For centuries, the epic legends and myths of Mesopotamia's ancient civilizations lay buried under the desert sands, waiting for the day when archaeologists would reveal them to the modern world. One such story tells of the rage of the goddess Ishtar. Spurned by the warrior-king Gilgamesh and seeking to wreak her revenge, Ishtar persuaded her father, Anu, to release the Bull of Heaven. When the Bull snorted, huge chasms opened in the ground, sending hundreds of young men tumbling to their deaths. Gilgamesh slew the Bull in a ferocious battle. He then cut off the beast's horns, took them home and hung them as a trophy over his bed. This is only one of the many fantastic tales vividly retold in Epics of Early Civilization: Middle Eastern Myth.