Tale of Gudam, also known as the Gudam Epic or Inanna and Gudam, is a Mesopotamian myth known from two Old Babylonian copies from Nippur. It tells the tale of Gudam, an otherwise unknown character, who goes on a rampage in Uruk. The minstrel Lugalgabagal criticizes his behavior, but his remarks only enrage him more. He is finally stopped by a fisherman of Inanna. The goddess herself subsequently decides to spare his life when he starts pleading, and sends him to live in a ditch near Zabalam. Many aspects of the story are a subject of debate in Assyriology, including the nature of Gudam and the identity of the fisherman. Possible connections between the Tale of Gudam and other texts have also been noted. In particular, Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven is considered a close parallel, with some authors outright considering the two texts to be variants of one narrative.

The Tale of Gudam is a cuneiform text written in Sumerian in the Old Babylonian period, classified by Assyriologists as a myth. Two copies have been discovered so far, both in Nippur, though only one (CBS 13859) is a full tablet, with the other (Ni 4409) being a broken fragment of a tablet's left side. Additionally, an Old Babylonian literary catalog most likely contains the first line of the composition, which is not preserved on either tablet. It is only partially preserved and has been restored as gud-dam iri^ki [...], originally possibly gud-dam iri^ki ba-ra-è, "Gudam went out to the city". The catalog places it between the first lines of Gilgamesh and Akka and Gilgamesh and Humbaba (version B).

The text was first published by Arno Poebel in 1914, with a second translation subsequently prepared by Maurus Witzel [pl] in 1938, though both of them relied only on the first discovered exemplar and are now considered outdated. Few other studies have been dedicated to it through the twentieth century, though in 1976 Samuel Noah Kramer identified an additional fragment, Ni 4409, which remains the only known additional copy. A section of the poem was also translated by Wolfgang Heimpel for the corresponding article in Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie. The first complete modern edition was published in 1990 by Willem Römer. Subsequently, another was prepared in 2001 for the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. Douglas Frayne's translation also published in 2001.

The Tale of Gudam revolves around the eponymous being, Gudam, who is not mentioned in any other sources. According to Bendt Alster's interpretation, it most likely begins with a description of preparations for a festival of Inanna, in which Gudam participates, though his exact role in it is unknown. Alternatively, he might have not been invited to partake in it. He subsequently enters a storehouse and starts rampaging in search of beer and liquor, but due to the loss of the first lines of the narrative, it is not certain under what circumstances these actions began. Gudam is then surrounded by armed inhabitants of Uruk and hears the speech of the minstrel Lugalgabagal, in which his voracity is condemned:

The singer repeated the song, he strummed the strings:
"That which you ate, that which you ate
You did not eat bread, what you ate was your own flesh.
That which you drank, that which you drank
You did not drink beer, what you drank was your own blood.
Gudam, in the street of Uruk, the multitudes followed you.
The multitudes surrounded you with weapons!
Go on, do not do it! That which the woman has ordered me (to say), O people, I have come (to say)!"

The woman he mentions is presumably Inanna. His intervention sends Gudam into a rage. He declares that he will destroy the Eanna in Uruk and a temple in Zabalam and starts killing the people around him with his weapon (šar₂-ur₂), until a hero intervenes. The anonymous protagonist, described as the "junior fisherman, the fisherman of Inanna" (šu-ḫa₆ tur-re šu-ḫa₆ ^dinana-ke₄), smites him with a dual-sided axe. Gudam starts crying and pleads with Inanna to be spared, offering to bring her cattle and sheep from the mountains in exchange. The final section of the story is poorly preserved, though apparently Inanna accepts his offer, and sends him to live in a ditch in a field near Zabalam. She declares that his mother will have to hire a donkey and purchase a sack for him. The text concludes with a doxology to Inanna:

Inanna, let me praise your heroism!
Your praise is sweet!

Due to the meaning of Gudam's name, "he is an ox", it is possible that he was an ox-like being. Andrew R. George outright describes him as a mythical bull. However, the text does not provide any information about his appearance. Bendt Alster considered it unlikely that Gudam was a bull, preferring to treat him as a figure similar to humans and deities. He assumed he might have been a satirical reflection of a real enemy of the city of Uruk, for example Elam. However, he did tentatively voice support for the proposal that he might be related to the well-attested motif in Mesopotamian art, the bull-man. Laura Feldt assumes he was either a mythical part bull, part human being, or a god figuratively described as bull-like.