Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet X — How Gilgamish Reached Uta-Napishtim · 4 of 4 · tr. R. Campbell Thompson

Tablet X, Section 1d

(Thus) did Ur-Shanabi [answer] him, [(yea), unto Gilgamish, (saying)]: "Gilgamish, take the .

.

.

.

away .

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Let not the Waters of Death touch thy hand .

.

.

.

.

.

Gilgamish, take thou a second, a third, and a fourth pole (for thrusting), 5.

Gilgamish, take thou a fifth, (and) a sixth, and a seventh (for thrusting), Gilgamish, take thou an eighth, (and) a ninth, and a tenth pole (for thrusting), Gilgamish, take an eleventh, a twelfth pole!" He ceased from (his) poling, (Aye) with twice-sixty (thrusts); (then) ungirded his loins .

.

.

.

10.

Gilgamish .

.

.

.

(?), and set up the mast in its socket.

.

Uta-Napishtim look’d into the distance and, inwardly musing, 15.

Said to himself: "(Now), why are [the sails(?)] of the vessel destroyéd, Aye, and one who is not of my .

.

.

(?) doth ride on the vessel?

(This) is no mortal who cometh: nor .

.

.

.

I look, but (this) is no [mortal] .

.

.

.

.

.

20.

I look, but .

.

.

.

.

I look but .

.

.

.

.

: 23.

Gilgamish (thus) continued his speech unto Uta-Napishtim, "Then [I bethought me], I'll get hence and see what far Uta-Napishtim 25.

Saith (on the matter) .

(And so), again (?) I came through all countries, Travell’d o’er difficult mountains, (aye), [and] all seas have I traversed, Nor hath (ever) my face had its fill of gentle sleep (?): (but) with hardship Have I exhausted myself, (and) my flesh have I laden with sorrow.

30.

Ere I had come to the [House(?)] of the Wine-Maker, spent were my garments, .

.

.

Owl, bat, lion, pard, wild cat, deer, ibex, and .

.

.

.

.

.

[Flesh] of them (all) have I eaten, (and eke) their pelts have I dress’d (?) [me]." : 26.

"Shall we for ever build house(s), for ever set signet (to contract), Brothers continue to share, or among [foes (?)] always be hatred?

(Or) will for ever the stream (that hath risen) in spate bring a torrent, Kulilu -bird [to] Kirippu -bird .

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

?

Face which doth look on the sunlight .

.

.

presently (?) shall not be .

.

.

Sleeping and dead [are]r alike, from Death they mark no distinction Servant and master, when once thy have reach’d [their full span allotted], Then do the Anunnaki, great gods, .

.

.

.

.

.

Mammetum, Maker of Destiny with them, doth destiny settle, Death, (aye), and Life they determine; of Death is the day not revealéd."

§ Ask Guru about this passage →

Themes

Anthropomorphismtheology

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

The gods and immortals are depicted with human characteristics such as looking, musing, speaking, and settling destiny like a council.

All passages →

Divine Providencetheology

Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.

The passage explicitly states that the Anunnaki gods determine destiny and settle the fate of life and death.

All passages →

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, present agents who observe, speak, and intervene in human affairs.

All passages →

Shamanic Journeypraxis

The living practitioner's deliberate trance-journey into spirit, underworld, or upper realms — Lemminkainen's descent into Tuoni and Wainamoinen's entry into Wipunen's body in the Kalevala, the Siberian shaman's drum-mediated travel, Inuit angakkuq's submarine journey to Sedna, classical katabasis as ritual technique. The practitioner returns with knowledge, songs, lost-words, or a recovered soul. Distinct from psychopomp_journey (which guides the *dead* soul through afterlife realms) and from spiritual_ascent (which is the soul's *upward* return to source); shamanic_journey is the *living* practitioner crossing into ordinarily-inaccessible domains as a worked technique.

Gilgamesh, a living practitioner, undertakes a deliberate journey across difficult terrain and the Waters of Death to reach an inaccessible otherworldly realm.

All passages →

Related passages · 11 parallels

christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 4, Section 1k

“and all things are moved by a longing for the Beautiful and Good, to accomplish every outward work and form every act of will. And true reasoning will also dare to affirm that even the Creator of all things Himself yearneth after all thing…”

Shared concept: Living God — The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality. (derived)

neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter XIX

“But neither does the cause [of the energies] of more excellent natures subsist as a certain middle instrument, nor does he who invokes operate through him who prophesies; for to assert these things is impious. And it is much more true to sa…”

Shared concept: Living God — The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality. (derived)

neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 161

“Section 5 5. Still more unreasonably: There are men, bound to human bodies and subject to desire, grief, anger, who think so generously of their own faculty that they declare themselves in contact with the Intelligible World, but deny that…”

Shared concept: Divine Providence — Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity. (derived)

neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter XXVII-a

“Moreover, neither is it sufficient to assert, “ that nature, art, and the sympathy of things in the universe, as if they were the parts of one animal, contain premanifestations of certain 188 things with reference to each other; nor that bo…”

neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 203 (part 1)

“Section 16 16. But if all this is true, what room is left for evil? Where are we to place wrong-doing and sin? How explain that in a world organized in good, the efficient agents [human beings] behave unjustly, commit sin? And how comes…”

finnic|The Kalevala|Rune XVII-b

“Wise Wipunen, full of song-charms, Opens wide his mouth and swallows Wainamoinen and his magic, Shoes, and staff, and iron armor. Then outspeaks the wise Wipunen: "Many things before I've eaten, Dined on goat, and sheep, and reindeer, Bear…”

Shared concept: Shamanic Journey — The living practitioner's deliberate trance-journey into spirit, underworld, or upper realms — Lemminkainen's descent into Tuoni and Wainamoinen's entry into Wipunen's body in the Kalevala, the Siberian shaman's drum-mediated travel, Inuit angakkuq's submarine journey to Sedna, classical katabasis as ritual technique. (derived)

platonism|Plato: Phaedrus|Section 1r

“But he whose initiation is recent, and who has been the spectator of many glories in the other world, is amazed when he sees any one having a godlike face or form, which is the expression of divine beauty; and at first a shudder runs throug…”

Shared concept: Anthropomorphism — Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery. (derived)

christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 9, Section 1c

“For just as, supposing we were in thought to represent the soul itself in bodily shape, and represent this indivisible substance as surrounded by bodily parts, we should, in such a case, give the surrounding parts a different meaning suited…”

Shared concept: Anthropomorphism — Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery. (derived)

western_esoteric|The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus)|Chapter XIV (part 6)

“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. Each man, a reflected molecule of humanity made in its image, contains in himself an Adam,…”

Shared concept: Anthropomorphism — Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery. (derived)

finnic|The Kalevala|Rune XIII-b

“In this rising generation, That can travel in these snow-shoes, That the right and left can manage." To his back he tied the quiver, Placed the bow upon his shoulder, With both hands he grasped his snow-cane, Speaking meanwhile words as fol…”

western_esoteric|Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune)|14. The Motives Of Psychic Attack. II-d

“Great power-tides are flowing on the Inner Planes, and these are very difficult to handle. If there is going to be astral trouble, it usually blows up for storm at this season. There are also certain meetings which take place on the Astra…”