THE BULL OF HEAVEN (2700 BC)

SOURCES: "Gilgamesh" by Sin-Leqi-unninni

DESCRIPTION: “Anu set loose a bull from out of the sky and, at the bull's proclamation, there cracks the
earth to swallow up nine dozen citizens of Uruk! An earthquake fixed a grave for nine dozen citizens of Uruk. Two or three or four hundred victims, maybe more than that, fell into Hell. And when the quake returned for a third time,” (“Gilgamesh” by Sin-leqi-unninni)

NOTES: Gilgamesh turns down the advances of the goddess Ishtar (partly through wisdom, partly through arrogance) which enrages his spurned lover. She has Anu send the Bull of Heaven to kill Gilgamesh. The bull is so mighty it causes earthquakes. Gilgamesh defeats it by dancing over its horns as they do in Crete, stabbing it in the throat with a sword. Enkidu helps him to subdue and destroy the animal.

HISTORY: Unlike Humbaba and the Scorpion People, the Bull of Heaven is sent against Gilgamesh rather than a creature he seeks out.