A Journey into Middle Eastern Literature

WHAT?• Tale of the superhuman Sumerian king,

Gilgamesh• Painful search for everlasting life

WHEN?• Written over 4,000 years ago; considered the

oldest known piece of literature• Discovered in 1839 by archaeologists

WHERE?• Ancient Mesopotamia (“Between two rivers” -

Tigris and the Euphrates) - current day Iraq• Versions are found all over the Middle East

HOW?• Inscribed in clay, which made the text durable• 12 tablets (1-11: Gilgamesh’s life; 12: Gilgamesh

in the nether world)• Many exact copies were made; accuracy was

critical

THE EPIC OF

GILGAMESH

THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH

Background Information

Gilgamesh• May be a “true” story - a King Gilgamesh is found in the ancient Sumerian

records• Two parts god, One part human Supernatural power, Human weaknesses• Leader of the Sumerian people and builder of a great city• Suffers from excessive PRIDE (what the Greeks would later call “hubris”)

THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH

Background InformationTablets 1 and 2: Gilgamesh and the Coming of Enkidu• The epic opens with a description of Gilgamesh, as the ruler of the city-state of Uruk• Gilgamesh is described as “handsome, courageous, and powerful.”• In his arrogance, he oversteps the boundaries of his power people pray to the gods for relief• Gods send a wild man, Enkidu, to challenge Gilgamesh to a fierce wrestling match Gilgamesh wins• A friendship blossoms between Gilgamesh and Enkidu

Tablets 3 to 5: The Raid into the Lands of Humbaba • Gilgamesh and Enkidu destroy Humbaba, the demon who guards the great Cedar Forest

Tablet 6: The Bull of Heaven• Gilgamesh and Enkidu make the mistake of criticizing the goddess Ishtar• Gilgamesh rejects Ishtar’s romantic advances and she sends the Bull of Heaven to destroy the land• Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill the bull.

THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH

Background InformationTablets 7 and 8: The Death of Enkidu• The gods cannot tolerate the disrespect of Gilgamesh and Enkidu and try to kill Gilgamesh• However, Gilgamesh is protected by Utu (another god)• The gods decide that Enkidu must die in his place• Gilgamesh cannot deal with the mortality of the human race

Tablets 9 and 10: The Search for Immortality • Gilgamesh journeys to find everlasting life in the Garden of Dilmun and tells an old, wise man, Utnapishtim, about his quest. • Utnapishtim’s reply is not what Gilgamesh wanted:

“There is no permanence. Do we build a house to stand forever, do we seal a contract to hold for all time? Do brothers divide an inheritance to keep forever, does the flood time of rivers endure? From the days of old there is no permanence. The sleeping and the dead, how alike they are, they are like painted death. What is there between master and servant when both have fulfilled their doom? When the gods created man, they allotted to him death, but life they retained in their own keeping.”

Tablets 9 and 10: The Search for Immortality • Gilgamesh journeys to find everlasting life in the

Garden of Dilmun and tells an old, wise man, Utnapishtim, about his quest.

• Utnapishtim’s reply is not what Gilgamesh wanted:“There is no permanence. Do we build a house

to stand forever, do we seal a contract to hold for all time? Do brothers divide an inheritance to keep forever, does the flood time of rivers endure? From the days of old there is no permanence. The sleeping and the dead, how alike they are, they are like painted death. What is there between master and servant when both have fulfilled their doom? When the gods created man, they allotted to him death, but life they retained in their own keeping.”

THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH

Background InformationAncient Sumerian and Babylonian Beliefs

Although Sumerian and Babylonian civilizations were advanced for their time, the people were powerless against ever-present threats of devastating floods, severe droughts, and belligerent neighbors who sought “the good life” in the Tigris and Euphrates valley.

The religious beliefs of the Sumerian and Babylonian people were, therefore, pessimistic. They worshipped a pantheon, or family, of unpredictable gods and goddesses who could bring about misfortune as well as favor. Regardless of one’s status or how one lived one’s life, there was no joyful afterlife to which to look forward.

Such beliefs are present in The Epic of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh, in spite of his great powers, suffers a life-changing loss when Enkidu dies. When the person closest to him dies, the proud Gilgamesh must come to terms with the reality that he, too, will not live forever. And because, in the Sumerian view, death offers only emptiness, Gilgamesh rebels against it, and sets off on a quest to attain immortality.

THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH

SIGNIFICANCEWhy is Gilgamesh’s story important to us?

• CONCEPTSQuest for Knowledge and TruthFriendshipLife and DeathBirth and Renewal (The Flood)Man V. Fate

• LITERARY SIGNIFICANCEEPICDefinition: a long narrative that recounts the deeds of a larger-

than-life hero who embodies the values of a particular societyEPIC HERODefinition: Superior human beings with supernatural strength

or spiritual powers; usually mighty leaders of their people; of mixed divine and human birth, so we admire their greatness but sympathize with their failings

Gilgamesh is the earliest known epic heroArchetype for future epic heroes, including Homer’s

Odysseus

Cuneiform

Though the tales of Gilgamesh were originally shared through oral communication, the epic was eventually written down using cuneiform.

• first form of writing ever developed

• consisted of wedge-shaped characters that were created using a reed stylus

• characters could represent either words or sounds and were usually carved into clay that was later baked

http://www.upenn.edu/museum/Games/cuneiform.htmlTHE END

THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH