In the Epic of Gilgamesh, what object does Gilgamesh lose to a serpent?

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh loses the plant of youth to a serpent.

After meeting Utnapishtim, Gilgamesh obtains a plant said to restore youth. He does not immediately consume it. Instead, he plans to take it back to Uruk and test it on an old man before using it himself. While Gilgamesh bathes in a pool, a serpent steals the plant and sheds its skin, providing the mythic explanation for snakes’ apparent renewal.

The episode reinforces the epic’s central concern with mortality. Gilgamesh has travelled far and found a possible remedy for aging, but the opportunity disappears through ordinary vulnerability and inattention. He returns to Uruk without the plant and must accept that humans cannot claim the same immortality as the gods.

This object is often called the plant of youth or the plant of rejuvenation. It is not the same as Utnapishtim’s gift of immortality, which is a divine status rather than a portable object.