of the valiant hero Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, consists of a series of
episodes, which all primarily centre on one theme: human attitudes towards death. By focusing on
one person’s struggle to accept death as one of the fundamental conditions of life, the epic comes to
UHÁHFWRQPDQRWKHUDVSHFWVRIOLIHERWKKHURLFDQGPXQGDQHIDPLOIULHQGVKLSIDPHNLQJVKLS
temple service, felling trees and killing wild bulls. But more than anything, the epic is about one
person’s journey to greater existential insight, or, in other words, coming to terms with human
mortality. In its own way, the Gilgamesh epic is an early Bildungsroman,2
a story of venturing out
LQWRWKHZRUOGLQRUGHUWRPHHWRQHVHOIDQGQRWOHDVWDERXWÀQGLQJKRPHDIWHUIDFLQJWKHERXQGDULHV
of the world and of oneself.
This paper will argue that the narrative of the Gilgamesh epic presents a peculiar structure
in which spatial aspects are related to the existential attitudes of the protagonist. This forms our
basic interpretive grid, as we show how the text seems to design a complex metaphor in which
Gilgamesh’s spatial movement through a series of domains expresses his attitude with respect to
death. Our analysis shows that the basic domains that Gilgamesh’s movements circumscribe are
those of 1DWXUHXOWXUH and Supernature,3
and we argue that the epic is concerned with maintaining
the proper boundaries between these domains. For that reason, the epic pays considerable attention
to monstrous identity and the liminal spaces in between the three domains as these play important
roles for the hero’s attainment of the attitude towards death that the epic eventually endorses. There
are many aspects of this epic that we cannot treat in detail, but we do claim that existential questions
permeate the entire epic and that we will gain important insight into the central problems that the
narrative treats by focusing on them.
The history of the evolution of the Gilgamesh epic is a complex affair. In this article we
SULPDULOXVHWKHVRFDOOHGFODVVLFDOYHUVLRQNQRZQIURPWH[WVIURPWKHÀUVWPLOOHQQLXP7KLVYHUVLRQ
1 We wish to thank Dina Westenholz-Smith for applying a sharp editorial eye on a previous version of
this paper.
2-DFREVHQZDVSUREDEOWKH¿UVWWRGXEWKH*LOJDPHVKHSLFD³VWRURIJURZLQJXS´VHHLQJ
LWDVDQDOOHJRURIWKHLQGLYLGXDO¶VSVFKRORJLFDOGHYHORSPHQWIURPUHFDOFLWUDQWFKLOGWRPDWXUHDGXOW
3 Most previous analyses have centred on the nature-culture or the life-death dichotomy, e.g. Kirk
1970, 145 ff. or on one of the prominent themes, e.g. friendship, for instance Landsberger 1977, 171-177.
Death has often been recognised as a central theme, e.g. Heidel 1949. Jacobsen understood the “contrasting
DWWLWXGHVWRZDUGVGHDWK´DVH[SUHVVLQJWKHFHQWUDOWKHPHRIWKHHSLF 6SHLVHUVXPPHG
WKHVHWKHPHVXSQLFHO³PDQDQGQDWXUHORYHDQGDGYHQWXUHIULHQGVKLSDQGFRPEDW±DOOPDVWHUIXOOEOHQGHG
LQWRDEDFNJURXQGRIWKHVWDUNUHDOLWRIGHDWK´7KHZRUGXOWXUHLVFDSLWDOL]HGZKHQZHUHIHUWRWKHVHGRPDLQV
DQGRWKHUZLVHQRW

10. 112 AKKADE IS KING
is written on twelve tablets of roughly 300 lines each and is available in a new edition by A. R.
George.4
When the Sumerian traditions are referred to, we use the ETCSL edition.5
JOURNEYING THROUGH WORLDS
As clearly stated in the beginning of the epic, the narrative presents itself as a journey towards
greater insight (Tablet I, 1-10). The epic is, of course, a travelogue, being the story of a man’s journey.
But metaphorically, too, the story is about travelling. The spatial positions that the hero occupies at
various points in the narrative are semantically charged.6
The epic reveals its message by letting the
hero journey between various spaces or worlds that are invested with meaning and the core theme
of the narrative is about what happens when you transgress the boundaries between these worlds
or spaces. Drawing on contemporary theories from cultural studies on monsters and boundaries,
we will try to show the centrality of monsters and boundary-transgressions to the epic’s existential
exploration of death.
In order to shed light on the worlds journeyed in, the boundaries transgressed, and their
UHODWLRQVKLSWRGHDWKOHWXVÀUVWORRNDWWKHVWUXFWXUHRIWKHHSLF7KHHSLFPDEHGLYLGHGLQWRWZR
sections, namely before and after the death of Enkidu. Part One thus consists of Tablets I-VI, Part
Two of Tablets VII-XI(XII). Tablet VII is the middle chapter in which the pivotal event of the epic
takes place: the death of Enkidu. The two parts may be seen as structurally parallel. The development
in the attitude towards life and death is portrayed in the epic by means of a chiastic structure: a-b-
ED. In each part of the epic a hero leaves his world to enter another, and both journeys result in a
return to order and the death of the hero: Enkidu suffers death in a concrete, bodily way at the end
of Part One, whereas Gilgamesh upon his return to Uruk at the end of Part Two has accepted that
death is his destiny. These two journeys make us see that the epic operates with three worlds or
spheres: the world of the wild animals (Nature), the human world (Culture), and the world of the
gods (Supernature).7
Enkidu, who lives among the wild animals in Nature, travels into the world of
Culture. Gilgamesh, the cultural hero, who lives in the contemporary epitome of Culture, the city of
Uruk, travels towards Supernature but is forced to return to the world of humans. The spatial system
that makes up the cosmos of the epic is thus “Nature”, “Culture”, and ”Supernature”, as it were.
