Gilgamesh Epic, Tablet 12

Inanna, Gilgamesh and the Huluppu Tree

The Drum in the Underworld

Diane Wolkstein & Samuel Noah Kramer (1983)Samuel Noah Kramer (1938)

This page contains two different texts which may have originally gone together, although perhaps not. The first text is Inanna and the Huluppu tree. In this story Inanna and Gilgamesh are on good terms. Gilgamesh does pest control on Inanna's tree, then makes out of it a throne and a bed for her. In turn she makes him a magical drum and drumstick, from the same tree. The drum becomes the tool Gilgamesh uses to summon warriors to battle, which, of course, sets up the problem for which the gods intend Enkidu to be the solution (that's in the epic, not here). The solution here is that he 'accidentally' drops it into the Underworld.
This is the setup for the second part which is also considered tablet 12 of the epic. Enkidu volunteers to go to the Underworld to fetch it, but is trapped there. When his spirit is let out he reports to Gilgamesh on the way life is 'down there.' But it is apparently only his spirit that escapes, and one expects that it will have to return. There is certainly no reconciling the story of the death of Enkidu in this tablet with tablets 7 & 8. Even if The Huluppu tree and the tablet 12 were originally one document, they represent an independent Gilgamesh tradition, not related to the epic, except in a shared curiosity about the afterlife. In the first half, even Enki gets in trouble trying to visit the Underworld.
Most of the Huluppu tree story was translated by Wolkstein & Kramer (1983), although a small portion was omitted by them and so is drawn from Kramer's solo work (1938). Tablet 12 (The Drum in the Underworld) was significantly reworked from the Ancient Near Eastern Texts Collections. I do not know the original translator.
Please report errors to me (link at end of page). -Alan Humm

The Huluppu Tree

In the first days, in the very first days,
In the first nights, in the very first nights,
In the first years, in the very first years,

In the first days when everything needed was brought into being,
In the first days when everything needed was properly nourished,
When bread was baked in the shrines of the land,
And bread was tasted in the homes of the land,
When heaven had moved away from earth,
And the earth had separated from heaven,
And the name of man was fixed;

When the Sky God, An, had carried off the heavens,
And the Air God, Enlil, had carried off the earth,
When the Queen of the Great Below, Ereshkigal, was given the underworld for her domain,
He set sail; the Father set sail,
Enki, the God of Wisdom, set sail for the underworld.
Small windstones were tossed up against him;
Large hailstones were hurled up against him;
Like onrushing turtles,
They charged the keel of Enki's boat.
The waters of the sea devoured the bow of his boat like wolves;
The waters of the sea struck the stern of his boat like lions.

At that time, a tree, a single tree, a huluppu-tree
[1] Was planted by the banks of the Euphrates.
The tree was nurtured by the waters of the Euphrates.
The whirling South Wind arose, pulling at its roots
And ripping at its branches
Until the waters of the Euphrates carried it away.

A woman who walked in fear of the word of the Sky God, An,
Who walked in fear of the Air God, Enlil,
Plucked the tree from the river and spoke:

“I shall bring this tree to Uruk.
I shall plant this tree in my holy garden.”
Inanna cared for the tree with her hand
She settled the earth around the tree with her foot
She wondered:
“How long will it be until I have a shining throne to sit upon?
How long will it be until I have a shining bed to lie upon?”
The years passed; five years, and then ten years.
The tree grew thick,
But its bark did not split.
Then the serpent who could not be charmed
Made it's nest in the roots of the huluppu-tree.
The Anzu-bird [2] set its young in the branches of the tree.
And the dark maid Lilith built her home in the trunk.
The young woman who loved to laugh wept.
How Inanna wept!
(Yet they would not leave her tree.)

As the birds began to sing at the coming of the dawn,
The sun God, Utu, left his royal bedchamber.
Inanna called to her brother Utu, saying:

“O Utu, in the days when the fates were decreed,
When abundance overflowed in the land,
When the Sky God took the heavens and the Air God the earth,
When Ereshkigal was given the Great Below for her domain,
The God of Wisdom, Father Enki, set sail for the underworld,
And the underworld rose up and attacked him.... [3]

“At that time, a tree, a single tree, the huluppa-tree
Was planted by the banks of the Euphrates.
The South Wind pulled at its roots and ripped its branches
Until the water of the Euphrates carried it away.
I plucked the tree from the river; [4]

I brought it to my holy garden. I tended the tree, waiting for my shining throne and bed.
Then a serpent who could not be charmed
Made its nest in the roots of the tree,
The Anzu-bird set his young in the branches of the tree,
And the dark maid Lilith built her home in the trunk.
I wept.
How I wept!
(Yet they would not leave my tree.)”
Utu, the valiant warrior, Utu,
Would not help his sister, Inanna.

