Shamhat was an exceptionally beautiful temple prostitute (yes, this is a thing). The king of Uruk, Gilgamesh, tasked her with ‘taming’ Enkidu. She found Enkidu in the wild hinterlands and made love to him for seven subsequent nights and days. After this first experience with civilization, Enkidu left the wilds and traveled to Uruk to meet Gilgamesh. Therefore, it could be argued that Shamhat is, in fact, the one who instigated the Gilgamesh Epic.