Gods, humans, and animals exist and act in these worlds or spheres according to their abilities and
natures. In Assyriological research, Babylonian cosmology is traditionally described in emic terms,
according to which the cosmos is divided into four or more layers. The basic layout of the cosmos is
4 George 2003. It is our view that the epic of Gilgamesh is too well-known to warrant an overall summary.
5 Black et al. 1998-2006.
6-HQVHQKDVDVLPLODUSRLQWRIGHSDUWXUHEXWKLVWUHDWPHQWRIWKHHSLFLVSODFHGZLWKLQD
VWUXFWXUDOLVWIUDPHZRUN
7 Boyer 1982, 5-34, esp. p. 19.

11. L. FELDT AND U. S. KOCH: A LIFE’S JOURNEY 113
WKXVWKDWRIRQH RUPRUH KHDYHQVHDUWKWKHVXEWHUUDQHDQZDWHUV DE]X DQGÀQDOOWKHXQGHUZRUOG8
In this analysis, we take an etic approach inspired by anthropologist Pascal Boyer’s suggestions.9
We
argue that the relationship between the three domains of Nature, Culture, and Supernature and the
H[LVWHQWLDOSRVLWLRQRIWKHKHURZLWKUHVSHFWWRGHDWKLVLPSRUWDQWIRUXQGHUVWDQGLQJWKHÀQDODWWLWXGH
towards death that the epic endorses, and that it will also throw light on minor issues such as why
Enkidu must die and why Anu agrees to give Ishtar the Bull of Heaven.
The boundaries between the domains are not hermetically sealed. Rather, they may be
understood as spaces which function as contact zones, sluices, where the worlds touch and contact
is possible. As the French historian and anthropologist Michel de Certeau has shown, a boundary
as a cultural phenomenon is not a line, but a space with a mediating role created by contacts.10
Points of differentiation between identities or domains are also their mediating points, and therefore
a boundary functions as a space between, a =ZLVFKHQUDXP, composed of interactions, exchange and
encounter.11
Monsters as category-transgressive creatures may be seen as inhabiting or embodying
these boundary regions between domains of cultural meaning. Monsters articulate the boundary as
DFRQFHSWWKHDPELYDOHQFHWKHQHLWKHUQRUERWKDQGWKHXQFHUWDLQWÁXLGLWDQGSRWHQWLDOLWRI
the space in between identities, of boundary spaces. As boundary phenomena they may assist in the
creation and/or maintenance of a cultural order by helping to mark its boundaries.12
Monsters are thus
eminently usable, in fact necessary, for an exploration of the boundaries of life and death.
The epic expresses the message that to transgress the cultural boundaries between the domains
of Nature, Culture, and Supernature is risky and may have fatal consequences for humans and gods
alike.13
The heroes of the Gilgamesh epic attempt to ignore the basic structure of the cosmos, and
HDFKWULHVWRWUDQVJUHVVWKHERXQGDULHVRIKLVZRUOGRIRULJLQEXWWKHHSLFUHDIÀUPVWKHYDOLGLWRIWKH
structure by not allowing either traveller to remain in the world that he has travelled into. The epic
articulates its speculations about death in the idea of a journey between these domains.
MONSTROUS HEROES, BOUNDARIES, AND THE RETURN TO ORDER
As stated, the epic’s basic domains are that of Nature, where the wild animals live, Culture,
inhabited by humans, and Supernature, home of the gods. What is interesting, however, is that,
DOWKRXJKWKHDUHKXPDQQHLWKHU*LOJDPHVKQRU(QNLGXVHHPWRÀWHDVLOLQWRWKHZRUOGRIXOWXUH
8 See for instance, Horowitz 1998, with previous literature.
9 Boyer 1982, 5-34.
10 de Certeau 1984, 127.
11 For further theoretical elaboration of monstrosity and boundaries in relation to religion, see Feldt
2003; in general see de Certeau 1984, 115-130 on the cultural phenomena boundary and bridge.
12 On monsters and monstrosity, see Feldt 2003; 2006; and Feldt forthcoming.
13URVVLQJERXQGDULHVLVLQIDFWDUHFXUULQJWKHPHLQWKHHSLFWUDGLWLRQHJThe Etana Epic (Kinnier
Wilson 1985 and Saporetti 1990) and the story of Adapa ,]UH¶HO 7KLVVXJJHVWVWKDWWKHPRWLIVZH
investigate are relevant for Mesopotamian religion in general.

12. 114 AKKADE IS KING
This is what makes them apt to explore the boundaries of humankind. Enkidu, who has a share in the
world of Nature, and Gilgamesh, who has a share in the divine world, are able to test the boundaries
of human life in ways not accessible to normal humans. In this way, the two monstrous heroes
FODULIZKDWLVVSHFLÀFDOOKXPDQH[DFWObecause they are not typically human themselves. They
stand above or beside normal categories and are thus ascribed monstrosity; their task is to stand at
VRFLHW·VERUGHULQRUGHUWRKHOSGHÀQHLW14
Each hero is given a paradoxical characterisation, so that
a slight discrepancy between each hero’s nature and his position is established. But the paradox is
solved and the two aspects may be integrated into the analysis, if we realise that the hero’s passage
to another world is of less importance than his return to the sphere to which he belongs – his world
of origin. Note, that the journeys of both protagonists fail: both are made to return to their world of
origin. Their stay in the other world is wholly transitory. In this context it seems that the primary
SUREOHPWKDWWKHHSLFUHÁHFWVXSRQLVWKHPDLQWHQDQFHRIDSURSHUGLVWDQFHDQGFOHDUOLPLWVEHWZHHQ
the worlds established by the cosmology of the text.15
The attention that the epic spends on monsters
and boundary regions demonstrates that the upkeep of the important boundaries between worlds is
QRHDVDIIDLU7KHHSLFODERXUVWRFRQÀUPWKHEDVLFERXQGDULHVEHWZHHQWKHGRPDLQVRILWVFRVPRV
– Nature, Culture and Supernature – and its central message is that the inhabitants of each domain
must remain within in these boundaries. The epic’s plot threatens to turn the order of the cosmos
upside-down, but the narrative ends in a demonstration of the pointlessness of opposition to the terms
and boundaries of this order. The epic shows us a momentary disruption of order, for the purpose of
ÀQDOOFRQÀUPLQJLW,QWKLVZDZHDUHEURXJKWWRVHHWKDWZKDW*LOJDPHVKDWWHPSWVWRGRLQWKH
second half of the epic is an impossible negation of the conditions of human life.
