Epic of Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh, which comes to us from around 2000 B.C., tells us of Mesopotamian culture in which the King of Uruk lived, the story itself, which actually predates the Bible by 500 years, and also ties in the stories that can be related to the Bible today. The Epic of Gilgamesh begins with the introduction of the story and then it leads into the actual story which tells us that it all happened before the flood. The flood as we know it, pertains to the biblical story of Noah's Ark.

Gilgamesh was made two thirds god and one third man. In class we discussed the fact that Gilgamesh comes before the Bible but he's not mentioned in the Great Book. Why not? Well, we also discussed that the Hebrews believed in monotheism which is the belief in one god. If they talked about Gilgamesh, who as I said before was made two thirds god, that would disrupt their faith in only one god. As the story moves along, the men who live in Uruk are upset with the king of their city because he sleeps with all of their wives before their own husbands and no son is left with their father. Gilgamesh's arrogance is becoming intolerable and the gods hear the complaints about Gilgamesh. The gods ask for someone to made Gilgamesh's equal and so it was done.

His equal went by the name of, Enkidu. He lived and ate like an animal; he ate with the gazelles and drank water with the wild beasts. The trapper, who met Enkidu face to face, was sent to Uruk to get a harlot to seduce Enkidu was that the animals would turn away from him. Enkidu was indeed seduced for six days and seven nights and thereafter, the animals would not come near him.

Enkidu was told of the great Gilgamesh who would sleep with other men's wives before them and Enkidu wanted to go to this city of Uruk to change the old order. One night, Enkidu stopped Gilgamesh from sleeping with another wife and they rumbled like wild bulls. They realized that they were alike and that's how their friendship started.

Together, they were absolutely unstoppable. They killed people, animals, and did anything they pleased. The gods looked down upon their behavior and something had to be done. As the story continues, Enkidu had a dream that he explained to Gilgamesh with great imagery. Enkidu wept for 12 days in shame with his best friend by his side. By the time Gilgamesh had finished crying out to the counselors of Uruk, Enkidu was dead. Gilgamesh touched his heart but it didn't beat and at that moment, he laid a veil over his best friend and shouted out to the gods and the people of Uruk so that they would also weep over the death of Enkidu. Gilgamesh then issued a proclamation over Uruk and had the common workers make a great statue of Enkidu for all to remember. For seven days and seven nights, Gilgamesh wept over his friend until the worms eventually had their way with the body and the judge seized him.

After Enkidu's death, Gilgamesh went on a great journey. He wanted to talk to Utnapishtim about achieving everlasting life but Gilgamesh's destiny did not include everlasting life. The Epic of Gilgamesh tells us that the Mesopotamian culture was a land of creativity and despair. Their geographic features consisted of open plains which would make Mesopotamia an easy target for invasions. Mesopotamia was a civil land that laid between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. It's said that where the two rivers meet is where the "Garden of Eden" once was. The city of Uruk, where Gilgamesh was from, is said to have been the first city on Earth.

The Tigris and Euphrates rivers would overflow the land and that would cause it to flood. The flooding of the rivers were unpredictable and devastating and were also the roots of Mesopotamian pessimism. The flooding of the land could be linked to the story in the Bible about Noah's Ark. I wouldn't accept too much at face value though because the people of Mesopotamia didn't know too