Enkidu

Possible representation of Enkidu as Master of Animals grasping a lion and snake, in an Assyrian palace relief, from Dur-Sharrukin, now Louvre

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Ancient Mesopotamian religion
Primordial beings Abzu and Tiamat Lahmu and Lahamu Anshar and Kishar Mummu
Seven gods who decree Four primary Anu Enlil Enki Ninhursag Three sky gods Inanna/Ishtar Nanna/Sin Utu/Shamash
Other major gods Adad Dumuzid/Tammuz Enkimdu Ereshkigal Kingu Geshtinanna Lahar Marduk Nergal Ninurta
Minor gods Agasaya Anunnaki Asaruludu Ashnan Bel Enbilulu Geshtinanna Lahar Mami/Nintu Mamitu Nabu Namtar Nanshe Nidaba Ningal Ninkasi Ninlil Ninsun Nusku Sarpanit Uttu
Demigods and heroes Adapa Enkidu Enmerkar Gilgamesh Lugalbanda Shamhat Siduri Atra-Hasis
Spirits and monsters Utukku Lamassu/Shedu Asakku Edimmu Siris Anzû Humbaba Asag Hanbi Kur Lamashtu Pazuzu Rabisu
Tales Atra-Hasis Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta Enûma Eliš Epic of Gilgamesh
Related topics
Ancient Near Eastern religions Sumerian religion Babylonian religion

Enkidu (𒂗𒆠𒆕 EN.KI.DU₃, "Enki's creation") is a central figure in the Ancient Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh. Enkidu was formed from clay and saliva by Aruru, the goddess of creation, to rid Gilgamesh of his arrogance. In the story he is a wild man, raised by animals and ignorant of human society until he is bedded by Shamhat. Thereafter a series of interactions with humans and human ways bring him closer to civilization, culminating in a wrestling match with Gilgamesh, king of Uruk. Enkidu embodies the wild or natural world. Though equal to Gilgamesh in strength and bearing, he acts in some ways as an antithesis to the cultured, urban-bred warrior-king. Enkidu then becomes the king's constant companion and deeply beloved friend, accompanying him on adventures until he is stricken with illness and dies. The deep, tragic loss of Enkidu profoundly inspires in Gilgamesh a quest to escape death by obtaining godly immortality.^[1]

Older sources sometimes transliterate his name as Enkimdu, Eabani, or Enkita. Enkidu is a modern variant.

Creation of Enkidu

The people of Uruk complain to the gods that their mighty king Gilgamesh is too harsh. The goddess Aruru forms Enkidu from water and clay as rival to Gilgamesh, as a countervailing force. Enkidu lived in the wild, roaming with the herds, and joining the game at the watering-hole. M.H. Henze notes in this an early Mesopotamian tradition of the wild man living apart and roaming the hinterland, who eats grass like the animals and like them, drinks from the watering places.^[2] A hunter sees him and realizes that it is Enkidu who is freeing the animals from his traps. He reports this to Gilgamesh, who sends the temple prostitute, Shamhat, to deal with him.^[3]

Enkidu spends six days and seven nights making love with Shamhat, after which, bearing her scent upon him, the animals flee from him, and he finds he cannot return to his old ways.^[4] He returns to Shamhat, who teaches him the ways of civilized people. He now protects the shepherd's flock against predators, turning against his old life. Jastrow and Clay are of the opinion that the story of Enkidu was originally a separate tale to illustrate "man's career and destiny, how through intercourse with a woman he awakens to the sense of human dignity, ..."^[5]

Shamhat tells him of the city of Uruk and of its king Gilgamesh. He travels to Uruk and engages Gilgamesh in a wrestling match as a test of strength. Gilgamesh wins and the two become fast friends.

