This tablet takes on a different approach of the death of Enkidu. Gilgamesh drops his drumsick in a hole to the underworld and asks Enkidu to bring it back. Gilgamesh warns Enkidu to not wear nice clothes, wear shoes, or do what he wants in the underworld because the Cry of the Dead would take him. Enkidu disobeys these warnings and is caught by the Cry of the Dead. Gilgamesh, weeping, looks for the help of the gods and only Ea helps him. Enkidu is able to rise from the underworld and describes it to Gilgamesh.
I think this tablet is really out of place because of many things. First, it is more like a poem than the rest of the story making it feel very different. Second, Enkidu is the thoughtless and foolish one in this tablet when he is supposed to be the thinking careful one. Third, Enkidu's death in this tablet seems very bland to me compared to the actual one. He just gets caught by the Cry of the Dead and his reaction is really ignored. He just dies. However, this tablet also makes Gilgamesh's fear of death make more sense since he now knows how terrible it is because Enkidu lives it.
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