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Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet VI — Ishtar and the Bull of Heaven · 3 of 4 · tr. R. Campbell Thompson

Tablet VI, Section 1c

But if thou’lt [not] make [this Bull], then . . . . I'll smite . . . ., I'll put . . . ., I'll . . . . 100. More than the . . . will be the . . . . . . . ________________________________ Anu [made answer, (thus) speaking, and said unto] Ishtar, the Lady: "[If I the Heavenly Bull shall create, for which] thou dost ask me, (Then) seven years of (leer) husks [must needs follow after his onslaught (?)]. 105. Wilt thou [for man] gather [corn (?)], and increase [for the cattle(?)] the fodder (?)." [Ishtar made answer, (thus) speaking [and said unto] Anu, her father: "[Corn for mankind] have I hoarded, have grown [for the cattle the fodder], 110. [If seven] years of (leer) husks [must needs follow after his onslaught (?)] [I will for man] gather [corn and increase for the cattle] the fodder." . 130. Enkidu girded (?) his middle; (and straightway) Enkidu, leaping, Seized on the Heavenly Bull by [his] horns, and (headlong) before him Cast down the Heavenly Bull his full length, . . . . (Aye), by the thick of his tail. 147. Chased him did Enkidu, . . . the Heavenly Bull . . . Seized him and by [the thick] of his tail . . . . 153. (So), what time they the Bull of the Heavens had kill’d, its heart they removéd, Unto the Sun-god they offer’d in sacrifice; when the libation 155. Unto the Sun they had voided, they sate them down, the two brothers. ________________________________ . (Then) mounted Ishtar (the crest of) the ramparts of Erech, the high-wall’d, (So) to the roof-top ascended, (and there) gave voice to her wailing; 160. "Woe unto Gilgamish—he who by killing the Bull of the Heavens, Made me lament." When Enkidu heard this, the shrieking of Ishtar, Wrenching the member from out of the Bull, he toss’d (it) before her; 165. "If I could only have reach’d thee, i’faith, I’d ha’ served thee the same way, I’d ha’ let dangle his guts on thy flanks (as a girdle about thee)." Ishtar assembled the girl-devotees, the hetaerae and harlots, Over the member (torn out) from the Bull she led the lamenting. . 170. Gilgamish call’d to the masters of craft, the artists, (yea), all of them, That at the size of its horns (all) the guilds of the crafts speak their praises Each had of azure in weight thirty minas to be as their setting, Two fingers their . ... ... . . . . . . . . . . . 175. Both of them held six measures of oil; to his god Lugal-banda He for (his) unguent devoting, brought in, and (thus) let them hang (there), (There) in the shrine of his forbears. (And now) in the River Euphrates Washing their hands, they start (on their progress) and come (to the city); (Now) are they striding the highway of Erech, the heroes of Erech 180. Thronging (about them) to see them.
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Themes
Ancestor Venerationpraxis

Ritual maintenance of relationship with the dead as ongoing presences whose favour is cultivated and whose offence is propitiated. Shinto uji-gami and obon, Norse disir and the alfablot, Celtic samhain and the feast for the deceased, Roman lares and parentalia, Chinese ancestor rites, Vedic śrāddha. Practice-coded rather than belief-coded: distinct from soul_migration (cosmological doctrine of soul-transmigration) and theosis_deification (deification trajectory); ancestor_veneration centres the living's ongoing ritual obligation to the dead.

The heroes dedicate the Bull's horns in the shrine of Gilgamesh's forbears, indicating ritual maintenance of relationship with the dead.

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Anthropomorphismtheology

Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.

The passage depicts gods like Ishtar and Anu with human emotions (wailing, anger), speech, and physical forms interacting directly with humans.

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Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

The deities are portrayed as active, dynamic agents who intervene in human affairs, speak, and react to events rather than being abstract principles.

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Prayerpraxis

Direct address to the divine, whether petitionary, contemplative, or liturgical; speech and silence offered upward.

The text includes direct address to Anu and libations offered to the Sun-god as part of the sacrificial ritual.

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Ritual Puritypraxis

The maintenance of a state of cleanliness—physical, moral, or spiritual—required for encounter with the divine.

Gilgamesh and Enkidu explicitly wash their hands in the Euphrates after killing the Bull and making sacrifices before returning to the city.

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Word Power Incantationpraxis

The doctrine and practice that spoken or sung word carries causal-magical force — that uttering names, formulas, songs, or incantations alters reality directly rather than merely communicating about it. Vainamoinen's runo-songs that move mountains and command iron, Norse galdr, Vedic mantra, Shinto kotodama, the magician's barbarous names in the Greek Magical Papyri, Iamblichean arcane signatures and inexplicable symbols, biblical creation-by-word. Distinct from sacred_names (the ontological power of names themselves) and prayer (address to the divine); word_power_incantation is the magical-causal efficacy of the spoken word as such.

Anu creates the Heavenly Bull through his spoken command, reflecting the causal efficacy of divine speech in creation.

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