Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet VII — The Death of Enkidu · 2 of 2 · tr. R. Campbell Thompson
Tablet VII, Section 1b
(Aye), by the road on the passage whereof there can be no returning, Unto the Dwelling whose tenants are (ever) bereft of the daylight, Where for their food is the dust, and the mud is their sustenance: bird-like 40.
Wear they a garment of feathers: and, sitting (there) in the darkness, Never the light will they see.
On the Gate .
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when I enter’d On the house (?) .
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was humbled the crown, For .
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those who (wore) crowns, who of old ruled over the country, .
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of Anu and Enlil ’twas they set the bakemeats, 45.
Set .
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., cool was the water they served from the skins.
When I enter’d Into (this) House of the Dust, were High Priest and acolyte sitting, Seer and magician , the priest who the Sea of the great gods anointed , (Here) sat Etana , Sumuqan; the Queen of the Underworld (also), Ereshkigal , in whose presence doth bow the Recorder of Hades, [Belit]-seri, and readeth before her; [she lifted] her head (and) beheld me, .
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and took this .
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§ Ask Guru about this passage →Themes
Anthropomorphismtheology
Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.
The passage depicts deities and the dead with human characteristics, such as Ereshkigal lifting her head and kings wearing crowns.
All passages →Funerary Navigationpraxis
Texts and rituals guiding the soul through death.
The text serves as a descriptive map of the underworld destination and the road leading to it, providing knowledge of the afterlife path.
All passages →Living Godtheology
The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.
Ereshkigal is portrayed as an active, perceiving presence who beholds the speaker and interacts within the underworld.
All passages →Separation From Sourcesoteriology
The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive.
The passage emphasizes the irreversible nature of death and the bereavement of daylight, indicating exile from the living world.
All passages →Related passages · 8 parallels
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“p.
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Shared concept: Funerary Navigation — Texts and rituals guiding the soul through death. (derived)
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Shared concept: Funerary Navigation — Texts and rituals guiding the soul through death. (derived)
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Shared concept: Living God — The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality. (derived)
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Shared concept: Funerary Navigation — Texts and rituals guiding the soul through death. (derived)
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Shared concept: Anthropomorphism — Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery. (derived)
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“The second, symbolized by Eye, is the origin of feminine Grace, of Authority.
We have seen that Power and Authority find their equilibrium in Love.
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Shared concept: Anthropomorphism — Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery. (derived)
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“HEARKEN to the reed-flute, how it complains, Lamenting its banishment from its home: "Ever since they tore me from my osier bed, My plaintive notes have moved men and women to tears.
I burst my breast, striving to give vent to sighs, And t…”
Shared concept: Separation From Source — The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive. (derived)
neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter VIII-r
“But there are a certain few who by employing a certain supernatural power of intellect, are removed from nature , &c.
The class to which these few belong is beautifully unfolded, as follows, by Plotinus, in the beginning of his Treatise on…”
Shared concept: Separation From Source — The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive. (derived)