The structure of the epic may be compared to the circular structure of a rite of passage, for
LQVWDQFHDSXULÀFDWLRQULWXDO,WVSRLQWRIGHSDUWXUHLVQRUPDOHYHUGDH[LVWHQFHZKLFKKDVFRPH
under threat (from illness, depression, magic or other dangers). The ritual participant moves from
everyday existence to a temporary stay in another sphere beyond the boundaries of normal life (the
OLPLQDOSKDVH LQRUGHUWRUHWXUQWUDQVIRUPHG VWUHQJWKHQHGSXULÀHGFXUHG WRHYHUGDOLIH7KH
VWDLQ´DQRWKHUZRUOGµPDEHULWXDOOPDUNHGLQYDULRXVZDVRQHPDXVHDFLUFOHRIÁRXULQRUGHU
to create an ad hoc supernatural space, one may stay in a special building (bit rimki, for instance),16
or
use a procession out of the city to a special temple in the steppe, to mention Babylonian examples. In
all cases a boundary is transgressed, the laws of everyday human life are temporarily broken or turned
XSVLGHGRZQDVWKHULWXDOSDUWLFLSDQWLVEHWZL[WDQGEHWZHHQWKHRUGLQDUFXOWXUDOFODVVLÀFDWLRQVDQG
categories. Afterwards, the participant returns strengthened to his/her normal world. Liminality17
as
14 Jensen 1998.
15 Boyer 1982, 5-20.
16/ VV¡HDQG%RUJHU
17 The concept originated with van Gennep 1909, 116 f., 124, 161 ff., 210 f., 263-267, but was unfolded
and elaborated by Turner 1977, 37 f.

13. L. FELDT AND U. S. KOCH: A LIFE’S JOURNEY 115
a concept primarily concerns this temporary phase of a rite of passage according to Victor Turner.18
However, the concept can be broadened to include space and action categories.19
If we, as previously
mentioned, understand a boundary not as a line but as space of exchange and encounter in between
domains of cultural meaning, which those who straddle the domains (as do Enkidu and Gilgamesh)
can traverse, we may link this understanding of the boundary to the concept of liminality. In this
way, the boundary regions in between the domains of Nature, Culture, and Supernature as well as the
monsters may be grasped theoretically. The boundary regions (liminality as a space) of the epic signify
in-between zones of exchange and encounter, from which one may return strengthened. Monsters
OLPLQDOLWDVHPERGLHGDFWLRQ DUHÀJXUHVRIWUDQVIRUPDWLRQDQGH[FKDQJHWKDWPDSHUIRUPERWK
negative and positive functions.20
,QWKHFRQWH[WRIWKH*LOJDPHVK(SLFLWLVVLJQLÀFDQWWRVWUHVVWKDWDQWHPSRUDUVWDLQD
GLIIHUHQWVSKHUHPDWHVWERXQGDULHVEXWGRHVQRWEUHDNWKHPGRZQUDWKHULWDIÀUPVWKHP21
Enkidu,
nature’s child, does not survive his transition to the world of Culture, and Gilgamesh from the world
of Culture cannot stay in Supernature’s boundary region, but is forced to return to Culture in the
end. Similarly, Humbaba as a monster appropriately inhabits a place in the boundary region of the
HGDU)RUHVW7KHHSLF·VIRFXVRQERXQGDULHVDQGPRQVWURVLWLQWKHHQGFRQÀUPVDQGVWUHQJWKHQV
its cosmology and the inevitable discontinuity between the different worlds. In the following, we
elaborate this point and relate it to the issue of attitudes towards death.
A SUMERIAN INTERTEXT22
7KHÀUVWKDOIRIWKHHSLFPDEHVDLGWRFRQFHUQERXQGDUWUDQVJUHVVLRQVMRXUQHVEHWZHHQ
worlds and killings of monstrous boundary-guardians like Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven. But
what does all of this have to do with death? At this point it might clarify the issue to consider the
GLIIHUHQFHVEHWZHHQWKHÀUVWKDOIRIWKH%DEORQLDQHSLFDQGWKH6XPHULDQ*LOJDPHVKWUDGLWLRQV
7KH6XPHULDQWUDGLWLRQVDUHTXLWHLPSRUWDQWDVEDFNJURXQGPDWHULDOIRUWKHÀUVWKDOIRIWKHHSLF7KH
Sumerian literature about Gilgamesh consists of a series of short stories, the plots of which may be
recognized as episodes in the Babylonian epic.23
The story of Gilgamesh and Huwawa is relevant to
consider in connection with the theme of death in the classical version. In it we recognise the main
lines of the content of Tablets IV and V and the raid against Humbaba. In the Sumerian version,
Gilgamesh sets out towards Huwawa’s cedar wood with the one clear purpose of becoming famous:
18 Turner 1969, 73 f.; 1974, 231-233; 1977, 36-38; Alexander 1991, 29-33.
19 Feldt 2003, 48-49.
20 Feldt 2003, 59.
21 This structure, typical of rites-de-passages in general, is characteristic of many Babylonian rituals,
e.g. mis pîVHH:DONHUDQG'LFNIIZLWKUHIHUHQFHWRDGRFWRUDOGLVVHUWDWLRQE3HJ%RGHQ
22 For a brief exposition of the concept of intertextuality, see Lachmann 2004, 173.
23 See George 2003, 18 ff. and Tigay 1982, 40 ff.

14. 116 AKKADE IS KING
to attain a metaphorical immortality by felling cedars. The text VERSION A24
explains this clearly:
(Lines 1-3) “Now the lord once decided to set off for the mountain where the man lives;
lord Gilgamesh decided to set off for the mountain where the man lives. He spoke to his slave
(QNLGX /LQHV ´(QNLGXVLQFHDPDQFDQQRWSDVVEHRQGWKHÀQDOHQGRIOLIH,ZDQWWRVHW
off into the mountains, to establish my renown there. Where renown can be established there,
I will establish my renown; and where no renown can be established there, I shall establish the
renown of the gods.”
(Gilgamesh and Huwawa Version A: 1-7)
VERSION B25
explains that Gilgamesh has seen the people of his city die, their bodies drift
down the river, and realizes that he too will die. Therefore he seeks eternal fame, he wishes to do
something that will be remembered, and in this way transcend death:
(Lines 1-4) “So come on now, you heroic bearer of a sceptre of wide-ranging power!
