In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Enkidu’s spirit explains the afterlife to Gilgamesh in Tablet XII.
Tablet XII is attached to the Standard Babylonian epic after the main narrative has largely concluded. Gilgamesh asks about objects that have fallen into the underworld, and Enkidu’s spirit gives information about the condition of the dead and the rules governing the realm below.
This tablet is unusual because much of it corresponds to the earlier Sumerian poem Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Netherworld. It does not continue the central plot as smoothly as the preceding tablets, which is why scholars often discuss it as a distinct appended episode.
The conversation offers a bleak picture of the afterlife. The dead have different conditions depending partly on burial and descendants’ offerings, while those without proper remembrance fare badly. Tablet XII therefore adds underworld lore rather than returning to Gilgamesh’s earlier adventures.