The Epic of Gilgamesh
1839 Austen Henry Layard set off with a friend to Ceylon, but in Mesopotamia he was delayed by a reconnaissance of Assyrian mounds. It was from this reconnaissance of Nineveh that he found a buried library and lost literature. The importance of this find was not understood until much later when the clay tablets were deciphered. In 1853, Layard's collaborator and successor unearthed the part of the library that contained the tablets of the Gilgamesh Epic. Not until twenty years later, in December of 1872, did they fully understand what a spectacular find this was. The epic poem is about a man named Gilgamesh, who is two-thirds god and one third mortal. There is a belief that he may have been a historical person. The story starts by introducing Gilgamesh, a tyrannical Babylonian king who ruled the city of Uruk. He is described as a wise man, which saw mysteries and knew secret things. He brought us a tale of the days before the flood, as after he returned from his journeys, he wrote the story on tablets of stone. Due to his oppressive nature as a ruler, his subjects cried out to the gods to create a challenger, one who could equal Gilgamesh in mind and body. In response the gods created Enkidu, a wild brutish man. E
trace the landing spot to the same general region of the Middle East. In both the flood is sent in judgment on man's sins. Noah was chosen to build the Ark because he was I don't know what to put here. Utnapishtim was selected because the god Ea felt he was one who was true to the Gods. Enkidu was living without knowledge of man until a harlot seduced him. Prior to this he was able to live with the animals and accepted by them. The harlot teaches Enkidu some of the ways of civilization, such as wearing clothing, eating bread and drinking wine. This is much like the experience of Adam, who once, seduced by Eve, was thrown from the Garden of Eden. In both tales a serpent was responsible for taking away immorality. In the Bible the serpent temps Eve with the forbidden fruit, and in Gilgamesh the serpent steals the plant from him. The most striking thing about Gilgamesh's epic is how it shares a history with the Old Testament. The story of a great flood to destroy man with only one man chosen to be saved that carries on the human race. Each has a man that lives comfortably amongst the animals until a woman seduces him gaining a new knowledge and destroying his innocence. Another similarity is the actions of the serpent in stealing man's opportunity for immortality. One story is a bragging of on
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Approximate Word count = 893
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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