Lyrics
"Hunger "/ Ninsun's Song
Narrator: Hunger. It's a word that describes Gilgamesh’s temperament well back then. And now that he has such a powerful new friend, his hunger for the fruits of that friendship overwhelms his reason.
He devises a heroic adventure for them both. There is a sacred forest of cedars far to the west in Lebanon. It is guarded by the terrifying Humbaba, the guardian king of the forest placed there by the gods. Gilgamesh tells an alarmed Enkidu that they will relieve this king Humbaba of his head, chop down the sacred trees he guards, and bring all back to Uruk, the timber to be used for new temple doors. Sacred timber, protected by the gods, felled to be made into temple doors for those very same gods. For Gilgamesh, it is an all-consuming hunger that drives him: the hunger for fame.
But before they can go, Gilgamesh takes Enkidu to the temple to get the blessing of his mother, the goddess Ninsun, for their expedition. Dismayed by her son's words, the great queen Ninsun nonetheless takes a clay bowl oil lamp and asks Gilgamesh and Enkidu to wait.
She goes into an inner room and bathes. So deep in thought is she that the sweet aromas of tamarisk and soapwort on her body escape her divine notice. She places a white garment on her sacred person, and carrying the lamp, walks up the long steps of the ziggurat. She must pray to the sun god Shamash, the god of justice. Surely he would protect her son.
Ninsun:
Shall I see
his face once more, this cedar
dreaming son of mine?
Shall his face
be just a memory,
more threadbare all through time?
The night is falling away
Shamash, Shamash,
Come to me, come to me
I whisper in your ear:
Blow thirteen winds
I live in fear
to have such a restless child
Incense rise, fill his eyes
till Shamash sees me
Shamash, who
but you can bring us hope
when others turn away?
See my heart,
this temple’s flower opens
to you every day
Shamash, Shamash….