9 Scenes from the Gilgamesh Epic indicated on a cylinder seal

“Gilgamesh is the main character in the Epic of Gilgamesh, an Akkadian poem

that is considered the first great work of literature and in earlier Sumerian poems.

In the epic, Gilgamesh is a demigod of superhuman strength who builds the city

walls of Uruk to defend his people and, after the death of his friend Enkidu, then

travels to meet the sage Utnapishtim, who had survived the Great Flood. His name

translates roughly to mean "The Ancestor is a Young-man", from Bil.ga

"Ancestor", Elder and Mes/Mesh3 "Young-Man" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilgamesh

The figures depicted on the next imprint of a Syrian cylinder seal may indicate

some scenes from this Gilgamesh Epic:

1. Together Gilgamesh and Humbaba indicate the killing of Humbaba.

2. And Gilgamesh and Ishtar indicate their conversation.

3. Then Gilgamesh kills the Bull of Heaven.

4. Gilgamesh and Enkidu walk together after their victory.

5. In a dream Enkidu changes into a bird.

6. After Enkidu died Gilgamesh prays to the moon god Sin.

7. Then Gilgamesh kills a lion.

8. The vessel indicates that Gilgamesh meets Shiduri, the tavern-keeper

9. And Enki, standing on the left, indicates the flood myth of Uta-napishti

The Bull of Heaven, standing on the left, of course represented Taurus.

Gilgamesh was born in this constellation, as he was called: "Wild Bull", suckling of

the august Wild Cow, the goddess Ninsun:

“A mighty bank, protecting his warriors,

a violent flood-wave, smashing a stone wall!

Wild bull of Lugalbanda, Gilgamesh, the perfect in strength,

suckling of the august Wild Cow, the goddess Ninsun!” Published: Penguin Classics

Besides that, the myth tells us that the seven sages laid the foundations of his city,

Uruk:

“O Ur-shanabi, climb Uruk's wall and walk back and forth!

Survey its foundations, examine the brickwork!

Were its bricks not fired in an oven?

Did the Seven Sages not lay its foundations?” Published: Penguin Classics

And these seven sages may be related to the Pleiades, a cluster of stars in Taurus.

44 The star cluster (MUL.MUL), the seven-fold deity, the great gods [the Pleiades, in

Taurus] http://www.oocities.org/astrologymulapin/pathofthemoon.htm

On the imprint the Ea stands above the Bull of Heaven, which demonstrates that

they had a connection with each other.

Ea was the Akkadian and Babylonian god of water and he was known as Enki in

Sumer. Between 2160 BC - 0 the sun passed the Bull of heaven in April/May and

according to the next tablet Ea was the presiding deity of this period.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_calendar

And in this way the Bull of Heaven and the water god were connected to each

other. This connection was best expressed in the Sumerian myth: "Enki and the

world order," in which Enki was engendered by a bull, and begotten by a wild bull:

“Grandiloquent lord of heaven and earth, self-reliant, Father Enki, engendered by a bull,

begotten by a wild bull, cherished by Enlil, the Great Mountain, beloved by holy An,

king, meš tree planted in the Abzu, rising over all lands; great dragon who stands in

Eridug,” Enki and the world order: c.1.1.3

Published: The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature

Enkidu, which literally meant; "Enki's creation," of course was the creation of the

water god.

His creation happened in April/May when Enki was the presiding deity.

In this period the sun passed Taurus, which meant that Enkidu was related to this

constellation, just like Gilgamesh.

And that is why they both were depicted as bull men on imprint number 6, and that

they both bent their backs like a bull when they fought together:

“They took hold of each other, backs bent like a bull,

They smashed the door-jamb, the wall did shake;

Gilgamesh and Enkidu took hold of each other, backs bent like a bull,

They smashed the door-jambs, the wall did shake.” Published: Penguin Classics

Number 2

In the Gilgamesh Epic Gilgamesh and Enkidu fight with Humbaba, a monstrous

giant. On this imprint this monstrous giant is depicted as a sphinx.

