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Who was Gilgamesh?
The Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem from Sumerian literature dating back to 2000 BC, is considered the oldest work of literature by mankind. The work narrates the deeds of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, in his quest for immortality. To get an idea of its importance, the famous Homeric poems appeared about 1,500 years after it.
The Library of Nineveh
The last great king of Assyria, Ashurbanipal, reigned from 668 to 627 BC. In addition to plundering Egypt, he was the creator of the remarkable Library of Nineveh, considered the first in history. Located in Ashurbanipal's palace in Nineveh, the library had a collection of thousands of clay tablets containing texts in cuneiform writing, some in two languages: Sumerian and Akkadian. They were hymns, poems, contracts and texts on geography, mathematics, medicine, religion, astronomy, laws, omens, travel reports and adventures.
The deeds of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk in ancient Mesopotamia, were sung for two thousand years until, in 612 BC, a great fire devastated the library. The name of Gilgamesh was gradually forgotten until it disappeared completely. The records of the societies that populated Mesopotamia and neighboring regions also disappeared, and with them the past of the Near East.
The Sumerian city of Uruk, founded around 3500 BC, was one of the first cities in history and exerted a strong influence on culture, urbanization, and state formation in the Mesopotamian region. The poem mentions its walls, temples, and markets – which has been confirmed by archeology.
The discovery by archaeologists
In 1849, British archaeologist Austen Harry Layard was responsible for an excavation that took place in the region where the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh was located. About 30,000 clay tablets with cuneiform writing were found there. They were fragments that made up 1,200 different texts from the Library of Nineveh. Among them are the twelve clay tablets each containing about 300 verses from the Epic of Gilgamesh. Historians, however, consider only the first eleven plates because the last one contains a synthetic version of the story that contradicts the inscriptions on the earlier plates.
According to the British Library, the most complete extant text of the Epic of Gilgamesh is in twelve incomplete tablets, in the Akkadian language, found in the mid-19th century by Hormuzd Rassam, an expert on Assyria, in the library of the Assyrian king Assurbanipal. Gaps that occur in the plates have been partially filled in by various fragments found in other parts of Mesopotamia and Anatolia. In addition, five short poems in the Sumerian language are known from tablets that were written during the first half of the second millennium BC; the poems were titled:
Gilgamesh and Huwawa
Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven
Gilgamesh and Agga of Kish
Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Underworld
The Death of Gilgamesh
Translation of the tablets
All discovered material was sent to the British Museum in London. The translation was under the responsibility of Henry Rawlinson, a specialist in cuneiform writing, assisted by George Smith. Translation was only possible thanks to the Darius Inscription, a statement by Darius I, who ruled the Achaemenid Empire from 521 to 486 BC, written three times in three cuneiform characters and different alphabets and languages: two languages side by side, Old Persian and Elamite, and Babylonian above them.
The work had been written by the Sumerians under the name of Sha-naqba-imru (He who saw the depth) or Shutur-eli-sham (He who towers over all kings). Later, the original was transcribed at the behest of the Assyrian king Assurbanipal (668 BC - 627 BC) and kept in the Library of Nineveh. Research shows that, from it, several translations and adaptations were made in the Hittite and Hurrian languages, in different places such as Nippur, Uruk and in Hattusa, the former Hittite capital.
The first version of Genesis?
In 1872, before an audience of experts, George Smith read the eleventh plate that narrated a devastating flood from which only one man survived. The revelation caused an impact among specialists, theologians, and the lay public. More surprises came with the decipherment of other plaques: Araru, the goddess who created man, the myth Enuma elish, the poem of creation, and the myth of Adapa, the man who refused immortality, a character who, for some scholars, would be the Biblical Adam.
The impact of these discoveries challenged literary and biblical scholarship. The Epic of Gilgamesh was already circulating around 2100 BC, but it was much earlier than that. Given this dating, all literature considered until then, as the first in history, were much more recent.
The narratives of the Pentateuch or Torah, the oldest part of the Old Testament, are from the first millennium BC. In turn, the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, attributed to Homer, date back to the 9th and 8th centuries BC.
Much has already been researched and written about the influence of the Epic of Gilgamesh on the writing of Genesis, even questioning the veracity of the biblical texts. On the other hand, the epic that has come down to us is not original either, but a compilation of legends and poems where cultural traditions from the Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians, and Babylonians were mixed.
Copies of the poem have been found in different regions of ancient Mesopotamia, Palestine, and Turkey, and not all versions match. Finally, both the Epic of Gilgamesh and the book of Genesis could have been influenced by stories even more ancient and widespread in the East. As Fernand Braudel remembers: The past of civilizations is nothing more than the history of the loans they made to each other over the centuries...
The search
Oh Gilgamesh, where are you wandering? The life you're looking for, you'll never find. (Sippar tablet, I.2')
The person responsible for assembling and adapting the ancient Sumerian stories into one continuous epic tale must undoubtedly have been an experienced scribe, although who this sage was is another of the great mysteries surrounding this masterful work. The Mesopotamian tradition had its own candidate, and assigned the fixation of a complete narrative, called Sha naqba imuru, (He who saw the Deep), undoubtedly a name endowed with great significance, and which comes from the phrase that begins the Epic at a certain point. Sîn-leqi-unninni, a priest, exorcist, and scribe from Uruk in the Middle Babylonian period (ca. 1600-1000 BC) who may have lived between the 13th and 11th centuries BC.
While it is tempting to accept this idea, it is somewhat unlikely given that there are fragments of ancient Akkadian Gilgamesh dating to Ancient Babylon (ca. 2000-1600 B.C.), among others, the Pennsylvania, Yale, and Nippur tablets with dates around 1700 BC, although it is also true that these incomplete versions lack the prologue and perhaps not even the account of the Flood, so it cannot be ruled out that the Uruk scholar edited the Paleo-Babylonian text into its final form.
First complex and extensive heroic poem
The Epic of Gilgamesh is undoubtedly one of the most important writings in history, the first truly complex and extensive. But it is also, above all, the first great story we know. Certainly, before the brave Sumerian king, there were many other heroes who performed great deeds, real or fictional, undoubtedly exaggerated and often seasoned with a good dose of imagination and enthusiasm, because human beings need inspiring models in those who see their own reflected achievements and failures.
As we know it today, it is an incomplete work; a puzzle that is missing pieces because they were lost but are still being sought after. After all, there are only a few supplementary details that fill in the gaps in certain parts of the story, and by studying it carefully it's easy to conclude that its message, its most primary intent, is indeed perfectly crafted. It is then that the true dimension of an epic story shines through, a transcendental journey that puts the reader in the role of protagonist; someone who, through his experience, teaches us how far we can go as human beings and where our limits are.
The narrative of the epic
The narrative of the Epic of Gilgamesh tells the events of Gilgamesh, fifth king of the first dynasty of Uruk, according to the Sumerian Royal List. According to this list, his reign over Uruk was 126 years. He appears in the poem as the son of the goddess Ninsuna. This Sumerian king probably existed and lived between 2800 BC and 2500 BC. Although the figure of Gilgamesh seems to correspond to that of a real king, his life and deeds are mixed with fantastic elements and mythological references throughout the text. He is considered the most illustrious predecessor of the Sumerian kings, the subject of legends and poems and venerated as a hero who, over time, was deified.
Part 1 - the fight between Gilgamesh and Enkidu
Tablet I – the story begins in the city of Uruk, an ancient Mesopotamian settlement located on the west bank of the Euphrates River (in present-day Iraq). The written poem begins with an exaltation to Gilgamesh highlighting his virtues, his constitution (two thirds divine and one third human) and his deeds, the walls of Uruk and the temple of Eanna. The king is unbeatable and arrogant. Although he recognizes his competence, the population is dissatisfied with his arrogance and lust.
The inhabitants of Uruk pray to the goddess Aruru to create a being like Gilgamesh and who can challenge him. Aruru takes some clay and creates Enkidu, a wild man covered in fur with long, shaggy hair. Enkidu goes to live in the forest with the animals.
Tablet II – Gilgamesh learns of Enkidu's existence and sends Shamhat, a sacred courtesan, to seduce him and transform him into a civilized man. The woman, whose name means "the joyful one", cuts Enkidu's hair, shaves his hair, dresses him, and teaches him to eat bread and drink wine. Then they go to Uruk to meet Gilgamesh.
When they see each other, the two find each other strange, measure strength and fight fiercely. Enkidu makes Gilgamesh kneel or lose his balance and fall. In another interpretation, Gilgamesh ends up overthrowing Enkidu. In any case, the fight ends in a draw, the two embrace and seal their friendship, but in the Sumerian texts, Enkidu is the servant.
Part 2 - Deeds of Gilgamesh and Enkidu
Tablets III and IV – the two go to a cedar forest and face Huwawa (Humbaba), a fierce and fearsome giant that spews fire. The two kill the monster and cut off its head. Gilgamesh returns to the palace, washes, and puts on his best clothes.
Tablet VI – his beauty attracts the goddess Isthar who falls in love and promises him magnificent gifts, powers, and divinization. He refuses the marriage and claims that she abandons lovers after exhausting them.
Tablet VII – Ishtar takes revenge, sending a gigantic celestial bull to destroy the hero and his palace. The bull, however, is defeated by Gilgamesh and Enkidu. As punishment, she curses Gilgamesh and causes Enkidu to suffer a fatal illness for twelve days.
