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by Joseph3044 on October 4th, 2007

Joseph3044

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What is the Epic of Gilgamesh?

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  • by Perryman on October 4th, 2007

    Perryman

    In the Babylonian myth about Gilgamesh, whom some investigators try to identify with Nimrod, this half-man and half-god Gilgamesh sought immortality of his human body, in other words, indestructible life on earth. In the twelfth book of the epic of Gilgamesh he is granted an interview with his dead one-time companion, who “describes the gloomy abode of the afterworld, and tells of the various futures that await the dead, according to the manner of their ends.”
    —The Encyclopedia Americana, edition of 1929, Volume 12, page 654.

    Gilgamesh is thought to have been an early ruler of the town of Uruk (called Erech at Genesis 10:10). A Sumerian king list assigns him to the first dynasty of Uruk. One dictionary says of this individual: “A cycle of Sumerian mythical-epic poetry was built around Gilgamesh, handed down only fragmentarily since about 1900 B.C.E.”
    The Gilgamesh Epic itself contains a number of poems combined into one work.
    It spans 12 clay tablets of which the 11th presents the Flood story that so much interested me. In summary, its contents are as follows: Gilgamesh learns that his friend Enkidu has died. Consequently, fear of death drives Gilgamesh to seek out Utnapishtim, said to be the only mortal who has attained to eternal life. Gilgamesh crosses the river of death by means of a ferryman and meets Utnapishtim, who tells him of the Flood and how he managed to survive it. In an older Babylonian Deluge story Utnapishtim bears the name Atrahasis, meaning “the exceedingly wise one.”

    This information on clay tablets is truly significant. Though highly charged with fanciful details, it demonstrates that a flood of massive proportions had become stamped on the memory of mankind.

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  • by skep on August 20th, 2011

    skep

    What is the Epic of Gilgamesh? You ask?

    What is the Epic of Gilgamesh?
    One of the first, most enduring and expressive

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  • by iwnit on August 20th, 2011

    iwnit

    "The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from Mesopotamia and is among the earliest known works of literature. Scholars believe that it originated as a series of Sumerian legends and poems about the protagonist of the story, Gilgamesh king of Uruk, which were fashioned into a longer Akkadian epic much later. The most complete version existing today is preserved on 12 clay tablets from the library collection of 7th-century BC Assyrian king Ashurbanipal. The epic was originally titled He who Saw the Deep (Sha naqba īmuru) or Surpassing All Other Kings (Shūtur eli sharrī), which are the first few words of the epic in different versions.
    The story revolves around a relationship between Gilgamesh and his close male companion, Enkidu. Enkidu is a wild man created by the gods as Gilgamesh's equal to distract him from oppressing the citizens of Uruk. Together they undertake dangerous quests that incur the displeasure of the gods. Firstly, they journey to the Cedar Mountain to defeat Humbaba, its monstrous guardian. Later they kill the Bull of Heaven that the goddess Ishtar has sent to punish Gilgamesh for spurning her advances.
    The latter part of the epic focuses on Gilgamesh's distressed reaction to Enkidu's death, which takes the form of a quest for immortality. Gilgamesh attempts to learn the secret of eternal life by undertaking a long and perilous journey to meet the immortal flood hero, Utnapishtim. Ultimately the poignant words addressed to Gilgamesh in the midst of his quest foreshadow the end result: "The life that you are seeking you will never find. When the gods created man they allotted to him death, but life they retained in their own keeping." Gilgamesh, however, was celebrated by posterity for his building achievements, and for bringing back long-lost cultic knowledge to Uruk as a result of his meeting with Utnapishtim. The story is widely read in translation, and the protagonist, Gilgamesh, has become an icon of popular culture."

    "Various themes, plot elements, and characters in the Epic of Gilgamesh can also be found in the Hebrew Bible in the stories of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (both stories involve a serpent) and the story of Noah and the Flood.
    Citing the similarities between the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Hebrew Bible's Flood story, some scholars have argued that the Epic of Gilgamesh is proof that the stories found in the Hebrew Bible are true because the Babylonians must have copied the Hebrew Bible's account of the Flood story. However, as Michael Coogan points out, "theoretically the Babylonians could have known of Genesis, [but] other versions of the tale were written many centuries before biblical Israel existed." Most scholars, consequently, accept the priority of the Mesopotamian flood story. Andrew R. George, known for his translations of the epic, notes that "...the Flood episode in Gen. 6-8 matches the older Babylonian myth so well in plot, and particularly, in details, few doubt that Noah's story is descended from a Mesopotamian account". What is particularly noticeable, according to another scholar, is the way the Genesis flood story follows the Gilgamesh flood tale "point by point and in the same order", even when the logic of the story permits other alternatives."
    Source and further information:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_of_Gilgamesh

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