Here Humbaba is depicted as a sphinx too, but on imprints 4, 5 and 6 he is

portrayed as a bull man: he was apparently described and depicted in various

ways.

“His face is that of a lion. "When he looks at someone, it is the look of death."

"Humbaba's roar is a flood, his mouth is death and his breath is fire! He can hear a

hundred leagues away any [rustling?] in his forest! Who would go down into his forest!"

In various examples, his face is scribed in a single coiling line like that of the coiled

entrails of men and beasts, from which omens might be read.

Another description from Georg Burckhardt translation of Gilgamesh says, "he had the

paws of a lion and a body covered in thorny scales; his feet had the claws of a vulture,

and on his head were the horns of a wild bull; his tail and phallus each ended in a snake's

head." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humbaba

After the fight with Humbaba Gilgamesh had a conversation with Ishtar. This

conversation took place when the sun went through Pleiades, which is indicated by

number seven. This number was mentioned in different ways, like the seven pits and

the seven-league gallop:

“You loved the lion, perfect in strength,

but for him you dug seven pits and seven.

'You loved the horse, so famed in battle,

but you made his destiny whip, spur and lash.

You made his destiny a seven-league gallop,

you made his destiny to drink muddy water,

and doomed Silili his mother to perpetual weeping.” Published: Penguin Classics

The widow of Uruk must gather seven years' chaff,

and the farmer of Uruk has to grow seven years' hay.

“Anu opened his mouth to speak,

saying to the Lady Ishtar:

'If you want from me the Bull of Heaven,

let the widow of Uruk gather seven years' chaff,

[and the farmer of Uruk] grow seven years' hay.' Published: Penguin Classics

And the bull lowered the level by seven full cubits.”:

“[Down came] Ishtar, leading it onward:

when it reached the land of Uruk,

it dried up the woods, the reed-beds and marshes,

down it went to the river, lowered the level by seven full cubits.” Published: Penguin Classics

Gilgamesh and Enkidu experienced their adventures in accordance with the sun's

course, as the sun god Shamash marched with them daily:

“Enlil was wroth at celestial Shamash: “How like a comrade you marched with them daily!” Published: Penguin Classics

This means, that when the sun went through Orion, the hunter, Gilgamesh and

Enkidu went through Orion too.

And being a hunter Gilgamesh killed the Bull of Heaven.

Then the sun went through Gemini and at the same time Gilgamesh and Enkidu

walk together after they had killed the Bull of Heaven:

“They washed their hands in the river Euphrates,

took each other by the hand and in they came.

As they drove along the streets of Uruk,

the people were gathered to gaze [on them.]” Published: Penguin Classics

On this imprint Enkidu wears the dress of his creator Enki and vaguely Gilgamesh

looks like himself when he fought in Orion.

At first sight they may look like man and wife. This scene may correspond to a

dream of Gilgamesh in which he loved, caressed and embraced an axe (Enkidu)

like a wife:

“Once more, 0 mother, have I had a dream -

"'[In a street] of Uruk-the-Town-Square,

an axe was lying with a crowd gathered round.

The land [of Uruk] was standing around it,

[the country was] gathered about it.

, "A crowd was milling about before it,

[the menfolk were] thronging around it.

I lifted it up and set it down at your feet,

like a wife [I loved] it, caressed and embraced it,

[and you, 0 mother,] you made it my equal." Published: Penguin Classics

Then the sun went through Canis Minor, which was called Rooster in Babylon:

5 The star behind him: the rooster (DAR.LUGAL) {Procyon, in Canis Minor}

When the sun went through this constellation Enkidu dreamt of a Thunderbird in

the sky:

'My friend, I have had the fourth,

it surpasses my other three dreams!

