Who Is Shamhat?
The woman who made Enkidu human
Shamhat is a temple woman in the service of Ishtar, the goddess of Uruk, who leads Enkidu out of his life among the animals and into the human world.
In Episode 1, she is mentioned only by name, in the advice the hunter's father gives. In Episode 2, the hunter brings her to the watering hole, where she spends six days and seven nights with Enkidu. Afterward she tells him about the city of Uruk and King Gilgamesh, shares her own clothing with him, and leads him by the hand to a shepherds' camp. When Enkidu hesitates in front of bread and beer, she teaches him that eating and drinking are the custom of human life.
Her name is said to come from a word meaning something like "voluptuous woman." Later in the story, as Enkidu faces death, he curses Shamhat, but after the sun god Shamash rebukes him, he takes it back and blesses her instead.
