View source for Enkidu

{{short description|Character from the Epic of Gilgamesh}}
{{distinguish|Enkimdu}}
{{Infobox mythical creature
|name          = Enkidu<br>{{nobold|{{cuneiform|𒂗𒆠𒄭}}}}
|AKA           = 
|image         = File:Enkidu, Gilgamesh's friend. From Ur, Iraq, 2027-1763 BCE. Iraq Museum.jpg
|image_size    = 
|caption       = Representation of Enkidu (2027–1763 BC)<ref>[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Enkidu,_Gilgamesh%27s_friend._From_Ur,_Iraq,_2027-1763_BCE._Iraq_Museum.jpg Commons Link for Image].</ref>
[[Ninhursag|Aruru]] (creator)
|Folklore     = [[Ancient Mesopotamian religion]]
|Grouping      = [[Mythic humanoids]]
|Sub_Grouping  = [[Wild man]]
|Country       = [[Uruk]]
|Region        = [[Sumer]]
|Details       = [[Steppe]] (formerly)
|First_Attested = 
|Similar_entities = 
}}

[[File:Indus bull-man fighting beast.jpg|thumb|Fighting scene between a beast and a man with horns, hooves and a tail, who has been compared to the Mesopotamian bull-man, suggestive of [[Indus–Mesopotamia relations]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Littleton |first1=C. Scott |title=Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology |date=2005 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |isbn=9780761475651 |page=732 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u27FpnXoyJQC&pg=PA732 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Marshall |first1=John |title=Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilization: Being an Official Account of Archaeological Excavations at Mohenjo-Daro Carried Out by the Government of India Between the Years 1922 and 1927 |date=1996 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=9788120611795 |page=389 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ds_hazstxY4C&pg=PA389 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Singh |title=The Pearson Indian History Manual for the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination |publisher=Pearson Education India |isbn=9788131717530 |page=35 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wsiXwh_tIGkC&pg=PA35 |language=en}}</ref> [[Mohenjo-daro]] (seal 1357), [[Indus Valley civilization]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Richter-Ushanas |first1=Egbert |title=The Indus Script and the Ṛg-Veda |date=1997 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=9788120814059 |page=123 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4DZYbWQbKAsC&pg=PA123 |language=en}}</ref>]]
{{Mesopotamian myth|expanded=4}}

'''Enkidu''' ({{langx|sux|{{cuneiform|𒂗𒆠𒄭}}}} ''EN.KI.DU<sub>10</sub>'')<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://oracc.iaas.upenn.edu/epsd2/cbd/sux/o0044312.html|title=Epsd2/Sux/Enkidu&#91;1&#93;|access-date=2020-12-21|archive-date=2021-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709182250/http://oracc.iaas.upenn.edu/epsd2/cbd/sux/o0044312.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> was a legendary figure in [[Mesopotamian mythology|ancient Mesopotamian mythology]], wartime comrade and friend of [[Gilgamesh]], king of [[Uruk]]. Their exploits were composed in [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] poems and in the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'', written during the [[2nd millennium BCE|2nd millennium BC]]. He is the oldest literary representation of the [[wild man]], a recurrent motif in artistic representations in [[Mesopotamia]] and in [[Ancient Near East]] literature. The apparition of Enkidu as a primitive man seems to be a potential parallel of the [[Kassites|Old Babylonian]] version (1300–1000 BC), in which he was depicted as a servant-warrior in the Sumerian poems.

There have been suggestions that he may be the "bull-man" shown in Mesopotamian art, having the head, arms, and body of a man, and the horns, ears, tail and legs of a bull.<ref name="LK">{{cite book |last1=Kalof |first1=Linda |title=Looking at Animals in Human History |date=2007 |publisher=Reaktion Books |isbn=9781861893345 |page=15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PyJZyabg7OsC&pg=PA15 |language=en}}</ref> Thereafter a series of interactions with humans and human ways bring him closer to civilization, culminating in a wrestling match with Gilgamesh, king of Uruk. Enkidu embodies the wild or natural world. Though equal to Gilgamesh in strength and bearing, he acts in some ways as an [[antithesis]] to the cultured, city-bred warrior-king.

