blows it away and the goddess Inanna gathers it, planting it in her garden to use her wood as a throne. Suddenly, a snake takes refuge between its roots, a giant eagle on its top and a female demon between them. Inanna asks her brother Utu for help, in vain, and then Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh cuts the tree, kills the serpent, expels the eagle to the mountain, and the demon to the desert. Inanna gives Gilgamesh a drum (ellag) and drumsticks (ekidma), in some versions a rod and a ring. Eventually they end up falling to the Netherworld. Enkidu offers to recover them, but not before receiving instructions from Gilgamesh on how to behave in the underworld, to not seem alive in the residence of the dead. Enkidu however, ignores the directions; consequently, Enkidu ends up being held forever in the Netherworld. After Gilgamesh pleads to the gods to set his companion free, Enki finally causes the shade of Enkidu to rise to briefly reunite with Gilgamesh. The latter interrogates the former (whom from now on he calls his "friend") the fate of the dead, Enkidu answers each of his questions. The text is lost here. Did you see him who fell in battle? I saw him [...] his father and mother are not there to hold his head, and his wife weeps. "The great wild bull is lying down" Gilgamesh is dying. The gods judge his exploits, after his position as future judge of the underworld has been revealed to him, he offers gifts and sacrifices to the gods. Then he takes comfort in the words of the gods; after death, he will be reunited with his family, his priests, his warriors and his best friend, Enkidu. Finally, he dies. Epic of Gilgamesh The Akkadian epic Gilgamesh is found in various versions, including Surpassing all other kings () and He who saw the Deep (), which was compiled by Sin-liqe-unninni from earlier texts, later discovered in the Library of Ashurbanipal in 1853. Creation of Enkidu Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, abuses his people. In response to complaints from the citizens, the goddess Aruru creates Enkidu in the steppe. Abundantly hairy and primitive, he lives roaming with the herds and grazing and drinking from rivers with the beasts. One day a hunter watches Enkidu destroying the traps he has prepared for the animals. The hunter informs his father, who sends him to