Plant of Youth- Mesopotamian ArtifactArtifact

Utnapishtim's Secret

After Gilgamesh failed the test of staying awake, proving himself unworthy of immortality, Utnapishtim's wife took pity on the grief-stricken king. At her urging, Utnapishtim revealed a secret: a thorny plant grew at the bottom of the cosmic waters that could restore youth to whoever ate it. It would not grant true immortality, but it could make an old man young again. Its name said as much: "The Old Man Becomes Young."

The Dive

Utnapishtim told Gilgamesh where to find it: at the bottom of the Apsu, the primordial deep. Gilgamesh tied heavy stones to his feet, letting himself sink. At the bottom he found the plant. It was thorny as a boxthorn, and the thorns tore his hands as he wrenched it free. He held on, cut the stones from his feet, and rose to the surface. "Urshanabi," he called to the ferryman, "this plant is the famous plant by which a man can restore his life's breath!" He planned to take it back to Uruk and test it first on an old man before eating it himself.

The Serpent

The journey home required passing through the wilderness. When Gilgamesh found a pool of cool water and stopped to bathe, he left the plant on the shore. A serpent smelled its fragrance and rose from the water. It snatched the plant and consumed it, sloughing off its old skin on the spot and slithering away renewed. This is why serpents shed their skins and seem reborn, while humans must age and die.

Gilgamesh sat down and wept. "For whom, Urshanabi, have my hands labored? For whom has my heart's blood been spent? I have not brought any blessing upon myself." He returned to Uruk empty-handed and looked upon its great walls with new eyes.