1REOHJORURIWKHJRGVDQJUEXOOVWDQGLQJUHDGIRUDÀJKWRXQJORUG*LOJDPHVKFKHULVKHG
in Uruk!” (Lines 5-21): “In Uruk, people are dying, and souls are full of distress. People are
ORVWWKDWÀOOVPHZLWKGLVPD,OHDQRXWRYHUWKHFLWZDOOERGLHVLQWKHZDWHUPDNHWKHULYHU
DOPRVWRYHUÁRZ7KDWLVZKDW,VHHWKDWSHRSOHGLHWKXVZKLFKÀOOVPHZLWKGHVSDLUWKDWWKH
end of life is unavoidable; that the grave, the all-powerful underworld, will spare no one; that
no one is tall enough to block off the underworld; that no one is broad enough to cover over the
XQGHUZRUOGWKHERXQGDUWKDWDPDQFDQQRWFURVVDWWKHÀQDOHQGRIOLIH%WKHOLIHRIPRZQ
mother Ninsumun, and of my father, holy Lugalbanda! My personal god Enki, lord Nudimmud,
[three lines fragmentary]. I will complete... there. I will bring... there”.
(Gilgamesh and Huwawa Version B: 1-21)
This motif is also to be found in the Babylonian version, only it is much clearer in the Sumerian
story, which begs the question: why has this motif been downplayed in the Babylonian narrative?
The answer must be connected to the other major difference between the two versions: Enkidu’s
VLJQLÀFDQWXSJUDGHIURPEHLQJ*LOJDPHVK·VVHUYDQWLQWKH6XPHULDQYHUVLRQWREHLQJ*LOJDPHVK·V
equal, his friend, in the Babylonian version. Enkidu is a very important person in the Babylonian
narrative. Created by the gods as an equal and a match for king Gilgamesh, presented as a wild,
natural Tarzan from the steppe, he is a wild man in need of enculturation:26
“In the wild she (Aruru) created Enkidu, the hero,
An offspring of silence, knit strong by Ninurta.
Shaggy is he all over his body,
The hair on his head is like that of a woman,
7KHÁHHFHRIKLVKDLULVWKLFNOLNHDFRUQÀHOG
Nothing knows he of people or country.
His garment is that of a beast [i.e. his own fur].
24I(76/FRPSRVLWLRQ
25 I(76/FRPSRVLWLRQ
26 I:HVWHQKRO]DQG.RFK:HVWHQKRO]

15. L. FELDT AND U. S. KOCH: A LIFE’S JOURNEY 117
With the gazelles he feeds on the grass,
With the animals he jostles at the watering hole,
With the wild animals he enjoys water”
(Gilgamesh, Tablet I: 103-112)
Gilgamesh’s friendship with him is critical to the plot, especially because it is only the death
of his friend and equal Enkidu that makes the king see that death is also his destiny. The Babylonian
narrative uses Enkidu to emphasize the great value of friendship for the good life, as well as to
formulate a message about the value of Culture and city life. This is accomplished by the juxtaposition
of nature’s child Enkidu and the cultural hero Gilgamesh. In this way the epic portrays what Culture
DQGFLWOLIHFRQVLVWVRIDQGDIÀUPVLWVYDOXHEXWWKH6XPHULDQLQWHUWH[WSODFHVWKHVHPRWLIVZLWKLQ
WKHRYHUDOOIUDPHRIUHÁHFWLRQVRQGHDWKDQGLPPRUWDOLW:HUHWXUQWRWKLVEHORZ
The motif of seeking eternal fame that transcends death in the Sumerian tradition is an important
background for the Babylonian epic. Without it, we would not understand the motivation for the
quest of the heroes to Humbaba in the Babylonian narrative. This motivation is also directly stated in
the Babylonian narrative (e.g. Tablet IV: 248, V: 188), but the primary function of the journey is to
solidify the friendship between Enkidu and Gilgamesh, rather than a quest for immortality. The role
that Enkidu plays in the Babylonian epic is important: his character is used to formulate a message
about the nature of human life in the world of Culture. Enkidu, this child of nature, this half-animal,
his life, death and his close friendship with the narrative’s protagonist, Gilgamesh, function as a
catalyst that helps disclose what true human life and Culture is.27
ENKIDU MUST DIE – OR: ON THE IMPORTANCE OF BOUNDARIES
:KDWWKHQRIRXUKHURDQGWKHFKDQJHVKHXQGHUJRHVLQWKHÀUVWKDOIRIWKHHSLF*LOJDPHVKLV
presented as a powerful, but despotic, ruler in the city of Uruk: he exercises a regime of terror. He is
uncontrollable and ruthless in his treatment of his subjects. His behaviour is in violation of the rules
for behaviour within Culture and thereby transgresses the norms of the cultural world. The gods are
made aware of the problem and do not hesitate to take action: Gilgamesh must change his behaviour,
he must adhere to the rules of Culture, and create peace in the city of Uruk. To solve this problem, the
wild man Enkidu is created: he is to be Gilgamesh’s equal and peer, someone to match his strength
and to provide a new focus for Gilgamesh’s attention. Enkidu, too, is a boundary-transgressor in his
world, the world of Nature: the presence of a human animal on the steppe creates problems for the
animals, for the hunter and disturbs the regular order of things. His introduction into Culture is a
solution to both of these initial problems: these two boundary-transgressors keep each other in check.
However, the meeting of the hero and his friend only solves the boundary-problems temporarily.
After having tested each other’s strength, they form a strong friendship and their attention is directed
away from each other and towards the boundary region between Nature, Culture and Supernature:
the cedar wood of Humbaba. And here, they create new problems by transgressing the boundaries
27 See the analysis in Westenholz and Koch-Westenholz 2000, 444.

16. 118 AKKADE IS KING
in new ways. The killing of the monster Humbaba is a transgressive act, for he is the legitimate
guardian of the cedar forest, instated by the gods. Humbaba scorns Enkidu and chides him for being
DFUHDWXUHZKROLNHDÀVKGRHVQRWNQRZKLVRZQIDWKHUDQGZKRQHYHUHYHQVXFNHGWKHPLONRI
his mother.28
He accuses Enkidu of being a traitor to their common monstrous nature (Tablet V: 87-
92, 175-176). The two friends do not fully realize what they have done – that they have disturbed
the order of the world, though they are aware that the gods could be angry with them when they
learn of their impetuous actions (Tablet V: 186). Upon their return, Gilgamesh is propositioned by
the goddess Ishtar. He contemptuously rejects her advances. His rejection of her advances is quite
appropriate from the point of view that a liaison between god and human would be a transgressive
act, but it is nevertheless an insult. This leads to her bringing the gigantic, violent monster, the Bull
of Heaven from heaven, Supernature, to earth, the world of Culture, where it wreaks havoc. She
forces her father Anu to lend her the bull by threatening an even worse breaking of boundaries,
namely smashing the underworld and bringing the dead out among the living (Tablet VI: 97-100).
