Bull of Heaven

Ancient Mesopotamian terracotta relief (c. 2250 — 1900 BCE) showing Gilgamesh slaying the Bull of Heaven, an episode described in Tablet VI of the Epic of Gilgamesh

In ancient Mesopotamian mythology, the Bull of Heaven is a mythical beast fought by the hero Gilgamesh. The story of the Bull of Heaven has two different versions: one recorded in an earlier Sumerian poem and a later version in the standard Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh.

Quotes

• Father, let me have the Bull of Heaven
  To kill Gilgamesh and his city.
  For if you do not grant me the Bull of Heaven,
  I will pull down the Gates of Hell itself,
  Crush the doorposts and flatten the door,
  And I will let the dead leave
  And let the dead roam the earth
  And they shall eat the living.
  The dead will overwhelm all the living!
  • Inanna to Anu, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet VI, Third Dynasty of Ur ( c. 2100 BCE).

See also

• Tale of Gudam