<blockquote>
お前の恋人の物語を話すから聞くように。タンムズはお前の青春の恋人だった。彼のためにお前は毎年、慟哭の令を出した。お前は色とりどりのライラック・ブレスト・ローラーを愛していたが、それでもお前はその翼を打ち、折ってしまった[...]。お前は力のとてつもない獅子を愛した。だが、彼のために七つの穴を掘った。お前は戦場で立派な種馬を愛した。だが、彼のために鞭と拍車と紐を定めた [...]。お前は羊の群れの羊飼いを愛した。彼は毎日お前のために食事を作り、お前のために子供を殺した。。お前は羊の群れの羊飼いを愛した。彼は毎日お前のために食事を作り、お前のために子供を殺した。お前は彼を殴って狼に変えた。今、彼の群れの少年たちは彼を追い払い、彼の猟犬は彼の脇腹を狙う<ref name="Gilgamesh' p. 86">''Gilgamesh'', p. 86</ref>。</blockquote>
Listen to me while I tell the tale of your lovers. There was Tammuz, the lover of your youth, for him you decreed wailing, year after year. You loved the many-coloured [[lilac-breasted roller|Lilac-breasted Roller]], but still you struck and broke his wing [...] You have loved the lion tremendous in strength: seven pits you dug for him, and seven. You have loved the stallion magnificent in battle, and for him you decreed the whip and spur and a thong [...] You have loved the shepherd of the flock; he made meal-cake for you day after day, he killed kids for your sake. You struck and turned him into a wolf; now his own herd-boys chase him away, his own hounds worry his flanks.<ref name="Gilgamesh' p. 86">[[#Reference-Gilgamesh|''Gilgamesh'']], p. 86</ref>}}
Infuriated by Gilgamesh's refusal,{{sfn|Dalley|1989|page=80}} Ishtar goes to heaven and tells her father [[Anu]] that Gilgamesh has insulted her.{{sfn|Dalley|1989|page=80}} Anu asks her why she is complaining to him instead of confronting Gilgamesh herself.{{sfn|Dalley|1989|page=80}} Ishtar demands that Anu give her the [[Bull of Heaven]]{{sfn|Dalley|1989|page=80}} and swears that if he does not give it to her, she will "break in the doors of hell and smash the bolts; there will be confusion [i.e., mixing] of people, those above with those from the lower depths. I shall bring up the dead to eat food like the living; and the hosts of the dead will outnumber the living."<ref>[[#Reference-Gilgamesh|''Gilgamesh'']], p. 87</ref>
[[File:British Museum Flood Tablet.jpg|thumb|Original Akkadian Tablet XI (the "Deluge Tablet") of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'']]
Anu gives Ishtar the Bull of Heaven, and Ishtar sends it to attack Gilgamesh and his friend [[Enkidu]].{{sfn|Dalley|1989|pages=81–82}}{{sfn|Fontenrose|1980|pages=168–169}} Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill the Bull and offer its heart to the sun-god Shamash.{{sfn|Dalley|1989|page=82}}{{sfn|Fontenrose|1980|pages=168–169}} While Gilgamesh and Enkidu are resting, Ishtar stands up on the walls of [[Uruk]] and curses Gilgamesh.{{sfn|Dalley|1989|page=82}}{{sfn|Fontenrose|1980|page=169}} Enkidu tears off the Bull's right thigh and throws it in Ishtar's face,{{sfn|Dalley|1989|page=82}}{{sfn|Fontenrose|1980|page=169}} saying, "If I could lay my hands on you, it is this I should do to you, and lash your entrails to your side."<ref name="Gilgamesh-p88">[[#Reference-Gilgamesh|''Gilgamesh'']], p. 88</ref> (Enkidu later dies for this impiety.){{sfn|Fontenrose|1980|page=169}} Ishtar calls together "the crimped courtesans, prostitutes and harlots"{{sfn|Dalley|1989|page=82}} and orders them to mourn for the Bull of Heaven.{{sfn|Dalley|1989|page=82}}{{sfn|Fontenrose|1980|page=169}} Meanwhile, Gilgamesh holds a celebration over the Bull of Heaven's defeat.{{sfn|Dalley|1989|page=82-83}}{{sfn|Fontenrose|1980|page=169}}