The decisive boundary under threat here is, notably, not the boundary between the living and the
dead,29
but the boundary between Supernature and Culture. We understand Anu’s willingness to
give the Bull of Heaven to Ishtar despite of the havoc he knows it will wreak as an attempt to escape
the much worse threat of a prolonged and cataclysmic break of the boundary between Supernature
(the realm of the dead) and Culture, as opposed to the momentary and local rupture of boundaries
involved in the Bull of Heaven’s “visit” to Uruk. Be that as it may, the heroes’slaughter of the Bull of
Heaven is a transgressive act, as was the slaughter of Humbaba. On top of this, Enkidu aggravates the
WUDQVJUHVVLRQEKXUOLQJDÀQDOJURVVLQVXOWDW,VKWDU 7DEOHW9, 7KHVHVHULRXVGLVWXUEDQFHV
of the world order need mending: the gods decide that Enkidu must die as a punishment for the
impertinent boundary-transgressions. But why Enkidu?
Enkidu is a monstrous persona in that he embodies the transition from one domain, Nature,
to another, Culture; he constitutes an intersection of Nature and Culture which is neither Nature nor
Culture. Thus, he represents an uncanny third domain, namely the meeting of domains, the boundary
between them. For that reason, he is a monstrous presence in the domain of Culture, exceeding
Nature, but not yet Culture. In accordance with the general message of the epic on the importance of
maintaining the proper boundaries between domains, Enkidu must therefore die. The transgressive
acts of the protagonists are, of course, transgressive in their own right, but also function as the reason
for the gods’ violence against Enkidu, who by virtue of his mere existence as a mixed creature
(Nature resembling Culture) undermines the world order from within.30
His death is fundamentally
necessary to uphold the world order that the epic posits.
28 These phrases may be seen as intertextual signals of monstrous nature found elsewhere in
Mesopotamian literature, see, for instance, Lugale, lines 27-30.
29 E.g. Katz 2001, 1.
7KHRUHWLFDOLQVSLUDWLRQLVKHUHGUDZQIURP6ODYRMæLçHN·VDQDOVLVRILGHRORJLQæLçHN

17. L. FELDT AND U. S. KOCH: A LIFE’S JOURNEY 119
METAPHORICAL IMMORTALITY – ON THE NATURE OF HEROISM
Now, let us pursue the issue of heroism and eternal fame carried over from the Sumerian story,
IRUWKHTXHVWLRQRIKHURLVPDQGZKDWLWOHDGVWRLVFHQWUDOWRWKHÀUVWKDOIRIWKHHSLF7KHKHURHVDUHLQ
VHDUFKRIHWHUQDOIDPHPHWDSKRULFDOLPPRUWDOLWEXWZKDWWKHÀQGLQVWHDGLVFRQFUHWHERGLOGHDWK
– this is Enkidu’s lot. The attainment of metaphorical immortality turns out to be quite complicated.31
In the course of the narrative, we as readers are, along with Gilgamesh, brought to see the paradoxical
nature of all heroic acts: the mighty acts that may lead to eternal fame – one form of immortality
– are usually deadly dangerous to perform. In fact, the sine qua non of heroic acts seems to be that
performing them might kill you. Standing at the entrance to Humbaba’s forest, one of the two friends
becomes painfully aware of this.32
He is paralyzed by fear (Tablet IV: 229-230), and feels unable to
continue. Gilgamesh has to give a persuasive pep-talk about courage, the power of friendship, and
the fame that they will acquire, in order for him to carry on. It is as if they do not fully realize the
paradoxical nature of heroic acts until then. Enkidu, perhaps, was aware of the nature of heroism,
because before their departure from Uruk he tried, unsuccessfully, to dissuade Gilgamesh from going.
The dangerous logic of heroism does not dawn on the impetuous Gilgamesh until he stands at the
entrance of the cedar forest and realizes how dangerous their quest is. Metaphorical immortality is
paradoxical: in order to win life (eternal fame), one must risk life (concrete bodily existence). The
heroes do not die a bodily death as an immediate consequence of their heroic act. The consequences
of it are, however, fatal for both of them. Gilgamesh’s many ill-foreboding dreams en route are
premonitions of this, both to the heroes and to us as readers (Tablet IV: 6 passim). They remain
foreboding in spite of Enkidu’s eager attempts at overly positive interpretations. When confronting
Humbaba in the forest, Gilgamesh loses courage and his friend goads him: “Why, my friend, [do you]
speak like a weakling? With your feeble talk you vex my heart” (Tablet V: 100-101). He probably
also refers to the name he will make for himself: “Establish an eternal […..] how Gilgamesh [slew]
Humbaba [….]” (Tablet V: 188-189). When Humbaba realizes his attempts to plead with them to
spare his life have failed, he curses them: “May the pair of them not grow old, apart from his friend
Gilgamesh, may Enkidu have nobody to bury him!” (Tablet V: 256-257). Before he can embellish
upon this curse, the friends now hurry to kill him. And as Gilgamesh is brought to realize along the
way, they are both to die, even if they did not die while performing their heroic act.
31 Both protagonists do, in fact, attain metaphorical immortality, because the Gilgamesh epic is still
UHDGDQGLQWHUSUHWHGWRGD7KHHSLFLVVHOIUHÁH[LYHODZDUHRIWKLV²DQGWKLVLVZHEHOLHYHSDUWRILWVPHVVDJH
– as is seen especially in its opening stanza.
32 7KHWH[WLVEURNHQDQGLWLVVRPHZKDWXQFOHDUZKLFKRQHRIWKHIULHQGVLVWKHKHVLWDQWDQGZKLFKRQH
HQFRXUDJHVWKHRWKHUWRJRRQ,Q*HRUJH¶VLQWHUSUHWDWLRQ*LOJDPHVKLVWKHXQGDXQWHGRQH7KLVLVLQDFFRUGDQFH
ZLWKWKHUROHVDWWKHRXWVHWRIWKHMRXUQHEXWQRWZLWK(QNLGX¶VDWWHPSWVWRLQWHUSUHW*LOJDPHVK¶VFOHDUO
foreboding dreams as favourable signs.

