Enkidu (Eabani, Endimdu, Engidu, Enkita) (land of the good place) In the Babylonian epic poem Gilgamesh, rival and companion to Gilgamesh. He was molded of clay by Aruru, goddess of creation, in the image of “the essence of Anu,” the sky god, and of Ninurta, the war god.

Enkidu is the archetypal wild or “natural” man in contrast to the sophisticated Gilgamesh. In Babylonian religion he became the patron god of animals because in the poem he is credited with many animal-like qualities until he tastes sex with a harlot. He then becomes a man, an enemy in the eyes of the animals.