The tales of Enkidu’s servitude are narrated in five surviving [[Sumerian poems]], developing from a slave of Gilgamesh into his "precious friend" and "companion" by the last poem.<ref>The death of Gilgamesh on the [[Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature|ETCSL]] lines 63-81</ref> In the epic, Enkidu is created as a rival to king Gilgamesh, who tyrannizes his people, but they become friends and together slay the monster [[Humbaba]] and the [[Bull of Heaven]]; because of this, Enkidu is punished and dies, representing the mighty hero who dies early.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Wolff, H. N. |date=April–June 1969 |title=Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the heroic life |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=89 |issue=2 |pages=392–398 |publisher=American Oriental Society|doi=10.2307/596520 |jstor=596520 }}</ref> The deep, tragic loss of Enkidu profoundly inspires in Gilgamesh a quest to escape death by obtaining godly [[immortality]].<ref>{{cite EB1911|last=Jastrow |first=Morris |author-link=Morris Jastrow Jr. |wstitle=Eabani|volume=8|pages=788–789}}</ref>

Enkidu has virtually no existence outside the stories relating to Gilgamesh. To the extent of current knowledge, he was never a [[god]] to be worshipped, and is absent from the lists of deities of ancient Mesopotamia. He seems to appear in an invocation from the [[First Babylonian dynasty|Paleo-Babylonian]] era aimed at silencing a crying baby, a text which also evokes the fact that Enkidu would be held to have determined the measurement of the passage of time at night, apparently in relation to his role as herd keeper at night in the epic.<ref>George 2003 , p.  143-144.</ref>

==Etymology==
The name of Enkidu is [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]], and generally written in texts in this language by the sequence of signs '''en.ki.du10'''. The phrase '''ki.du10''' (''good place'') is well attested in the [[Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)|Early Dynastic]] personal names, and the name '''en.ki.du10.ga''' (''Lord of the good place'') is cited on the Fara tablets. The lack of genitive or any grammatical element was common until the late third millennium.<ref>Gilgamesh: A Reader by John Maier</ref> However, an alternative translation has been proposed as ''Creation of [[Enki]]''.

In the epic, his name is preceded by the determinative sign of the divinity ''dingir'' 𒀭, which means that this character was considered to be of divine essence.

==Sumerian poems==
[[File:Bronze Sword with Hilt Depicting Gilgamesh &amp; Enkidu Slaying Humbaba, NW Iran, 1200-800 BC (43219722891) (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|Bronze sword with hilt depicting Gilgamesh and Enkidu slaying Humbaba (1200-800 BC)<ref>NW Iran, (43219722891) (cropped)</ref>]]

=== "The envoys of Agga" ===
{{main|Siege of Uruk}}

Uruk refuses to participate in the digging of wells for the benefit of [[Kish (Sumer)|Kish]], whose kingdom had the hegemony of Sumer. Its king [[Aga of Kish|Agga]] submits the city to a siege. Enkidu is sent to prepare the weapons and wait for Gilgamesh's order. After the battle, Gilgamesh defeats Agga, and makes him return, defeated and humiliated, to Kish.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr1811.htm|title=Gilgamesh and Aga: Translation}}</ref>

=== "The lord to the Living One's Mountain" ===
Gilgamesh, disturbed by the death of his subjects and by the brevity of human existence, decides to make a name for himself. The king of Uruk and Enkidu make an expedition to the [[Cedar Forest|Forest of the Cedars]], where, with [[Utu]]'s blessing, they traverse seven mountains. Enkidu warns the king that the monster [[Humbaba|Huwawa]] inhabits the mountain region, armed by seven supernatural Auras. However, Gilgamesh has no fear, and his fifty men cut the trees until Huwawa appears. Gilgamesh offers him seven gifts in exchange for leaving his seven Auras, but it is a trap. He strikes Huwawa several times, who asks for mercy. Although Gilgamesh softens his heart, Enkidu nevertheless decapitates the monster. Enlil reproaches them for his death, and distributes the seven auras to the fields, the rivers, the reed-beds, the lions, the palace, the forest and [[Nungal]], which would explain the fear and fascination they give to the humans.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr1815.htm|title=Gilgamesh and Huwawa, version A: Translation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr18151.htm|title = Gilgamesh und Huwawa, Version B: Translation}}</ref>

=== "Hero in battle" ===
[[File:Near Eastern - Cylinder Seal with Enkidu Vanquishing the Bull of Heaven - Walters 42786 - Side G.jpg|thumb|Cylinder seal with Enkidu vanquishing the Bull of Heaven - Walters 42786 - Side G]]

[[Inanna]] is enraged with Gilgamesh, she forbids him from administering justice in her temple, the [[Eanna]], causing unrest in the environment of the King of Uruk. Finally, Inanna demands, with threats, from her father the [[Bull of Heaven]] to kill Gilgamesh. The bull is released in Uruk, whose insatiable hunger destroys crops and rivers. Enkidu grabs the bull by his tail and Gilgamesh smashes its head. Finally they distribute the meat among the poor and transform the horns into cups for ointments for the Eanna.