I saw a Thunderbird in the sky,

up it rose like a cloud, soaring above us.” Published: Penguin Classics

And he also dreamt that he himself changed into a bird:

33 “. . . . . . . . . like birds my hands: (and) he seized (?) me,

Me did he lead to the Dwelling of Darkness, the home of Irkalla,

35.Unto the Dwelling from which he who entereth cometh forth never!

(Aye), by the road on the passage whereof there can be no returning,

Unto the Dwelling whose tenants are (ever) bereft of the daylight,

Where for their food is the dust, and the mud is their sustenance: bird-like

40.Wear they a garment of feathers: and, sitting (there) in the darkness,

Never the light will they see. On the Gate . . .. when I enter’d

On the house (?) . . .. was humbled the crown,

For . . . those who (wore) crowns, who of old ruled over the country,

. . .. of Anu and Enlil ’twas they set the bake meats,” Published: Penguin Classics

At that time the sun went through the constellation Rooster in May/June and the

moon god Sin was the presiding deity of this period;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_calendar

After Enkidu’s death Gilgamesh was afraid to die.

He saw some lions and he lifted his head to the moon god Sin:

'1 saw some lions and grew afraid,

1 lifted my head to the moon in prayer,

to [Sin, the] lamp of the gods, went my supplications:

"[0 Sin and ...,] keep me safe!'"

[That night he] lay down, then woke from a dream:

... in the presence of the moon he grew glad of life,

he took up his axe in his hand,

he drew forth [the dirk from] his belt.

Like an arrow among them he fell,

he smote the [lions, he] killed them and scattered them.” Published: Penguin Classics

On the above imprint the praying Gilgamesh looks like the moon god Sin, who

usually is depicted as a boy holding a cup and pail, like on the next imprint.

Number 3

On this imprint stands a young kilted priest who holds a cup and pail

This young priest represents the moon god Sin, who is indicated by the three drill

holes above him.

These three holes represent a number: one hole represents number 10; two

holes represent number 20 and three holes represent number 30.

These numbers on their turn are related to deities: number 10 to the storm

god Ishkur/Adad, number 20 to the sun god Utu/Shamash and number 30 to

the moon god Nanna/Sin:

Male: 60 - Anu, 50 -Enlil, 40 - Ea/Enki, 30 - Nanna/Sin, 20 - Utu/Shamash, 10 -

Ishkur/Adad

Female: 55 - Antu, 4.5 - Ninlil, 35 - Ninki, 25 -Ningal, 15 - Inanna/Ishtar, 5 –

Ninhursag http://www.rulit.net/books/the-12th-planet-read-299421-25.html

When the sun went through the constellation Leo Gilgamesh killed a lion: “in the

presence of the moon he grew glad of life, he took up his axe in his hand, he drew

forth [the dirk from] his belt. Like an arrow among them he fell:”

“1 came one night to a mountain pass.

'1 saw some lions and grew afraid,

1 lifted my head to the moon in prayer,

to [SIn, the] lamp of the gods, went my supplications:

"[0 SIn and ...,] keep me safe!'"

[That night he] lay down, then woke from a dream:

... in the presence of the moon he grew glad of life,

he took up his axe in his hand,

he drew forth [the dirk from] his belt.

Like an arrow among them he fell,

he smote the [lions, he] killed them and scattered them.” Published: Penguin Classics

Then the sun went through the constellation Crater and Gilgamesh met Shiduri,

who was a tavern-keeper:

“Shiduri was a tavern-keeper who lived by the sea-shore,

there she dwelt, [in an inn by the sea-shore.]

Pot stands she had, and [vats all of gold,]

she was swathed in hoods and [veiled with] veils.” Published: Penguin Classics

She was a manifestation of Ishtar, who was the presiding deity of Virgo at that

time:

“Shiduri (pron. "shi-DU-ri"; "She is my rampart"): goddess who runs alehouse at the

edge of the world. ~ a manifestation of Ishtar.”