Adventures with Gilgamesh

Enkidu assists Gilgamesh in defeating and killing Humbaba, the guardian monster of the Cedar Forest. Enkidu selects a particularly tall tree to provide lumber for a new door for Enlil's temple in Uruk. Later, he assists Gilgamesh in slaying Gugalanna the Bull of Heaven, which the gods have sent to kill Gilgamesh as a reprisal for rejecting Ishtar's affections while enumerating the misfortunes that befell her former lovers. Ishtar demands that the pair pay for the bull's destruction. Shamash appeals to the other gods to let both of them live, but only Gilgamesh is spared. Enkidu succumbs to a wasting illness. He represents the hero who wins fame but dies early.^[6] Gilgamesh responds to the loss of Enkidu by seeking out Utnapishtim in a quest for eternal life.

There is another non-canonical tablet in which Enkidu journeys into the underworld, but many scholars consider the tablet to be a sequel or add-on to the original epic as the work was revised several times. The section about the Flood is also considered to be addition.^[7]

There is a growing school of thought that interprets Gilgamesh and Enkidu's relationship as an erotic one.^[8][9]

Cultural references

• In the episode Darmok of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Jean-Luc Picard references the story of Enkidu and Gilgamesh as a human parallel to that of Capt. Dathon's Tamarian cultural tale of "Darmok and Jalad".
• In the game Dragon Wars, "the man-animal Enkidu" is the patron of druids. As a reference to the original myth, he challenges a member of the party to a duel; if defeated, the character becomes the champion of Enkidu.
• In the games series Final Fantasy, Gilgamesh is often encountered with a companion named Enkidu- represented earliest as a winged creature; later installments portrayed Enkidu as a canine, a pack of wolves, and an axe-like sword Gilgamesh wields. In one installment, Gilgamesh is accompanied by a green chicken named after Enkidu, stating that he "hasn't seen his dear friend in a long time", possibly as a reference to Enkidu's death in the epic.
• In the Civilization videogame series, as part of the Sumerian faction. Specifically, in Sid Meier's Civilization III's second expansion, Civilization III: Conquests, where its special unit is the Enkidu Warrior; and in Civilization VI, where Sumeria's Leader ability is called Adventures with Enkidu.
• Enkidu and Gilgamesh are the main antagonists of Peter David's 2003 fantasy novel, One Knight Only.
• In the manga and anime series Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Enkidu is the name of the first upgraded form of the antagonist Viral's mecha Enki, which may itself have been named after the Sumerian god of the same name. Viral shares a number of traits with Enkidu himself, being a beast-man and joining forces with the protagonist.
• Enkidu appears in some form throughout Type-Moon's Fate series. In Fate/Stay Night "Unlimited Blade Works" Route and Fate/Zero, Enkidu -Divinity subduing chains- is one of the most trusted and powerful Noble Phantasms of the Servant Gilgamesh. Enkidu appears in a dream in Fate/Extra CCC if the player's Servant is Gilgamesh, and in the light novel Fate/Strange Fake, Enkidu himself is summoned as a Servant.
• In MARDEK RPG, full name of Enki's son is Mardek Innanu El-Enkidu.
• In Fred Saberhagen's novel The Arms of Hercules, Enkidu is the name of Hercules' 12-year-old nephew who accompanies the demi-god on his journeys.
• In work of Ilona Andrews, the fifth book of the Kate Daniels series, Enkidu and Ares are one person — a werewolf which was cured of Lycanthropy by the series' main villain, Roland.
• In the Pandora Saga: Weapons of Balance, the Enkidu are a playable race.
• In the Abominable Charles Christopher by Karl Kerschl, it is strongly suggested that the main character, Charles, is a version of Enkidu. In it, he meets a young king named Gilgamesh, fights and befriends him and then leads him through the cedar forest toward a fateful meeting with Humbaba.
• In the Bartimaeus Trilogy's third book, ”Ptolemy's Gate” a certain footnote makes an allusion to the tale of the meeting with Humbaba. The narrator, Bartimaeus, states that he was working with Gilgamesh to defeat Humbaba, his duty being to distract the giant.

See also

• Gilgamesh in popular culture
• Master of Animals

Notes

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Enkidu.

External links

• Enkidu sitting astride Gugalanna, the Bull of Heaven
• Bertman, Stephen. Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia, Oxford University Press, Jul 14, 2005