He[871] will see her and approach her.
His cattle, which grew up on his field, will forsake him.
Ukhatu is a name for a harlot devoted to the worship of Ishtar. Other names for such devotees are Kharimtu[872] and Kizritu.[873] Elsewhere the city Uruk is called "the dwelling of Anu and Ishtar, the city of the Kizréti, Ukháti, and Kharimâti"[874] and in a subsequent tablet of the Gilgamesh epic[875] these three classes of harlots are introduced as the attendants of Ishtar, obedient to her call. The conclusion is therefore justified that Uruk was one of the centers—perhaps the center—of the obscene rites to which Herodotus[876] has several references. Several other incidental allusions in cuneiform literature to the sacred prostitution carried on at Babylonian temples confirm Herodotus' statement in general,[877] although the rite never assumed the large proportions that he reports.
On the other hand, Herodotus does not appear to have understood the religious significance of the custom that he designates as 'shameful.' The name given to the harlot among Babylonians and Hebrews,[878] Kadishtu or K'deshâ, that is, 'the sacred one,' is sufficient evidence that, at its origin, the rite was not the product of obscene tendencies, but due to naïve conceptions connected with the worship of Ishtar as the goddess of fertility.
The introduction of Ukhat, however, as an aid to carry out the designs of Gilgamesh is devoid of religious significance, and one is inclined to regard the Eabani episode, or at least certain portions of it, as having had at one time an existence quite independent of Gilgamesh's adventures. The description of Eabani is, as we have seen, based upon mythological ideas. The creation of Eabani recalls the Biblical tradition of the formation of the first man, and Ukhat appears to be the Babylonian equivalent to the Biblical Eve, who through her charms entices Eabani away from the gazelles and cattle,[879] and brings him to Uruk, the symbol of civilized existence.
It is significant that in the Biblical narrative, the sexual instinct and the beginnings of culture as symbolized by the tree of knowledge are closely associated. According to rabbinical traditions, the serpent is the symbol of the sexual passion.[880]
Eve obtains control of Adam with the aid of this passion. In the episode of Eabani, Ukhat, and the hunter—who, be it noted, plays the part of the tempter—we seem to have an ancient legend forming part of some tradition regarding the beginnings of man's history, and which has been brought into connection with the Gilgamesh epic,—when and how, it is impossible, of course, to say.
The hunter follows the instructions of Gilgamesh. Eabani falls a victim to Ukhat's attractions.
Ukhat exposed her breast, revealed her nakedness, took off her clothing.
Unabashed she enticed him.