=== "Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld" ===
{{Main|Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld}}

An [[oak]] tree grows on the banks of the [[Euphrates]], the south wind blows it away and the goddess [[Inanna]] gathers it, planting it in her garden to use its wood as her throne. Suddenly, a snake takes refuge between its roots, a giant eagle on its top and a female demon between them.

Inanna asks her brother [[Utu]] for help, in vain, and then Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh cuts the tree, kills the serpent, expels the eagle to the mountain, and the demon to the desert. Inanna gives Gilgamesh a drum (ellag) and drumsticks (ekidma), in some versions a [[Rod-and-ring symbol|rod and a ring]]. Eventually they end up falling to the [[Ancient Mesopotamian underworld|Netherworld]].

Enkidu offers to recover them, but not before receiving instructions from Gilgamesh on how to behave in the underworld, to not seem alive in the residence of the dead. Enkidu however, ignores the directions; consequently, Enkidu ends up being held forever in the Netherworld.

After Gilgamesh pleads to the gods to set his companion free, [[Enki]] finally causes the [[Shade (mythology)|shade]] of Enkidu to rise to briefly reunite with Gilgamesh. The latter interrogates the former (whom from now on he calls his "friend") the fate of the dead, Enkidu answers each of his questions. The text is lost here.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the nether world |type=translation |url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr1814.htm}}</ref>
 
<blockquote><poem>Did you see him who fell in battle?
I saw him [...] his father and mother are not there to hold his head, and his wife weeps.</poem></blockquote>

=== "The great wild bull is lying down" ===
Gilgamesh is dying. The gods judge his exploits. After his position as future judge of the underworld has been revealed to him, he offers gifts and sacrifices to the gods. Then he takes comfort in the words of the gods; after death, he will be reunited with his family, his priests, his warriors and his best friend, Enkidu. Finally, he dies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr1813.htm|title=The death of Gilgamesh: Translation}}</ref>

== ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' ==
The Akkadian epic Gilgamesh is found in various versions, including ''Surpassing all other kings'' ({{circa|1800|1600}}) and ''He who saw the Deep'' ({{circa|1300|1100}}), which was compiled by [[Sin-liqe-unninni]] from earlier texts, later discovered in the [[Library of Ashurbanipal]] in 1853.

=== Creation of Enkidu ===
Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, abuses his people. In response to complaints from the citizens, Anu, the supreme god, directs the goddess of fertility [[Aruru (goddess)|Aruru]] to create Enkidu in the steppe.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lutz |first=R.C. |date=2021 |title=The Creation of Enkidu |url=https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/religion-and-philosophy/creation-enkidu |access-date=May 4, 2025}}</ref> Abundantly hairy and primitive, he lives roaming with the herds and grazing and drinking from rivers with the beasts.
One day a hunter watches Enkidu destroying the traps he has prepared for the animals. The hunter informs his father, who sends him to Uruk to ask Gilgamesh for help. The king sends [[Shamhat]], a [[Sacred prostitution|sacred prostitute]], who seduces and teaches Enkidu.  After two weeks with her, he becomes human, intelligent and understanding words, however the beasts flee when they see him. Shamhat convinces Enkidu to face the tyrant Gilgamesh in combat. Meanwhile, in Uruk, the king has two dreams prophesying the arrival of his enemy.

=== Enkidu faces Gilgamesh ===
Enkidu learns to behave like a man with the shepherds eating, drinking and defending them from wolves and lions at night. Upon reaching Uruk, Enkidu blocks the path of Gilgamesh who was going to sleep with a newlywed. Enraged, they fight brutally until the two end up tired, but at the end both appreciate each other's strength, and decide to be friends. Enkidu is depressed by having abandoned his old wild life, to which Gilgamesh proposes an expedition to the Cedar Forest to kill Humbaba. But his friend explains that he knew the forest while he was a wild being, and that the expedition is dangerous. At the end, Gilgamesh decides to march without fear. The decision is acclaimed by the citizens of Uruk, but not by the elders and advisers. Faced with Gilgamesh's disregard, the elders charge Enkidu to protect their king.

[[File:Syrian - Relief with Two Heroes - Walters 2118.jpg|upright|thumb|[[Neo-Hittite states|Neo-Hittite]] relief of King [[Kapara]] ({{circa|950|875 BC}}). Two heroes pin down a bearded foe, while grabbing at his pronged headdress. The context may be related to the Gilgamesh epic, and display Gilgamesh and Enkidu in their fight with Humbaba.]]

<blockquote><poem>The one who goes on ahead saves the comrade.
The one who knows the route protects his friend.'Let Enkidu go ahead of you; he knows the road to the Cedar Forest.</poem></blockquote>

In this same episode the goddess [[Ninsun]] adopts Enkidu and also entrusts him with protecting the king.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ele que o abismo viu|language=pt-br|editor=[[Sîn-lēqi-unninni|Sin-léqi-unnínni]]|translator=Jacyntho Lins Brandão|page=196|date=2020|publisher=Autêntica|isbn=978-85-513-0283-5|authorlink=Sîn-lēqi-unninni|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OolDDwAAQBAJ|edition=1|orig-year=2017}}</ref>

=== The forest of Humbaba ===
[[File:The Newly Discovered Tablet V of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Meeting Humbaba, with Enkidu, at the Cedar Forest. The Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraqi Kurdistan.jpg|thumb|Tablet V of the Epic of Gilgamesh, discovered in 2015.<ref>{{Cite news|title=A new chapter in the world's oldest story|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/10/06/a-new-chapter-in-the-worlds-oldest-story/|access-date=2021-07-22|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> It describes encountering [[Humbaba]] at the Cedar Forest.<ref>The Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraqi Kurdistan</ref>]]

[[Ninsun]], the mother of Gilgamesh adopts Enkidu as her son, and seeks protection of the sun-god Shamash (the protector of the Uruk dynasty). Gilgamesh and Enkidu journey to the Cedar Forest. They perform a dream ritual in every mountain they cross; although dreams are representations of Humbaba (falling mountains, a thunderbird that breathes fire…), Enkidu [[Oneiromancy|interprets them]] as good omens. At the entrance to the forest they hear the fearsome bellow of Humbaba, which petrifies them with fear.

Humbaba descends from the mountain face to face with both heroes, there accuses Enkidu of betrayal against the beasts and threatens Gilgamesh to disembowel him and feed his flesh to the birds. Gilgamesh is terrified, but Enkidu encourages him, and the battle begins. First, Gilgamesh strikes Humbaba so hard it splits the [[Mount Hermon]] in two, and the skies turn black and start “raining death”. Shamash binds Humbaba with 13 winds and he is captured. Humbaba pleads for his life, offers to be his slave and to cut the sacred trees for him, Gilgamesh pities him, but Enkidu argues that his death will establish his reputation forever. Humbaba then curses both heroes, but they strike him, decapitating him. They cut down cedars and a gigantic tree that Enkidu plans to use for a gate for the temple of Enlil. They return home along the Euphrates with the trees and the head of Humbaba.

=== Ishtar's seduction ===
The goddess [[Ishtar]], fascinated by the beauty of Gilgamesh, offers to be his wife in exchange for wealth and fame; these offerings do not sway Gilgamesh, who recalls all the misadventures her previous loves had, such as [[Dumuzid|Tammuz]].
 
Ishtar, furious and crying, goes to her father [[Anu]], to demand the Bull of Heaven take revenge, or she will scream so loudly that the dead will devour the living. Anu, in fear, gives her the Bull from Heaven in exchange for preparing food for the seven years of famine that the city will suffer from the destruction of the bull. Ishtar obeys (or lies) and releases the bull in Uruk, which kills a large percentage of people. Enkidu grabs the bull by the horns and Gilgamesh stabs his neck. Hearing Ishtar's cry, Enkidu ridicules the goddess by throwing a bull's leg at her head. The city prepares a great celebration at night.

=== Death of Enkidu ===
Enkidu has a dream where the gods decide that the heroes must die, since they have killed Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven. Samash protests against the decision, but that does not change anything, and Enkidu is sentenced to death. This makes Enkidu curse the door he built with the wood of the forest and Shamhat, for having changed his wild life. However then he repents and blesses her. He discusses his nightmares with Gilgamesh about witnessing before [[Ereshkigal]], the queen of the underworld.
After this, sick and bedridden for twelve days, he asks Gilgamesh not to forget him. Finally, he dies.
 
