Shamhat

She is often characterized as a sacred prostitute, though this identification has been contested, and she plays a significant role in bringing the wild man Enkidu into contact with civilization.

Shamhat plays the integral role in Tablet I, of taming the wild man Enkidu, who was created by the gods as the rival to the mighty Gilgamesh.

He enjoys Shamhat for "six days and seven nights" (a fragment found in 2015 and read in 2018 appears to indicate that they had two weeks of sexual intercourse, with a break spent in discussion about Enkidu's future life in Uruk[3]).

Shamhat persuades him to follow her and join the civilized world in the city of Uruk, where Gilgamesh is king, rejecting his former life in the wild of the hills.

When Enkidu is dying, he expresses his anger at Shamhat for making him civilized, blaming her for bringing him to the new world of experiences that has led to his death.