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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.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill the Bull of Heaven, insulting Ishtar in the process, after which the gods decide to sentence Enkidu to death and kill him by giving him a fatal illness. In the second half of the epic, distress over Enkidu's death causes Gilgamesh to undertake a long and perilous journey to discover the secret of eternal life.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu slaying Humbaba at the Cedar Forest (from Iraq, 19th–17th century BCE, Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin) Humbaba appears in multiple works of Mesopotamian literature focused on the hero Gilgamesh, in which he invariably acts as his adversary during a quest to obtain cedar wood from a distant forest. [20]
In the Sumerian poem Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven, Gilgamesh and Enkidu slay the Bull of Heaven, who has been sent to attack them by the goddess Inanna, the Sumerian equivalent of Ishtar. [4] [5] [6] The plot of this poem differs substantially from the corresponding scene in the later Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh. [7]
According to Andrew R. George, evidence for the latter interpretation is present both the epic itself and in the earlier poem Death of Gilgamesh. [12] After introducing Enkidu to his mother, Ninsun, Gilgamesh decides to embark on an expedition to the cedar forest to acquire valuable wood. [13]
Gilgamesh (/ ˈ ɡ ɪ l ɡ ə m ɛ ʃ /, [7] / ɡ ɪ l ˈ ɡ ɑː m ɛ ʃ /; [8] Akkadian: 𒀭𒄑𒂆𒈦, romanized: Gilgameš; originally Sumerian: 𒀭𒄑𒉋𒂵𒎌, romanized: Bilgames) [9] [a] was a hero in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the protagonist of the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC.
[318] [322] Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill the Bull and offer its heart to the sun-god Shamash. [323] [322] While Gilgamesh and Enkidu are resting, Ishtar stands up on the walls of Uruk and curses Gilgamesh. [323] [324] Enkidu tears off the Bull's right thigh and throws it in Ishtar's face, [323] [324] saying, "If I could lay my hands on you, it is ...
Enkidu shouts at Humbaba that the two of them are much stronger than the demon, but Humbaba, who knows Gilgamesh is a king, taunts the king for taking orders from a nobody like Enkidu. Turning his face into a hideous mask, Humbaba begins to threaten the pair, and Gilgamesh runs and hides.