Gilgeam the Horse-Eater: Difference between revisions

Despondent and afraid, Gilgeam retreats into a large cave where he broods for ten thousand years. At long last Gilgeam wakes from his reverie and begins clawing at the muddy floor of his cave, digging down and down. In the depths of the world he constructs a secret chamber, where even the gods cannot see him. Using the boon of Sentience, Gilgeam fashions the first woman out of mud; in this way he defies the gods and their dictate against creating new life. Gilgeam breathes into her, giving her half of the Light of Life still within him, halving his lifespan. Gilgeam also shares his boon of Sentience and part of his heart, further reducing his lifespan. He gives the first woman the name of Ahunatum, and makes her his wife. Eventually Gilgeam and Ahunatum leave the chamber of creation and return to the surface world, here they procreate and have a multitude of children. Upon seeing what Gilgeam's defiance has wrought, the gods are filled with rage. They send a shower of thunderbolts to destroy Gilgeam's home but he catches them in his hands and uses them to create the first fire. Next the gods send a great flood from the east, intending to wash out Gilgeam and his brood. Gilgeam puts his hands into the ground and pulls with all his might, pulling a part of the world into place as mountains that stop the incoming waves. The mountains referenced here are believed to represent the Arik mountain range that stands between [[Rusana]] and [[Daxia]]. Undeterred, the gods sent a multitude of snakes to eat Gilgeam, who thwarts this by hopping atop a large rock and rolling it around, crushing all of the snakes. Gilgeam then plucks out the snakes's eyes and plants them, creating the first fruit trees.

Tired of the gods and their petty schemes, Gilgeam resolved to strike back against his oppressors. He decided to kill Enunu, a winged steed beloved by the gods for his beauty and grace. He stalked Enunu all the way to where it slept at the top of a mountain. To avoid being detected by Enunu's powerful sense of smell, Gilgeam put mint herbs on his hair. Gilgeam killed Enunu by striking it in the temple with a sharpened rock and afterwards dragged the carcass to his home. Once there he gathered all his descendants about him and the dead Enunu whereupon he set upon the corpse with a knife, carving himself a generous portion of its meat and instructing his brood to take from the gods as they pleased for the gods would give them nothing willingly. In this moment his brood stopped calling him Father and instead began calling him King. Gilgeam also took the wings of Enunu for himself, using them to soar through the sky, further showing his defiance of his creators. Gilgeam called the city that was growing outside his home Nasrad, which in the ancient tongue of that city meant the ''Mouth of Creation'', for it sat outside the mouth of the cave where Gilgeam created Ahunatum. After five thousand years of defending [[Nasrad]] against the depredations of the gods, Gilgeam grew tired and knew the Life within him was ebbing away faster than ever before. To save his progeny and protect them, he resolved to make a bargain with the gods: exchange his Life and that of his beloved wife Ahunatum, for the forgiveness of the gods towards his progeny. After spending a last moment together, Ahunatum breathed the Light of Life inside her back to Gilgeam, dying as a result. Filled with grief, Gilgeam next he climbed to the top of Mount Urum and made his bargain with the gods, surrendering his life for all his children who are mankind.

Gilgeam is usually depicted as a warrior king, with an armored tunic embroidered with patterns of royalty and divinity, the helm-crown of kings, his sword Anzû sheathed and in his hands, the two thunderbolts he stole with from the gods. On his left hand he wears a gold bracelet upon which is mounted the desiccated eye of the beast of many limbs. On the rare depictions that have been found of Gilgeam seated upon a throne, he is clothed in the very same manner but carries no weapons, instead he holds a scepter of office to represent his kingship on his right hand and a plume of fire on the left.