Gilgamesh calls upon the mountains and all of Uruk to mourn for his friend. He recalls their adventures together, makes a funerary statue of Enkidu and provides grave gifts, so Enkidu has a favourable life in the realm of the dead. Enkidu is buried in the river, like Gilgamesh in the Sumerian poem.

=== Enkidu's descent to the Underworld ===
There is another non-canonical tablet in which Enkidu journeys into the underworld, but many scholars consider the tablet to be a sequel or add-on to the original epic inspired by the Sumerian poem [[Gilgamesh]], Enkidu and the Netherworld.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Moran |first=William L. |date=1991 |title=Epic of Gilgamesh: A document of ancient humanism |journal=Bulletin the Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies |url=http://biblio.ebaf.edu/cgi-bin/koha/opac-ISBDdetail.pl?biblionumber=175380 |publisher=The Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies Bulletin |page=20 |issn=0844-3416 |access-date=27 March 2015}}</ref>

==Symbolism==
===Enkidu's wild life===
It has often been suggested that these descriptions reflect the semi-nomadic [[Amorites]] who, from their homeland in the [[Syrian Desert]], infiltrated southern Mesopotamia and came to dominate it in the early second millennium. The phraseology generally includes a reference to "not knowing", which is also used in the epic. Comparing their behaviour to animals, "people plotting destruction like beasts, like wolves". However, Amorites ate uncooked meat and lived in tents while Enkidu lived in the steppe and ate grass; meaning there is no correlation between both since Enkidu wasn’t even a human yet.<ref name="Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cxjuHTH6I2sC |via=Google Books |author1=Jeffrey H. Tigay. |title=The Evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic |page=200 |publisher=Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc. |year=2002|isbn=978-0-86516-546-5}}</ref> However, [[Morris Jastrow Jr.|Morris Jastrow]] suggested that Enkidu's early life was modeled on a tradition that can be seen in etiological texts, in parallel to the description of Enkidu.<ref name="Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc" />

{| class="wikitable"
|+ [[Debate between sheep and grain|The Dispute Between Cattle and Grain]]
|{{cuneiform|𒉆𒇽𒍇 𒌓 𒊑𒀀𒆤𒉈}}<br />
{{cuneiform|𒃻 𒅥𒅇𒁉 𒉡𒈬𒌦𒍪𒀀𒀭}}<br />
{{cuneiform|𒌆𒂵 𒈬𒈬𒁉 𒉡𒈬𒌦𒍪𒍑}}<br />
{{cuneiform|𒌦 𒄑𒁺𒈾 𒋢𒁉 𒈬𒌦𒁺}}<br />
{{cuneiform|𒇻𒄀 𒅗𒁀 𒌑 𒈬𒉌𒅁𒅥}}<br />
{{cuneiform|𒀀 𒊬𒊬 𒊏𒅗 𒄿𒅎𒅘𒅘𒉌}}<br />
|nam-lu<small>2</small>-ulu<small>3</small> ud re-a-ke<small>4</small>-ne<br />
ninda gu<small>7</small>-u<small>3</small>-bi nu-mu-un-zu-uc-am<small>3</small><br />
tug<small>2</small>-ga mu<small>4</small>-mu<small>4</small>-bi nu-mu-un-zu-uc-am<small>3</small><br />
kalam jic-gen-na su-bi mu-un-jen<br />
udu-gin<small>7</small> ka-ba u<small>2</small> mu-ni-ib-gu<small>7</small><br />
a mu<small>2</small>-sar-ra-ka i-im-na<small>8</small>-na<small>8</small>-ne<br />
|''Mankind of that time,''<br />
''Knew not the eating of bread,''<br />
''Knew not the wearing of garments,''<br />
''The people went around with skins on their bodies,''<br />
''They ate grass with their mouths like sheep,''<br />
''Drank water from ditches.''
|}

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Enkidu on an Akkadian cylinder seal.jpg|Possible depiction of Enkidu as a bull-man, fighting a lion, [[Akkadian Empire]] seal, circa 2200 BC.<ref>"Enkidu as a bull-man is attacking a lion which is attacking a bull." in {{cite book |last1=Hammade |first1=Hamido |last2=Hitchcock |first2=Louise |title=Cylinder seals from the collections of the Aleppo Museum, Syrian Arab Republic |date=1987 |publisher=B.A.R. |isbn=978-0-86054-429-6 |page=26 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7YZAAAAYAAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref name="LK" />
File:Enkidu, Gilgamesh's friend. From Ur, Iraq. 2027-1763 BCE. Iraq Museum.jpg|Enkidu, Gilgamesh's friend. From Ur, Iraq. 2027–1763 BC. Iraq Museum
</gallery>

===Becoming human===
After bouts of love-making with Shamhat over two weeks, Enkidu tries to reunite with his herd. But the gazelles run from him, indicating that he is not accepted any more amongst the savage kind. Enkidu has lost his primitive nature, such as running as fast as a gazelle.

We can see here the motif of transferring negative or positive qualities (weakness or knowledge) from one being to another through intimate contact. Another motif is the role of women as seducer towards civilization, such as [[Adam and Eve]] in Genesis 3. By offering Adam the fruit of the [[Tree of the knowledge of good and evil|tree of knowledge]], Eve ultimately drew him to a life of sin and turmoil with Eve being to the pain of childbirth.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cxjuHTH6I2sC |via=Google Books |author1=Jeffrey H. Tigay. |title=The evolution of the Gilgamesh epic |page=208 |publisher=Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc. |year=2002|isbn=9780865165465 }}</ref>

Jastrow and Clay are of the opinion that the story of Enkidu was originally a separate tale to illustrate "man's career and destiny, how through intercourse with a woman he awakens to the sense of human dignity..."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MQ4ZAAAAYAAJ&q=enkidu&pg=PA35 |via=Google Books |author1=Jastrow, Morris Jr. |author2=Clay, ALbert T. |title=An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic |page=20 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, CT |year=1920}}</ref>

===Civilization against nomadic life===
There is a theme that contrasts life with human culture and the life without. It can be seen when Enkidu curses Shamhat, because she took him away from the wild life and brought him to civilization, leading to his death. The sun god Shamash convinces him that he had a new life worth enjoying.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cxjuHTH6I2sC |via=Google Books |author1=Jeffrey H. Tigay. |title=The Evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic |page=220 |publisher=Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc. |year=2002|isbn=978-0-86516-546-5}}</ref>

<blockquote><poem>Why, Ο Enkidu, do you curse the harlot Shamhat,
Who made you eat food fit for divinity,
Who gave you to drink wine fit for royalty,
Who clothed you with noble garments,
And made you have fair Gilgamesh for a comrade?</poem></blockquote>

The same theme appears when the barmaid advises Gilgamesh to abandon his search for immortality.<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cxjuHTH6I2sC |via=Google Books |author1=Jeffrey H. Tigay. |title=The Evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic |page=221 |publisher=Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc. |year=2002|isbn=978-0-86516-546-5}}</ref>

<blockquote><poem>As for you, Gilgamesh [...]
Let your head be washed; bathe in water.
Pay heed to a little one that holds on to your hand;
Let a spouse delight in your bosom.</poem></blockquote>

As [[Jeffrey H. Tigay]] wrote in his book, ''The Evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic'':

{{Blockquote
|text=The rise of Enkidu to human culture underlines the values preferred by the epic. This preference may help explain the epic's enduring attraction. While military feats were for the few, the simple pleasures advocated by the barmaid were something many could strive for.<ref name="books.google.com" />
}}

==Modern rediscovery==
The first translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh was produced in the early 1870s by [[George Smith (Assyriologist)|George Smith]], a scholar at the [[British Museum]], who published the Flood story from Tablet XI in 1880 under the title The Chaldean Account of Genesis. There, Enkidu's name was originally misread as '''Eabani'''.

==See also==
* [[Gilgamesh in popular culture]]
* [[Master of Animals]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{Refbegin}}
*{{cite book |editor=Foster, Benjamin R. |title=The Epic of Gilgamesh |year=2001 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780393975161 |url-access=registration |translator=Foster, Benjamin R. |location=New York |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=0-393-97516-9}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.crystalinks.com/gilgamesh.html Enkidu sitting astride Gugalanna, the ''Bull of Heaven'']
* {{Cite book |author=Bertman, Stephen |year=2005 |title=Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1C4NKp4zgIQC&q=enkidu&pg=PA155 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195183641 }}

{{Sumerian mythology}}
{{Epic of Gilgamesh}}

[[Category:Characters in the Epic of Gilgamesh]]
[[Category:Mythic humanoids]]
[[Category:Sidekicks in literature]]
[[Category:Wild men]]