18. 120 AKKADE IS KING
GILGAMESH FACES HIS MORTALITY
On Tablet VII, the drama of the epic culminates with the death of Enkidu.At the same time, our
protagonist Gilgamesh reaches an emotional nadir. This tablet forms the pivotal point of the epic, and
the death of his beloved friend becomes a vehicle for Gilgamesh’s development from self-centered,
FDUHOHVVKHPDQWRDUHVSRQVLEOHDQGNQRZOHGJHDEOHNLQJ(QNLGX·VGHDWKLV*LOJDPHVK·VÀUVWUHDO
confrontation with bodily death and the concomitant, inevitable physical collapse of the body.33
Enkidu, in his famous deathbed speech, angrily curses his own introduction into Culture
and all the circumstances that have led to his imminent death. The sun-god Shamash manages to
calm him by reminding him of all the good sides of Culture: love-making, food, beer, clothes – and,
not least, friendship. Facing death, Enkidu admits that he has no options but to bless Culture – in
spite of Culture’s fatal effects on him. What Culture consists of is verbalised in several dimensions,
but friendship and the burial and mourning rituals that one’s real friends take care of after one’s
death receive special attention. The speech reveals an important message: Culture is worth dying for.
Enkidu dies at peace with his destiny. The speech is followed by a dream in which Enkidu gets a
vision of the underworld. It is emphasised that even kings and priests die and all live an empty life
in the shadows of the underworld. There are no exceptions – all humans, including the rich and
powerful, end up in the realm of the dead. Death is the destiny that unites all of humankind. But
Gilgamesh has yet to come to terms with this.
Gilgamesh vehemently grieves the loss of his beloved friend, a very understandable and
very human feeling: “Now what sleep is it that has seized [you?]; You have become unconscious and
cannot hear [me!]” (Tablet VIII: 55-56). In spite of his previous encounters with death and his fear of
death before the encounter with Humbaba, it is not until now that he, sitting by Enkidu’s dead body,
faces his own mortality: He too is just a man, and he too will die, just like Enkidu. In spite of his
superhuman strength and in spite of him being two-thirds divine, death will get him too: “I shall die,
and shall I not be like Enkidu? Sorrow has entered my heart. I became afraid of death” (Tablet IX:
3-5). Enkidu was created by the gods to play the role of peer for the untamed king, and he was the
ÀUVWSHUVRQWKDW*LOJDPHVKDFFHSWHGDVKLVSHHU7KLVLVWKHUHDVRQWKDWKLVGHDWKIULJKWHQV*LOJDPHVK
VRPXFK2QHRIWKHEHQHÀWVRIXOWXUHWKDW6KDPDVKPHQWLRQVWR(QNLGXLQKLVDWWHPSWVWRFRPIRUW
him is that his death will not go unnoticed as if he were an animal on the steppe (Tablet VII: 134 ff.).
On the contrary, Gilgamesh will make sure that “[the princes] of the earth will kiss your feet. [He
will make] weep for you the people of Uruk, he will make them sob for you, the people [so bonny] he
ZLOOÀOOZLWKJULHIIRURX$QG@KHDIWHURXDUHJRQHKHZLOOKDYHKLPVHOIEHDUWKHPDWWHGKDLURI
33 This seems to be a particularly apt illustration of Pascal Boyer’s cognitive theory about how religious
representations arise: faced with the phenomenon of a dead body, human minds are likely to generate religious
UHSUHVHQWDWLRQVEHFDXVHDGHDGERGDFWLYDWHVFRQÁLFWLQJFDWHJRUDVVXPSWLRQVLQWKHPLQG WKRVHRIWKHthing
and of the person categories). A dead body is thus, in Boyer’s terminology, counter-intuitive and it is therefore
likely that the mind generates religious representations around it (Boyer 2001, 241-243).

19. L. FELDT AND U. S. KOCH: A LIFE’S JOURNEY 121
mourning, [he will don] the skin of a lion and go roaming the [wild].” (Tablet VII: 143-147). And that
is exactly what Gilgamesh does. He makes sure that the funeral is exquisite and attempts to secure
his friend’s destiny in the underworld as well as he possibly can by means of votive presents for all
relevant deities (Tablet VIII: 92 ff.). Only then does he, anguished by the horror of death, embark on
KLVMRXUQHWRÀQG8WQDSLVKWLP*LOJDPHVKVHHNVKLVKHOSWRRYHUFRPHWKHERGLOGHDWKWKDWKHVR
fears.
UTNAPISHTIM
Utnapishtim is the only person who has “found life” (Tablet XI: 7) or who, in other words,
is immortal or lives forever. Utnapishtim has not become divine; he is no deity and does not live
in a sacred abode. He is merely an immortal human, living at the world’s end. He does not belong
in this world, nor in the Supernatural world, but inhabits a boundary region, isolated from both the
KXPDQZRUOGDQGWKHGLYLQHUHDOP7KHVWRURIWKHJUHDWÁRRGKDVEHHQDGGHGWRWKH*LOJDPHVK
epic in abbreviated form. The long version in Atrahasis has anthropology as its central theme: the
creation of humankind and its role and place in the cosmos. In Gilgamesh, the story has been added
as a natural part of the framing narrative as an explanation for why and how a human being could
transgress the boundaries of normal human existence and escape death. It also contributes to marking
WKHERXQGDULHVEHWZHHQWKHUHDOPVRUZRUOGVSRVLWHGLQWKHHSLFDQGWRGHÀQLQJKRZDQH[FKDQJH
between the realms can come about and when it, instead, turns into a dangerous transgression. Both
gods and humans face danger when they transgress the boundaries and enter another realm than
their realm of origin. The order of the world is unsettled. Even if the deities control the supernatural
powers better than humans, these powers are stronger than the gods and things may get out of control
DVLQWKHFDVHRIWKHJUHDWÁRRGZKHUHHYHQWKHJRGVKDGWRVHHNUHIXJH(DGHLWRIZLVGRPDQG
magic, urged the deities to hold back and, instead of using weapons of mass destruction, as it were,
to use plague, famine, and wild animals to reduce the number of humans (Tablet XI: 181 ff.).
