Both, therefore, are shown by this description to
have come to Babylonia from a mountainous region, i.e., they are
foreigners; and in the case of Enkidu we have seen that the mountain
in all probability refers to a region in the West, while the same may
also be the case with Gish. The resemblance of the two heroes to one
another extends to their personal appearance. When Enkidu appears on
the streets of Erech, the people are struck by this resemblance. They
remark that he is "like Gish," though "shorter in stature" (lines
179-180). Enkidu is described as a rival or counterpart. [66]
This relationship between the two is suggested also by the Assyrian
version. In the creation of Enkidu by Aruru, the people urge the
goddess to create the "counterpart" (_zikru_) of Gilgamesh, someone who
will be like him (_ma-si-il_) (Tablet I, 2, 31). Enkidu not only comes
from the mountain, [67] but the mountain is specifically designated as
his birth-place (I, 4, 2), precisely as in the Pennsylvania tablet,
while in another passage he is also described, as in our tablet, as
"born in the field." [68] Still more significant is the designation of
Gilgamesh as the _talimu_, "younger brother," of Enkidu.
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