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Cuneiform tablet with the Atra-Hasis epic in the British Museum. Uta-napishtim or Utnapishtim (Akkadian: 𒌓𒍣, "he has found life") was a legendary king of the ancient city of Shuruppak in southern Iraq, who, according to the Gilgamesh flood myth, one of several similar narratives, survived the Flood by making and occupying a boat.
After Gilgamesh fails, Utnapishtim curses Urshanabi, most likely for bringing the hero to him, and declares he can no longer fulfill his function. [21] He subsequently joins Gilgamesh on his way back to Uruk, and the final lines of the epic, Gilgamesh's speech describing the walls of Uruk and an invitation to climb them, are directed to him. [83]
When Gilgamesh persists in his quest, she directs him to Urshanabi, the ferryman of the gods, who takes Gilgamesh across the sea to Utnapishtim. [61] When Gilgamesh finally arrives at Utnapishtim's home, Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh that, to become immortal, he must defy sleep. [47] Gilgamesh attempts this, but fails and falls into a seven-day ...
The Epic of Gilgamesh (/ ˈ ɡ ɪ l ɡ ə m ɛ ʃ /) [2] is an epic from ancient Mesopotamia.The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian poems about Gilgamesh (formerly read as Sumerian "Bilgames" [3]), king of Uruk, some of which may date back to the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2100 BCE). [1]
Gilgamesh, who wants to overcome death, cannot even conquer sleep. As Gilgamesh is leaving, Utnapishtim's wife asks her husband to offer a parting gift. Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh of a boxthorn-like plant at the very bottom of the ocean that will make him young again. Gilgamesh obtains the plant by binding stones to his feet so he can walk on ...
Gilgamesh is directed by Utnapishtim to find a plant at the bottom of the sea, but he loses it to a serpent before he can use it himself. This legend is an archaic explanation for snakes shedding their skin, seen as mystical rejuvenation.
That Ziusudra was a king from Shuruppak is supported by the Gilgamesh XI tablet, which makes reference to Utnapishtim (the Akkadian translation of the Sumerian name Ziusudra) with the epithet "man of Shuruppak" at line 23. [11]
The Epic of Gilgamesh describes Gilgamesh travelling to a wondrous garden of the gods that is the source of a river, next to a mountain covered in cedars, and references a "plant of life". In the myth, paradise is identified as the place where the deified Sumerian hero of the flood, Utnapishtim ( Ziusudra ), was taken by the gods to live forever.