The earliest know Gilgamesh texts came from Sumer. The Sumerians were the first literate people of Mesopotamia, and their literature was preserved on clay tablets. On some of these tablets were stories specifically about Gilgamesh, king of Uruk.

Gilgamesh's father is mortal and his mother is a goddess. Being part mortal, Gilgamesh must die eventually, which he discovers and accepts during the course of the myth. He is a bad ruler, who sleeps with all the women and takes away children from their families. His people ask the Gods for help, so the goddess Aruru creates Enkidu who will be almost Giglamesh's equal. Enkidu gets created in the woods and is covered with shaggy hair. He eats grass and water with the animals. A trapper who sees Enkidu is frightened, so he goes back and asks his father what he should do because Enkidu is freeing the animals from the traps. The father advises the trapper to go to

Unfortunately, Enkidu discovers in one of his dreams that the Gods are holding a council to determine who should die for these attacks on divinity. According to Enkidu, they are deciding whether to kill him or Gilgamesh. Since Gilgamesh is part divine and part human, and Enkidu is part human and part animal, they choose Enkidu to die. Soon after, Enkidu becomes sick and dies. Before he dies, he curses the harlot for leading him to civilization and Gilgamesh, but then blesses her for the joy of friendship he had with Gilgamesh.

In ancient Mesopotamia there were underlying tensions between the new cities that were developing and the old ways of the nomadic and hill peoples outside of the cities. These conditions even exist today, as we often see the conflicts between cities and the outer areas in Iraq. The main conflict is between the ways of civilization versus the ways of the wilderness.

Uruk and find Gilgamesh and tell him of the wild man. Then he should ask for a harlot from the temple and bring her back to seduce Enkidu, so the animals will reject him and he can be lured into civilization.

There are several issues involved in the story of Gilgamesh. One of them is the issue of heroes and kings in myth. Gilgamesh is a heroic king. His traits include being powerful, impulsive, and aggressive. He wants to conquer the wilderness and build city walls. Enkidu is a heroic friend. He comes from innocent origins by being wild, hairy, and sexually innocent. He is as strong as Gilgamesh, knows the nature of the wilderness, and is insulting towards the gods. Another issue in Gilgamesh is sex and gender. Utnapishtim's wife plays the role of a servant. Although she is a servant she appears to be wise and compassionate toward Gilgamesh. She persuades her husband Utnapishtim to tell Gilgamesh where the plant is that restores youth.

The Gilgamesh story is suited for young adults especially. Even though Gilgamesh is not young himself, the young are typically outsiders to the society's belief systems. It will have effect on youth as they try to adapt to the different values in civilization. Another unique aspect of this story is that it shows us how Gilgamesh's experiences make a difference in his life when he returns to Uruk. The purpose of this "is to have an effect on us, to make us identify with Gilgamesh's attitudes of denial, grief, anger, struggle, despair, and acceptance and reflect both upon what Gilgamesh has learned and what we have learned in thinking about his story" (Patton and Doniger, p. 320-321).

The first three days after death were the most important of all. During this time the soul was susceptible evil spirits and needed strength to make it to the underworld. The soul would have to cross a dark river using a ferry to get to the underworld. It was probably taken from Gilgamesh's boat ride to reach immortality. To h

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1944
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)