With the Epic of Gilgamesh, we will discuss a different aspect of dream-time: the relation of one dream to another in a succession of dreams. The story of Gilgamesh centers on a powerful king, who undertakes, together with his friend and former rival Enkidu, a series of bold adventures. At the end of the story, Gilgamesh, having experienced the death of his friend, embarks on the greatest adventure of all – to learn the path to immortality. 

One of the central tasks Gilgamesh and Enkidu set out to accomplish is to kill the powerful warrior who guards the great cedar forest of Lebanon, the ogre Humbaba. As they journey toward the forest, Gilgamesh has a series of ritually provoked dreams, all of which Enkidu interprets as propitious signs.

As Gilgamesh and Enkidu approach Mount Lebanon where the ogre Humbaba lives Gilgamesh has another series of dreams. The dreams are both progressive and symbolic repetitions of the same event – the confrontation between the heroes and Humbaba. In the first dream, of which only fragments remain, a mountain falls down. The second dream, which Gilgamesh experiences three days later during a mountaintop ritual inside a “House of the Dream God,” repeats this scenario and adds to it. Gilgamesh reports to Enkidu:

Again Enkidu interprets this dream as favorable and pushes Gilgamesh to continue the journey to confront and kill Humbaba. The repeating of the same basic dream situation – the falling mountain, which threatens the life of Gilgamesh, provides a key clue to the dream’s meaning. The dream is not meant as a psychological narrative. It is a symbolic message dream and the message is clear: the closer the two adventurers get to the forest of cedar, the more the gods express their disapproval by escalating the intensity of Gilgamesh’s nightmare. In the second dream, Gilgamesh’s life is threatened by the falling mountain, but he is also saved by a handsome man – presumably the Sun God Samash who accompanies the travelers. In the third dream, occurring three days later, the situation is much bleaker for the dreamer. Again, Gilgamesh reports:

Enkidu interprets the dream psychologically; Gilgamesh, he says, is afraid of the nearing confrontation and his dreams – escalating in intensity – reflect his growing anxiety. As a reader, we suspect that Enkidu is being willfully optimistic because he longs for the confrontation with Humbaba and is eager for the glory victory will bring. The dreams, however, are not primarily psychological, nor are they filled with the type of imagery or narrative structure common to dreams of future glory. These dreams are admonitions, which grow ever more dire with each passing ritual provocation.

The next dreams are too fragmentary to welcome real analysis, but one thing is clear. The imagery becomes more intense, the tone of the dreams increasingly apocalyptic. The interesting element here is the connection between dream time and actual time – the further Gilgamesh and Enkidu travel into the forest, the more intense the dream scenes. The dream content remains basically the same – it is a warning to turn back. As the days progress and as the heroes get closer to their goal, the warning becomes fiercer and the odds of avoiding a disastrous fate lessen. Unlike in the Aeneid, where real time and time in the underworld seem disconnected, here the two are intimately related. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, dreams are tied up with the events of real life and proceed in real time. Unlike Alice’s trip into Wonderland or Joseph’s visit to sanatorium, Gilgamesh’s dreams while approaching the cedar forest cannot be divorced from the journey itself. They are part of the journey, provoked by ritual acts, and ultimately ordain the death of Enkidu, who willfully ignored the messages of the gods. 

Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet IV

Stele of Vultures

Nabonius Cylinder from Sippar

The Sargon Legend

The Building of Ningirsu’s Temple

Scott Noegel: Publications

Sumerian Shakespeare: Sumerian History