Enkidu

Aruru makes Enkidu from clay and leaves him in the wilderness. He grows with the gazelles, drinks where the herds drink, and tears up the trapper’s pits and snares. The trapper sees him several times but is afraid to approach. At home, his father says to seek Gilgamesh in Uruk and ask for a woman from the temple. The trapper returns to the waterhole with her and waits for Enkidu to come down from the hills.

Enkidu and the woman stay together for six days and seven nights. When he tries to return to the animals, they flee from him. His strength and speed have changed, and he sits beside her to listen. She tells him about Uruk and Gilgamesh. Enkidu wants a companion who can understand him, so he agrees to travel with her. She gives him clothing and leads him to the shepherds. He does not yet know how to eat their bread or drink their wine, but she explains that these are the food and drink of settled life. He eats, drinks, oils his hair, and puts on clothing.

Enkidu becomes a guard for the shepherds. He hunts lions and wolves, and the herders sleep more easily while he watches their flocks. One day a traveller tells him that Gilgamesh intends to enter a bride’s chamber before her husband. Enkidu is angered by this claim and sets out for Uruk. The people see his strength and compare him with their king.

When Gilgamesh approaches the bride’s house, Enkidu blocks the doorway. They grapple like bulls, breaking the doorposts and shaking the walls. Gilgamesh throws Enkidu, but Enkidu’s anger passes. He tells Gilgamesh that no one in the world is like him. Gilgamesh’s mother, Ninsun, has recognised Enkidu in her son’s dreams as the companion who will help him. The two men embrace, and their friendship begins.