As the birds began to sing at the coming of the second dawn,
Inanna called to her brother Gilgamesh, saying:

“O Gilgamesh, in the days when the fates were decreed,
When abundance overflowed in Sumer,
When the Sky God had taken the heavens and the Air God the earth,
When Ereshkigal was given the Great Below for her domain,
The God of Wisdom, Father Enki, set sail for the underworld,

“And the underworld rose up and attacked him. [5]
At that time, a tree, a single tree, a huluppu-tree
Was planted by the banks of the Euphrates.
The South Wind pulled at its roots and ripped at its branches

“Until the waters of the Euphrates carried it away.
I plucked the tree from the river;
I brought it to my holy garden.
I tended the tree, waiting for my shining throne and bed.

“Then a serpent who could not be charmed
Made its nest in the roots of the tree,
The Anzu-bird set his young in the branches of the tree,
And the dark maid Lilith built her home in the trunk.

“I wept.
How I wept!
(Yet they would not leave my tree.)”

Gilgamesh, the valiant warrior Gilgamesh,
The hero of Uruk, stood by Inanna.

Gilgamesh fastened his armor of fifty minas around his chest.
The fifty minas weighed as little to him as fifty feathers.
He lifted his bronze ax, the ax of the road,
Weighing seven talents and seven minas, to his shoulder.
He entered Inanna's holy garden.

Gilgamesh struck the serpent who could not be charmed.
The Anzu-bird flew with his young to the mountains;
And Lilith smashed her home and fled to the wild, uninhabited places.

Gilgamesh then loosened the roots of the huluppa-tree;
And the sons of the city, who accompanied him, cut off the branches.

From the trunk of the tree he carved a throne for his holy sister.
From the trunk of the tree Gilgamesh carved a bed for Inanna.
From the roots of the tree she fashioned a pukku [6] for her brother.
From the crown of the tree Inanna fashioned a mikku [7] for Gilgamesh
the hero of Uruk.

Wolkstein & Kramer's translation ends here, but Kramer's 1938 translation continues. Of course, this evokes the situation which caused the gods to introduce Enkidu in the first place, but the relation of this story to the epic is problematic. I have systematically replaced pukku and mikku with drum and drumstick for clarity.

The summoning drum — in street and lane he made the drum resound,
The loud drumming — in street and lane he made the drumming resound,
The young men of the city, summoned by the drum —
Bitterness and woe — he is the affliction of their widows,
“O my mate, O my spouse,” they lament,
Who had a mother — she brings bread to her son,
Who had a sister — she brings water to her brother.

After the evening star had disappeared,
And he had marked the places where his drum had been,
He carried the drum before him, brought it to his house,
At dawn in the places he had marked—bitterness and woe!
Captives! Dead! Widows!

Because of the cry of the young maidens,
His drum and drumstick fell into the ‘great dwelling,' [8]
He put in his hand, could not reach them,
Put in his foot, could not reach them,
He sat down at the great gate ganzir, the ‘eye' of the nether world,
Gilgamesh wept, his face turns pale . . . .

The Drum in the Underworld

he cried
      “O my drum, O my drumstick.”

“That time when I had the drum in the carpenter's house,
When the carpenter's wife was like my mother who bore me,
When the carpenter's daughter was like my younger sister!
Who will bring up the drum from the nether world? [9]
Who will bring up the drumstick from the nether world?”

Enkidu... said to Gilgamesh, his lord:
“My lord, why are you crying; why is your heart so sick?
I will bring up the drum from the nether world,
I will bring up the drumstick from the nether world.”
GiIgamesh said to Enkidu, his servant:
“If you will go down to the nether world, I will speak a word to you,
take my word; heed well my admonition(s)...:

“Do not put on clean clothes;
      [if you look] like a traveller, they will mark you.
Do not anoint yourself with sweet oil from the jar;
     at a whiff they will gather around you.
Do not toss a throw stick into the nether world;
     anyone it hits will surround you.
Do not take a staff in your hands;
     the spirits would tremble... on your account.
Do not fasten sandals on your feet;
     you do not want to make a sound in the nether world.
Do not kiss the wife you love;
     do not hit the wife you hate.
Do not kiss the wife you love;
     do not hit the son you hate.
The wailing of the nether world wants to grab you!

“She who rests, she who rests,
The mother of Ninazu, Oh she who rests;
Her holy shoulders are not covered with clothes,
Her cruse-shaped breasts are not wrapped with cloth.”

Enkidu gave no heed to his lord's admonitions.
He put on clean clothes;
     they marked him as a traveller.
He anointed himself with sweet oil from the jar;
     at a whiff they gathered around him.
He tossed the throw stick into the nether world;
     the ones he struck with it surrounded him.
He took a staff in his hand:
     the spirits trembled on his account.
He fastened sandals on his feet,
     He made a sound in the nether world.
He kissed his beloved wife;
     he hit his hated wife.
He kissed his beloved son;
     he hit his hated son:
The wailing of the nether world seized him.

She who rests, she who rests,
The mother of Ninazu, she who rests;
Her holy shoulders are not covered with clothes,
Her cruse-shaped breasts are not wrapped with cloth.
She did not allow Enkidu to ascend from the nether world.

Namtar did not seize him, Fever did not seize him;
The nether world seized him.
Nergal's unsparing deputy did not seize him;
The nether world seized him.
He did not fall on the battlefield.
The nether world seized him!
Then my lord, the son of Ninsun, [10]
Weeping over Enkidu, his servant,
Went all alone to Ekur, the temple of Enlil:
“Father Enlil, look, my drum fell into the nether world,
My drumstick fell into the nether world;
<The nether world seized Enkidu, whom I sent to bring them up.>
“Namtar did not seize him, Fever did not seize him;
The nether world seized him.
Nergal's unsparing deputy did not seize him;
The nether world seized him.
He did not fall on the battlefield.
The nether world seized him!”
Father Enlil did not intercede for him in the matter;

he went... to Ur:

“Father Sin, look, my drum fell into the nether world,
My drumstick fell into the nether world.
The nether world seized Enkidu, whom I sent to bring them up.
“Namtar did not seize him, Fever did not seize him;
The nether world seized him.
Nergal's unsparing deputy did not seize him;
The nether world seized him.
He did not fall on the battlefield.
The nether world seized him!”
Father Sin did not intercede for him in the matter;

he went...to Eridu:

“Father Ea, look, my drum fell into the nether world,
My drumstick fell into the nether world.
The nether world seized Enkidu, whom I sent to bring them up.
“Namtar did not seize him, Fever did not seize him;
The nether world seized him.
Nergal's unsparing deputy did not seize him;
The nether world seized him.
He did not fall on the battlefield.
The nether world seized him!”
Father Ea did intercede for him in the matter.

He said to the valiant hero Nergall,

   “O valiant hero, Nergal... ,
Without delay, open a hole... in the earth,
So that the spirit of Enkidu can come out from the nether world,
So that he can tell the ways of the nether world to his brother.”
The valiant hero Nergal listened to Ea,
He had just opened a hole in the earth,
When the spirit of Enkidu, like a wind-puff,
Came out from the nether world.
They embraced and kissed each other.

They exchanged counsel, sighing at each other:

... “Tell me, my friend, tell me, my friend,
Tell me the order of the nether world which you have seen.”

“I will not tell you, I will not tell you;
(But) if I tell you the order of the nether world which I have seen,
Sit you down (and) weep!”

“I will sit down and weep.”

“My body ..., which you touched as your heart rejoiced,
Vermin devour as it were old clothes.
My body ..., which you touched as your heart rejoiced,
is filled with dust.”

He cried “Woe!” and threw himself in the dust;
Gilgamesh cried “Woe!” and threw himself in the dust.
“Have you seen ...?”

“I have seen.”

“...?”

“I have seen: …weeps over (it).
I have seen: …eats bread.”

“...?”

“I have seen: drinks water.”

“Have you seen...?”

“I have seen: his heart rejoices.”

“Have you seen…?...?”

“I have seen: Like that of a good scribe is his arm bared.

…he enters the palace.”

“Have you seen...?”

“I have seen: Like a beautiful standard”

{twenty-six lines destroyed}
“Have you seen him who fell down from the mast?”

“I have seen: Scarcely the pegs are pulled out.”

“Have you seen him who died a sudden death...?”

“I have seen: He lies upon the night couch and drinks pure water.”

“Have you seen him who was killed in battle?”

“I have seen: His father and his mother raise up his head,
     And his wife weeps over him.”

“Have you seen him whose corpse was cast out upon the steppe?”

“I have seen: His spirit finds no rest in the nether world.”

“Have you seen him whose spirit has no one to tend (it)?”

“I have seen: He eats dregs of the pot, crumbs of bread, discards in the street.”

Notes

[1] willow or poplar [AH].

[2] Kramer (1938): Imdugud-bird.

[3] Kramer (1938): texts mirrors lines 15ff.

[4] Kramer (1938): mirrors "A woman who walked in fear…" above.

[5] Kramer (1938): Repitions, as above.

[6] A drum; see the next section.

[7 ] a drum stick; see next section.

[8] e.g. the Underworld [AH].

[9] Another tranlsation gives these four lines as:
      If only I'd have protected our instruments in the safe home of the drum-maker;
      If only I'd have given so precious a harp to the craftsman's wife,
      she who shepherds such jewel-like children.
      God, has your heart forgotten me?
It is hard to see how the same text would give such a different translation, but it could be that another witness to this tablet reads differently. However, it is likely that the translator is reading pukku as 'instrument,' and mikku as 'harp."

[10] Ninsun is Gilgamesh's mother.

Sources

Wolkstein, Diane & Samuel Noah Kramer. (1983). Inanna queen of heaven and earth: Her stories and hymns from Sumer. New York: Harper & Row.

Kramer, Samuel Noah. (1938). “Gilgamesh and the Huluppu-Tree: A reconstructed Sumerian Text.&lrquo; Assyriological Studies of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 10. Chicago: University of Chicago.

Reworked from: Akkadian Myths and Epics - The Gilgamesh Epic. Ancient Near Eastern Texts Collections.

Texts Related to Biblical Study Return to Texts Related
to Biblical Study Index
Page: © Copyright 1995-2011 Alan Humm.
Comments and corrections: