Eabani is described as having a body covered with hair. He
has long flowing locks and lives with the animals about him.

Eating herbs with gazelles,
Drinking from a trough with cattle,
Sporting with the creatures of the waters.

The description evidently recalls man living in a savage state, and, to
judge from illustrations of Eabani on seal cylinders, the mythological
fancy of the period when strange monsters existed of hybrid formation,
half-man, half-beast, has influenced the conception of this strange
creature who is to combat the invincible Gilgamesh. But Gilgamesh
frustrates the plan. He sends a messenger known as _Sadu_, that is, 'the
hunter,' and described as a "wicked man," to ensnare Eabani.[870] For
three days in succession, the hunter sees Eabani drinking at the trough
with the cattle, but is unable to catch him. The sight of this 'wild man
of the woods' frightens the hunter. He returns to Gilgamesh for further
instructions.

Gilgamesh spoke to the hunter:

Go, hunter mine, and take with thee Ukhat
When the cattle comes to the trough,
Let her tear off her dress and disclose her nakedness.
He[871] will see her and approach her.
His cattle, which grew up on his field, will forsake him.

_Ukhatu_ is a name for a harlot devoted to the worship of Ishtar. Other
names for such devotees are _Kharimtu_[872] and _Kizritu_.[873]
Elsewhere the city Uruk is called "the dwelling of Anu and Ishtar, the
city of the _Kizreti_, _Ukhati_, and _Kharimati_"[874] and in a
subsequent tablet of the Gilgamesh epic[875] these three classes of
harlots are introduced as the attendants of Ishtar, obedient to her
call. The conclusion is therefore justified that Uruk was one of the
centers--perhaps the center--of the obscene rites to which
Herodotus[876] has several references. Several other incidental
allusions in cuneiform literature to the sacred prostitution carried on
at Babylonian temples confirm Herodotus' statement in general,[877]
although the rite never assumed the large proportions that he reports.

On the other hand, Herodotus does not appear to have understood the
religious significance of the custom that he designates as 'shameful.'
The name given to the harlot among Babylonians and Hebrews,[878]
_Kadishtu_ or _K'desha_, that is, 'the sacred one,' is sufficient
evidence that, at its origin, the rite was not the product of obscene
tendencies, but due to naive conceptions connected with the worship of