Lugalbanda the shepherd-king and the goddess Ninsun bore Gilgamesh, who inherited his mother's divine nature and his father's royal blood — two-thirds god and one-third man, king of Uruk.
Ur-Nungal succeeded his father Gilgamesh as king of Uruk, continuing the dynasty that the hero-king had established.
Enkidu was created by the gods as a companion for Gilgamesh. After their initial combat at the gates of Uruk, they became inseparable brothers-in-arms. Enkidu's death from divine punishment devastated Gilgamesh and drove his quest for immortality.
Shamash championed Gilgamesh's quest against Humbaba, sending thirteen winds to pin the Cedar Forest guardian during the battle. As Gilgamesh's divine protector, Shamash also interceded for Enkidu before the gods' judgment.
Enlil was furious when Gilgamesh and Enkidu slew Humbaba, his appointed guardian of the Cedar Forest. He distributed Humbaba's seven splendors among the fields and rivers rather than let Gilgamesh claim them.
Inanna propositioned Gilgamesh after his victory over Humbaba, but he rejected her, listing the fates of her previous lovers. Enraged, Inanna sent the Bull of Heaven against Uruk in retaliation.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu slew Gugalanna, the Bull of Heaven, after Inanna sent it to punish Gilgamesh for rejecting her advances.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu journeyed to the Cedar Forest and slew its guardian Humbaba with the aid of Shamash's thirteen winds, beheading the monster and felling the great cedars for Uruk's temples.
Gilgamesh ruled Uruk as its king, building the city's great walls of baked brick whose foundations were laid by the Seven Sages. The walls endure as his lasting monument — the achievement that outlives mortal flesh.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu journeyed to the Cedar Forest to slay its guardian Humbaba and win eternal fame. They felled the great cedars and floated them down the Euphrates to build temples in Uruk.
Anu reluctantly released the Bull of Heaven against Gilgamesh at Inanna's demand, and when Gilgamesh and Enkidu slew the beast and flung its haunch at Inanna, Anu presided over the council that condemned Enkidu to death for their impiety.
Gilgamesh's pukku and mekku fell into Kur, prompting Enkidu's fatal descent to retrieve them. After his own death, Gilgamesh was deified and became a judge of the dead in the underworld.
Ninhursag, in her form as Aruru, created Enkidu from clay in the wilderness as Gilgamesh's equal, answering the people of Uruk's prayers for someone who could match their tyrannical king in strength and energy.
Ninsun, the wise cow goddess and Gilgamesh's mother, prayed to Shamash for her son's protection before the Cedar Forest quest and interpreted his prophetic dreams foretelling the arrival of Enkidu.
Gilgamesh retrieved the Plant of Youth from the ocean floor on Utnapishtim's advice, but a serpent stole it while he bathed, shedding its skin in rejuvenation — his last hope of defeating death, lost to a snake.
When Gilgamesh reached her tavern at the edge of the world, haggard and clad in skins, the divine alewife Siduri barred her door in fear, then counseled him to abandon his quest for immortality and feast, dance, and delight in life while he still drew breath.
Urshanabi ferried Gilgamesh across the Waters of Death to reach Utnapishtim. On the return journey, Gilgamesh invited Urshanabi to admire the walls of Uruk, accepting his mortal legacy in the epic's final lines.
Gilgamesh journeyed to the ends of the earth to find Utnapishtim, the sole mortal granted immortality after surviving the Great Flood. Utnapishtim tested him with sleeplessness and revealed the secret of the Plant of Youth.
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