Gilgamesh, who seeks Utnapishtim’s help to secure eternal life for himself, needs to pass
WKURXJKWZRERXQGDU]RQHVRUJDWHVWRJHWWRKLP7KHÀUVWJDWHLVWKH´3DWKRIWKH6XQµWKHVXQ·V
passage underneath the mountains – where the sun goes at night to get from west to east.34
His journey
brings him to the “Twin mountain”. Possibly Sin told him the way there (Tablet IX: 10ff). This
mountain functions as a connecting link between this world and the supernatural world: heaven and
underworld – “their tops [abut] the fabric of the heavens, their bases reach down to the Netherworld”
(Tablet IX: 40-41). The opening is guarded by two frightful scorpion-men who protect the sun at
its rising and setting. Even Shamash is at risk when crossing boundaries and needs protection by
monstrous beings. This illustrates again the message that messing with the basic boundaries between
domains is risky, even for the gods.
On his journey, Gilgamesh tells those he meets of the impression that Enkidu’s death has
34 )RUDGLVFXVVLRQRI*LOJDPHVK¶VMRXUQHFI+RURZLW]FKDSWHUDQH[DPSOHRIDQHPLF
descriptive approach to Mesopotamian cosmology.

20. 122 AKKADE IS KING
made on him, and he is subsequently offered their advice, and in this way, the epic offers different
answers to Gilgamesh’s problem. The answers are voiced by the different persons he meets. Each
person counsels him in his/her own way according to his/her life experiences. The speech of the
alewife Siduri is prosaic and consists of common wisdom, put in a way that speaks immediately to
us across the millennia: there is nothing to do about the fact of death; all you can do is enjoy the time
allotted to you – eat, drink and be merry!
Utnapishtim, the object of Gilgamesh’s journey, was once a king, too. His speech is more
SRHWLFDQGKLVÀUVWSLHFHRIDGYLFHWR*LOJDPHVKLVWRUHMRLFHDWKLVSULYLOHJHGVWDQGLQJLQOLIH$
king, who is intelligent and therefore obliged to care for the weak (Tablet X: 267 ff.). Still, there is
no cheating death, so always look on the bright side of life... Worry, sorrow and complaint will only
draw one’s dying day closer. After all he has been through, Gilgamesh has no choice but to return to
his point of departure. He did not gain eternal life, but he does not return empty-handed: he is wiser
– in life and death.
DESCRIPTIONS OF DEATH
The descriptions of death in the epic all attest that it is inevitable, its timing unforeseeable, and
that the life of the dead in the underworld is dark, dusty and sad.35
This relates to Enkidu’s death in
Tablet VII when Enkidu sees what awaits him in the underworld in a vision. In the epilogue, Tablet
XII, which is not part of the frame narrative, further details about the destiny of the dead are relayed.
The life of the dead is depicted in contrast to the life of the living, in words that express an opposition
to life as we know it – words such as passivity, darkness, and dust. The afterlife is not desirable in
any way. Rather, it is a form of non-life, a shadow existence. No notions of judgment, reward, or
punishment are connected with death – the same fate awaits everyone without exception. The only
WKLQJWKDWPLJKWHDVHRQH·V´OLIHµLQWKHUHDOPRIWKHGHDGLVWKHVDFULÀFHRIZDWHUERQH·VUHODWLYHV
All images of death and the condition of humans after death stress the universality of death, that it
strikes everyone and that it disregards personal advantage and social standing. The inevitability with
ZKLFKGHDWKLVSRUWUDHGLQWKH*LOJDPHVKHSLFDIÀUPVEHRQGDGRXEWWKDWLWLVDERXQGDUWKDW
cannot be crossed. However, as we will show in the next section, Gilgamesh’s travels to and testing
of this boundary offer a catalogue of human attitudes towards death and a catalyst for existential
UHÁHFWLRQ
CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT IN GILGAMESH’S VIEWS OF LIFE AND DEATH
7KHVWRURI*LOJDPHVKH[HPSOLÀHVWKHGLIIHUHQWDWWLWXGHVWRZDUGVGHDWKWKDWSHRSOHXVXDOO
KDYHEPHDQVRIRQHOHJHQGDUÀJXUHDVXSHUÀFLDODFFHSWDQFHRIGHDWKZKLFKLVXVXDOOGHVWURHG
ERQH·VÀUVWUHDOHQFRXQWHUZLWKWKHFRQFUHWHERGLOGHDWKRIDORYHGRQHWKHKRUURURIERGLO
GHFUHSLWXGHWKHZLVKWRDYRLGGHDWKLQRQH·VRZQFDVHDQGÀQDOODIRUPRIUHVLJQDWLRQLQWKHIDFH
35 7DEOHW;DQGpassim, FI/DPEHUWII2Q0HVRSRWDPLDQLGHDVRIWKH1HWKHUZRUOG
and life after death, cf. e.g. Katz 2001.

21. L. FELDT AND U. S. KOCH: A LIFE’S JOURNEY 123
of death, possibly combined with a last attempt to delay it by prolonging youth.36
In this way, the epic
is also about the kinds of attitudes that humans may have towards life in the face of death. In other
ZRUGVERIIHULQJDVLWHIRUUHÁHFWLRQRQGHDWKWKHHSLFDOVRWUHDWVWKHPRVWIXQGDPHQWDOFRQFHUQ
of humans – how to live a good life. Thus, the epic of Gilgamesh belongs in the (disputed) genre of
wisdom literature.37
After all, it is clearly stated in the introduction to the epic that it relates how king
Gilgamesh found wisdom: “he saw the secret and uncovered the hidden, he brought back a message
from antediluvian times” (Tablet I: 7-8).
If we consider the development in Gilgamesh’s attitude towards life that is played out in the
epic, the following picture emerges: in the beginning, Gilgamesh is carefree and free of worry, but
also uncontrollable and autocratic. This attitude is followed by a strong concern for or worry about
bodily death (in the cedar woods, Tablets IV-V). This worry worsens into fear of death after the
GHDWKRI(QNLGX 7DEOHWV9,,,,; DQGLVÀQDOOUHSODFHGEDUHWXUQWRWKHSRLQWRIGHSDUWXUHEXW
with a crucial transformation: Gilgamesh is again free of worry, but in a controlled, appropriate way
remaining within the bounds of human life, in clear recognition of its limits. The initial worry that
Gilgamesh feels just before the attack on Humbaba is overcome because his friend, Enkidu, is with
him and shares the burden – companionship solves the problem. Deep despair and fear of death is
introduced only after the death of Gilgamesh’s friend. We may thus describe this development: a
ÀUVWVWDJH D LQZKLFK*LOJDPHVKLVZLWKRXWZRUUGRHVQRWVXIIHUIURPIHDURIGHDWK *LOJDPHVK
in Uruk), but in an inappropriate way, because he acts as if he neither can nor will die. He in fact
worries too little about death at this stage, for he behaves as if death were not a condition of life for
him, as if death were not a possibility for king Gilgamesh. In the next phase (b), Gilgamesh is in
fact worried or fearful of death; he is afraid of dying the physical death in the attempt to become a
true hero. The king realizes that he can die a bodily death while performing his heroic feats. Death
becomes a possibility for Gilgamesh. Then follows the death of Enkidu as the decisive turning point.
