liminal rituals of mourning and returning to the normal and normative behaviors of Mesopotamian society." At least one scene recorded on the same tablet, in which the sun god Shamash warns Gilgamesh about the futility of his quest for immortality, has no parallel in later versions, but his advice closely parallels that later given by the alewife. The so-called "Standard Babylonian" version of the Epic of Gilgamesh introduces Šiduri in the first line of tablet X. It is possible that she can also be identified with a nameless person who is described watching Gilgamesh from afar in the final lines of tablet IX. She lives in a tavern close to the edge of the ocean. She hides her face behind a veil, which would be unusual for a Babylonian alewife, and most likely is supposed to make her appear more mysterious to the readers. She initially mistakes Gilgamesh for a potentially troublesome big game hunter, barricades the door and hides on the roof. The hero at first threatens to strike the door, but after Šiduri inquires about his whereabouts he introduces himself, describes his various deeds, such as defeating Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven, and in response to her question about his state explains that he is in poor condition because of his grief caused by Enkidu's death, and implores her to tell him how to reach Utnapishtim. The alewife explains the road is difficult and leads both through the ocean and more distant "Waters of Death," and suggests Gilgamesh should seek the help of Urshanabi, Utnapishtim's boatman, whose boat takes him to his destination. However, advice unrelated to the journey itself which she offers in the older version is absent. Andrew R. George suggests that the change in advice given by the alewife was one of the innovations introduced by Sîn-lēqi-unninni, a scribe who according to a neo-Assyrian catalog of cuneiform texts and their authors was believed to be responsible for preparing the standard edition of the Epic of Gilgamesh. An even later source anachronistically considers him a contemporary of Gilgamesh, but in reality he was most likely active in the Kassite period. Tzvi Abusch's speculative proposal that a third, not preserved, version of the scene involved Šiduri proposing to marry Gilgamesh is regarded as unsubstantiated. Possible later influence There is a long scholarly tradition of arguing that the older version of the Šiduri passage inspired the advice