The Epic of Gilgamesh Read online

  But the man whose corpse remains [unburied] upon the field

  Thou and I have often seen such an one

  His spirit does not find rest in the earth [i. e., Hades].

  The man whose spirit has no one who cares for it

  Thou and I have often seen such an one—

  consumes the dregs of the bowl, the broken remnants of food,

  that are cast into the street.

  Thus has come to an end.

  "* * * has brought me back

  * * * like as the bird of darkness.

  I have descended to the house of darkness, the dwelling of the goddess Irkalla;

  to the house, whence he that enters goes out no more;

  to the road, whose way turns not back;

  to the house, whose inhabitants are deprived of light;

  to the place where dust is their sustenance, their food clay.

  They are clothed, like a bird, with feathered raiment.

  Light they see not, they sit in darkness.

  In the house, my friend, which I have entered,

  in that house crowns are cast down on the ground,

  and there live those who had worn crowns, who in days of old had ruled countries;

  to whom Anu and Belit had given roasted meat to eat.

  Now, cold meals are prepared, and water from leather bottles is poured out for them.

  In the house, my friend, which I have entered,

  there dwell also priests and ministers;

  There dwell soothsayers and enchanters;

  there dwell the temple-anointers of the great gods.

  There dwells Etana, and there dwells Ner;

  There dwells also the queen of the earth [i. e., of Hades], the goddess Ereshkigal.

  [There dwells] the scribe of the earth, bowed down before her.

  * * * and reads before her,

  and Ereshkigal lifted up] her head and saw me."

  Illustration Gallery: Maps

  Uruk

  Mesopotamia

  Illustration Gallery: Gilgamesh

  Gilgamesh

  Humbaba

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  Letters from a Stoic by Lucius Annaeus Seneca

  The Inferno by Dante Alighieri

  The Egyptian Book of the Dead by Epiphanius Wilson

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  Table of Contents

  Introduction

  Tablet I

  Tablet II

  Tablet III

  Tablet IV

  Tablet V

  Tablet VI

  Tablet VII and Tablet VIII

  Tablet IX

  Tablet X

  Tablet XI

  Tablet XII

  Illustration Gallery: Maps

  Illustration Gallery: Gilgamesh

  Recommended Reading

  About the Editor