After his conversation with Shiduri Gilgamesh travelled through Cancer (the two

scorpion-men guarding their gate.) and Gemini (the mountains Mashu) hgback to

Taurus. In Taurus he met Ur-shanabi, who was saved by the water god Ea. In the

flood myth Ea told Ur-shanabi that he should build a boat:

'Princely Ea swore with them also,

repeating their words to a fence made of reed:

"0 fence of reed! 0 wall of brick!

Hear this, 0 fence! Pay heed, 0 wall!

, "0 man of Shuruppak, son of Ubar-Tutu,

demolish the house, and build a boat!

Abandon wealth, and seek survival!

Spurn property, save life!

Take on board the boat all living things' seed! Published: Penguin Classics

Then the flood came when the sun went through the Pleiades, as the wind blew for

seven nights:

'For six days and [seven] nights,

there blew the wind, the downpour,

the gale, the Deluge, it flattened the land.

'But the seventh day when it came, XI 130

the gale relented, the Deluge ended. Published: Penguin Classics

And Ur-shanabi set seven flacks in position:

'I brought out an offering, to the four winds made sacrifice,

incense 1 placed on the peak of the mountain.

Seven flasks and seven I set in position,

reed, cedar and myrtle I piled beneath them. Published: Penguin Classics

And in the same Pleiades Gilgamesh had to do for seven nights without slumber:

'But you now, who'll convene for you the gods' assembly,

so, you can find the life you search for?

For six days and seven nights, come, do without slumber!'

As soon as Gilgamesh squatted down on his haunches,

sleep like a fog already breathed over him.

Said Uta-napishti to her, to his wife:

'See the fellow who so desired life!

Sleep like a fog already breathes over him.'

Said his wife to him, to Uta-napishti the Distant:

'Touch the man and make him awake!

The way he came he shall go back in well-being,

by the gate he came forth he shall return to his land!' Published: Penguin Classics

And then, after his failure, Gilgamesh reaches Uruk again, from which the seven

sages laid its foundations:

O Ur-shanabi, climb Uruk's wall and walk back and forth!

Survey its foundations, examine the brickwork!

Were its bricks not fired in an oven?

Did the Seven Sages not lay its foundations? Published: Penguin Classics

The imprint clearly showed that Ishtar had a central role in the Gilgamesh Epic.

As Ninsun she may have been the mother of Gilgamesh,

The harlot Shamhat, who civilized Enkidu in Pleiades, was related to her:

“Shamhat unfastened the cloth of her loins,

she bared her sex and he took in her charms.

She did not recoil, she took in his scent:

she spread her clothing and he lay upon her.

She did for the man the work of a woman,

his passion caressed and embraced her.

For six days and seven nights

Enkidu was erect, as he coupled with Shamhat.

When with her delights he was fully sated,

he turned his gaze to his herd.

The gazelles saw Enkidu, they started to run,

the beasts of the field shied away from his presence.” Published: Penguin Classics

As she was a sacred functionary of the temple of Ishtar:

Gilgamesh responds to the challenge posed by the creation of Enkidu by detailing the

harlot Shamhat, a sacred functionary of the temple of Ishtar that is the heart of the city,

to citify him. She does this not only by absorbing his animal sexuality in her civilized

embrace, but also by feeding him products of settled living: bread and beer. The effect is

to contaminate his wildness, to estrange him from his power base in wild nature:

afterwards he suffers from more than the normal male post-coital lethargy and his animal

brothers shun him. https://mythology.stackexchange.com/questions/3011/why-did-humanizing-enkidu-take-a-work-of-a-prostitute-and-not-of-

an-ordinary-wom/3016

Ishtar tried to seduce Gilgamesh and she was related to the waitress Siduri.

On the imprint she was depicted next to Enki, which may have indicated that she

was the wife of Uta-napishti too

Ishtar/Inanna is the goddess of Sirius and when the sun goes through Taurus she is

called: a good wild cow of An. Then she is the evening star, descending in the west

after sunset:

"When standing in the heavens she is the good wild cow of An, on earth she instils

respect; she is the lady of all the lands. She received the divine powers in the abzu, in

Eridug; her father Enki presented them to her.“ Name poem: A šir-namursaĝa to Ninsiana for Iddin-Dagan (Iddin-Dagan A): c.2.5.3.1

Published: The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature

But when the sun goes through Leo she is a great light, lioness of heaven, as she

rises in the morning sky like a flame:

"Great light, heavenly lioness, always speaking words of assent! Inana, great light,

lioness of heaven, who always speaks words of assent! Ninegala! As you rise in the

morning sky like a flame visible from afar, and at your bright appearance in the evening

sky, the shepherd entrusts (?) the flocks of Sumer to you." Name poem: A hymn to Inana as Ninegala (Inana D): c.4.07.4

Published: The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature

And thus, Ishtar/Inanna transformed from being the evening star in the west into

the morning star in the east. This transformation is symbolized by the lion depicted

upside-down.

See about this transformation: The reason why a goddess is depicted upside down

on an Ancient Near East cylinder seal https://www.academia.edu/6634510/The_reason_why_a_goddess_is_depicted_upside_down_on_an_Ancient_Near_East_cylinder_seal

Number 4

On this imprint Gilgamesh and Enkidu defeat Humbaba,

The seven drill holes on top show that this monster is related to number seven and

thus to the Pleiades.

The monster is related to seven as he has seven warriors:

“Utu accepted his tears as a fitting gift. As befits a compassionate person, he turned to

him full of compassion: "Now there are seven warriors, sons of a single mother.” Gilgamec and Huwawa (Version A)

Published: The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature

And seven terrors,

“When Huwawa had finally handed over to him his seventh terror, Gilgamec found

himself beside Huwawa. He went up to him gradually from behind, as one does with a

...... snake.” Gilgamec and Huwawa (Version A)

Published: The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature

Nevertheless, the next imprint shows that Gilgamesh, Enkidu and Humbaba fight

from Taurus until Cancer.

Number 5

Here the two bull’s heads and the two scorpions indicated that Gilgamesh and

Enkidu fought with Humbaba from Taurus to Cancer. (On cylinder seals a scorpion

always represented Cancer.) Because in Taurus the conjunction of Orion with the

sun started and thus, at the same time, Gilgamesh and Enkidu started to fight with

Humbaba.

This conjunction continued until Cancer. When the sun went through that

constellation Gilgamesh and Enkidu at last killed Humbaba.

And that is why Gilgamesh and Enkidu fight with Humbaba in Cancer on this

imprint.

Number 4

Here the conjunction of the sun with Orion is indicated by the Seed Funnel and the

Lance.

In the constellation Seed-Funnel Orion and the sun conjunct.

2The Wolf (UR.BAR.RA), seed-funnel of the plough [Perseus] {The seed are the Pleiades}

This conjunction last until the constellation Lance.

The Lance (KAK.SI.SA), the spear of the great hero Ninurta [Procyon - or Sirius]

So, when the sun went through The Lance Gilgamesh and Enkidu at last killed

Humbaba.

Now we are able to put the constellations and deities on the right place: Humbaba

is depicted in the Cancer position as he was killed when the sun went through this

constellation.

Tom van Bakel

Sint Pancras

The Netherlands

tom.vanbakel@xs4al

The Gilgamesh quotations were taken from:

The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature

And: Penguin Classics

The Epic of Gilgamesh

A New Translation

Translated with An Introduction by Andrew George

Number 1

Cylinder seal and modern impression: man spearing bull; griffin demon; deities above

Period: Old Syrian

Date: ca. 1820–1730 B.C.

Geography: Syria

Medium: Hematite

Dimensions: 0.8 in. (2.03 cm)

Classification: Stone-Cylinder Seals

Credit Line: Gift of Martin and Sarah Cherkasky, 1985

Accession Number:1985.192.8

https://metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/327077

Number 2

Gilgamesh and Humbaba kill the Bull of Heaven. From the Neo-Assyrian period on

brown agate, Assyria, ca. 7th c. BC. Housed in the Schoyen Collection.

Number 3

Lot Description 8890

A Fine Old Babylonian Haematite Cylinder Seal

Circa 1850-1700 B.C.

The main scene of a presentation with a bearded god seated on a dais, wearing a long

fringed robe and brimmed headdress, holding up a cup infront. Facing him stands a bare-

headed worshipper wearing a long fringed robe clasping his hands at his waist. Behind

him a suppliant Lamma goddess, wearing horned headdress and flounced robe, with both

hands raised. Between them a diminutive priest holding a bucket and one hand raised

with palm downwards. A group of three dots and a solar disc and crescent above. An

unusual and rare secondary scene in two registers, above two facing Lamma goddesses

with both hands raised in supplication, below a dog, the symbol of the goddess Gula,

minor edge flakes

16 in. (2.7 cm.) high http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?pos=3&intObjectID=1894460&sid=

Number 4

British Museum number 89763

Description; a worshipper stands facing right before the tasselled spade of the god

Marduk on a stepped stand and the wedge or stylus of the god Nabu on a square stand.

Beyond, beneath a crescent and the Pleiades, Gilgamesh and Enkidu flank the fleeing

Humbaba. The worshipper, Humbaba and Enkidu have a domed hairstyle, with flaring

lines rising from a line over the eye, and groups of small drill-holes on the shoulder, and

Humbaba has additional curls on the side of his head; the beards of all the figures are

executed with short straight lines, but these are arranged in tiers in the case of Humbaba.

The worshipper stands with one hand raised and pointing and the other extended, palm

up; he wears a long, double-belted skirt which is vertically striated at the top with a

diagonal line across, below which is a broad band of dot-in-square patterning with a

fringe at the hem, Gilgamesh wears a conical helmet and an open robe, bordered with a

band of squares and a fringe, over a fringed kilt, and has quivers behind his shoulders; he

rests one foot on Humbaba's foot, grasps his hair in his left hand and plunges his dagger

into his shoulder. Humbaba and Enkidu both wear a plain-belted, short, open, dot-in-

square patterned skirt, with a fringe down the front edge, over a fringed kilt. Humbaba is

shown frontally from the waist up, and kneels on one knee towards the right; with his

right hand he grasps Gilgamesh's ankle and his left hand is wrapped round Enkidu's

waist. Enkidu wears an eight-pointed star on his chest, places his foot on Humbaba's

knee, seizes him by the hair with his right hand and brandishes an axe above his own

head. Line borders at top and bottom, rather poorly executed in comparison with the

quality of the remainder of the scene. Between Enkidu and the worshipper is a line of

inscription. Edges chipped.

Culture: Neo-Assyrian

Date: 8thC BC(late)

Production place: Asia (Asia)

Materials: cornelian

Technique: drilled

Dimensions: Height: 2.8 centimetres: Diameter: 1.3 centimetres:

Cuneiform Inscription Language

Assyrian Inscription Transliteration: sha MASH-PAP-PAP.

Inscription Translation: (Seal) of Ninurta-ahu-usur.

Number 5

A Syrian Haematite Cylinder Seal

Depicting three deities with scorpions and a sacred tree flanked by gazelles.

Period: c. 1850-1700 BC

Dimensions: 13x19mm

Condition: Very good

Ex Itzhak Einhorn Collection, Tel Aviv.

http://www.archaeological-center.com/en/auctions/35-070

Number 6

Akkadian seal impression

Late third millennium B.C. depicting an exploit of Gilgamesh and Enkidu

Royal Dutch Cabinet of Medals

The Hague

Published: Near Eastern Mythology by John Gray