The people in their distress appeal to
Aruru to create a rival to Gilgamesh. In response,
"Aruru upon hearing this created a man of Anu in her heart."
Now this "man of Anu" cannot possibly be Enkidu, for the sufficient
reason that a few lines further on Enkidu is described as an offspring
of Ninib. Moreover, the being created is not a "counterpart"
of Gilgamesh, but an animal-man, as the description that follows
shows. We must separate lines 30-33 in which the creation of the "Anu
man" is described from lines 34-41 in which the creation of Enkidu is
narrated. Indeed, these lines strike one as the proper _beginning_
of the original Enkidu story, which would naturally start out with
his birth and end with his death. The description is clearly an
account of the creation of the first man, in which capacity Enkidu
is brought forward.
"Aruru washed her hands, broke off clay,
threw it on the field [103]
... created Enkidu, the hero, a lofty
offspring of the host of Ninib." [104]
The description of Enkidu follows, with his body covered with hair
like an animal, and eating and drinking with the animals. There
follows an episode [105] which has no connection whatsoever with
the Gilgamesh Epic, but which is clearly intended to illustrate how
Enkidu came to abandon the life with the animals.
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