$IWHUWKLVWXUQLQJSRLQWZHPDDJDLQGLVFHUQWZRSKDVHVLQWKHÀUVWSKDVH b), Gilgamesh is very
worried or feeling fear of death after the death of Enkidu. He now knows for certain that he will die.
Now, he worries too much, in fact so much that it prevents him from leading a normal, human life,
let alone carry out his duties as a king. The thought of death makes him so desperate that he will do
anything to avoid it. Death is a real and concrete possibility, but possibly avoidable for Gilgamesh.
In the last phase (a *LOJDPHVKLVDJDLQIUHHRIZRUUDQGIHHOVQR VSHFLÀF IHDURIGHDWK XSRQ
his return to Uruk). He has accepted death as the boundary of human life and is free of worry in a
constructive, appropriate way. In any case, this is what the end of the epic leads us to believe, even if
it is not stated explicitly by Gilgamesh himself. This is what we as readers gather by combining the
36 IDOVR7VXNLPRWRIIZLWKUHIHUHQFHWRSUHYLRXVOLWHUDWXUH
37 We use the term in the sense that it is also used of e.g., The Poem of the Righteous Sufferer or the
Babylonian TheodicyVHH/DPEHUWIIDQGII )RUDGLVFXVVLRQRIWKHGH¿QLWLRQRIWKHJHQUHVHH
Alster 2005, 18-24.

22. 124 AKKADE IS KING
end of the epic with its beginning, and it is also suggested by the symmetric structure of the epic.38
Gilgamesh has accepted death as the condition of human life and realized that worry is futile when
death is inevitable. This is the sum of his hard-won antediluvian wisdom. Death is concrete, real, and
unavoidable for Gilgamesh, as for all other humans. The development in the attitude towards life and
death is portrayed in the epic by means of a chiastic structure: a-b-ED.
CHOOSING LIFE
7KHPRUDORIWKHHSLFHQGVXSDVDQDIÀUPDWLRQRIXOWXUHDQGFLYLOL]HGFLWOLIH7KHSUH
condition of this good human life – death – is inescapable. In this way, the epic turns out to be about
how Gilgamesh in the end, and forced by inevitable conditions, accepts and chooses the human life
in Culture that is his lot, for better and for worse, with all the rules of the game – illness, decrepitude
and death. He only does this when no other option is left, and only after having tested the boundaries
RIWKHFRVPRVWKRURXJKO:KHQ*LOJDPHVKÀQDOOUHWXUQVWR8UXNDIWHUYLVLWLQJ8WQDSLVKWLPKLV
embrace of Culture is conveyed in several codes – he dresses in exquisite, clean clothes, he washes,
etc. The pre-condition for a good human life in the world of Culture is acceptance of death.
The epic explores the relations between life and death, Nature, Culture, and Supernature, and
positions them in a balanced way in relation to each other. The story examines and tests different
SRVVLEOHDWWLWXGHVWRZDUGVGHDWKDQGÀQDOOUHDFKHVDPHGLDWLRQWKDWLVFRPSOH[DPELYDOHQWDQG
personal. The epic of Gilgamesh is an exploration of humankind’s relationship to death that ends in
acceptance, but it is a multifarious and complex investigation that moves at many levels and which
does not present a black and white solution. It is a story that presents its hero in all sorts of different
DWWLWXGHVWRZDUGVGHDWKIURPDWWHPSWVWRLJQRUHLWWRÀQDOOUHDOL]LQJWKDWKHLVRYHUFRPHKHKDVQR
choice but to accept life on the condition of death with all the ambivalence that this brings. As we
hope to have shown, this is a story that pays attention to the ambivalence, uncertainty, and ambiguities
of life and death by means of its focus on monsters and boundaries. It is, of course, crucial that the
boundaries between the basic domains of Nature, Culture and Supernature and the inevitability of
GHDWKDUHPDLQWDLQHGDQGDIÀUPHGLQWKHHSLFEXWDVWKHDQDOVLVVKRZVWKHPRQVWHUVDQGERXQGDU
VSDFHVRIWKHHSLFDWWHVWWRDQHHGIRUFXOWXUDOUHÁHFWLRQRQWKHZRUOGRUGHUDQGKXPDQOLIHZLWKLQWKH
GRPDLQRIXOWXUH7KHHSLFLVDERXWGHÀQLQJDQGGHOLPLWLQJWKHJRRGKXPDQOLIHEXWLWVLQWHUHVWLQ
PRQVWHUVDQGWKHLQEHWZHHQQHVVRIERXQGDUVSDFHVDOVRPDNHVSRVVLEOHDEURDGHUUHÁHFWLRQRQ
ZKDWWKLVPLJKWEH7KLVHSLFWKXVSURYLGHVDVLWHIRUVRFLHWDODQGLQGLYLGXDOUHÁHFWLRQRQGHDWKDQG
WKHYDOXHVRIKXPDQOLIHLQWKHGRPDLQRIXOWXUH$SSURSULDWHOZHÀQGWKDWWKHWUXH%DEORQLDQ
values brought out in this epic ring Westenholzian bells! – ̓DED̝ŗPL, Westenholz!
387KHFLUFXODUPRWLRQLVHVWDEOLVKHGLQDYHUFRQFUHWHPDQQHU,Q7DEOHW,WKHHSLF¶VDXGLHQFH
LVHQFRXUDJHGWRLQVSHFWWKHZDOORI8UXNLQWKHFRQFOXVLRQRI7DEOHW;,*LOJDPHVKH[KRUWVWKHIHUUPDQ
8UVKDQDELWRGRWKHVDPHXVLQJWKHH[DFWVDPHSKUDVH 7DEOHW;,

23. L. FELDT AND U. S. KOCH: A LIFE’S JOURNEY 125
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