Tablet VIII – Before dying, Enkidu dreams of the “house of dust” that awaits him. It narrates Gilgamesh's lament for his friend and Enkidu's state funeral.
Part 3 – the quest for immortality
Tablets IX and X – Gilgamesh, seized with panic at the thought that one day he would also die, goes looking for Utnapishtim, the only survivor of the Babylonian Flood, who lives at the ends of the world enjoying the gift of immortality. Gilgamesh asks how to achieve immortality. Utnapishtim tells about the flood but reveals nothing about immortality.
Tablet XI – Utnapishtim's wife, compassionate with the hero's failure, reveals that the secret of immortality is at the bottom of the sea, in the form of a wonderful plant. If he eats that plant, he will be eternally young and immortal. After that, Gilgamesh ties stones to his feet, dives into the deep sea and finds the magic plant. When pulling it out, he injures his hands, but manages to bring it to the surface. He then decides to share the plant with the elders of Uruk.
On the way back to Uruk he breaks off his walk to rest. He lays down and soon falls asleep. A serpent smells the flower and takes hold of it. By eating the flower, the snake sheds its skin and becomes rejuvenated. Gilgamesh returns disappointed to Uruk and returns to admire its walls and buildings.
Tablet XII – an appendix relates the loss of objects called pukku and mikku (perhaps "drum" and "drumstick") given to Gilgamesh by Ishtar. Enkidu's spirit returns, gives a dark account of the underworld, and promises to retrieve the objects. The poem ends with the death of Gilgamesh.
The destiny decreed by Enlil, the father of the gods, has been fulfilled. (…) Heroes and sages, like the new moon, have their periods of rise and fall. You were given a throne, to reign was your destiny; eternal life was not your destiny. So don't be sad, don't torment yourself. He has given you supremacy over the people, victory in battles (…). But do not abuse this power; deal with justice with your servants in the palace, do justice before the face of the sun. OLIVEIRA (trans.): 2001.
The themes and reflections of the epic
The Epic of Gilgamesh brilliantly narrates a journey into the inner world of a complex character who, despite being king and son of a goddess, is no longer a victim of human uncertainties and frailties. His story usually takes place in the liminal space that separates three well differentiated areas: nature, personified by the wild Enkidu and Humbaba, the guardian of the cedar forest; civilization, whose highest exponent is represented by Gilgamesh himself and the city of Uruk; and the supernatural or divine, which is personified by the gods and fearsome beings the hero faces.
Enkidu's death on tablet VII, and with it Gilgamesh's awareness that he himself will not be able to escape the reaper, acts as a hinge between the two great quests in inhospitable spaces. Your second trip will, in fact, end with the acceptance of your destiny. The Epic of Gilgamesh shows that the fundamental questions of human existence have accompanied man for thousands of years.
Gilgamesh is the model of a hero in transformation, with human virtues and defects, who risks the new, unknown, and extraordinary and, with that, causes profound changes. The hero's journey is one of inner transformation.
At the beginning of the poem, the exaltation of Gilgamesh concerns the person he became at the end of his journey – “the wise man who saw mysteries and knew secret things”. Gilgamesh's arrogance, truculence and lust are disputed by the inhabitants of Uruk. They complain to the gods, as they understand that the leader should work for the harmony of society and not to provoke discord. They call for justice and an end to oppression.
Enkidu's creation contains intriguing elements. He is created by the goddess Aruru from clay – different from the Hebrew-Jewish tradition which refers to a male creator god. Like Adam, he lives among the animals and in harmony with them. Who will change this scenario is a woman, the sacred courtesan Shamhat.
Shamhat's role is critical. She uses her beauty and seduction to lure the wild Enkidu. With their continued sexual relations, she teaches him the fundamentals of civilized life. Shamhat's sexual skills make the difference between sex for procreation - animal drive - and the artistic and sophisticated sensuality of civilization. The Mesopotamians considered prostitution as one of the basic characteristics of urban and civilized life. They understand Shamhat's role in introducing Enkidu to the alluring but complex world of human culture.
After sleeping with Shamhat six days and seven nights, Enkidu tries to return to the wild, but the animals run away from him. Just like Adam who, after tasting the fruit of knowledge offered by Eve, was expelled from paradise, Enkidu is no longer the same after the learning given by the woman. Wild man's connection to the natural world was severed. He returns to the city, the place where this knowledge can be used.
About to die, Enkidu expresses his anger at Shamhat for bringing him into the world of experiences that led to his death. He curses her. However, the god Shamash (the Sun), reminds Enkidu that it was Shamhat who fed and clothed him. Enkidu relents and blesses the young woman, saying that all men will desire her and offer her jewels as a gift.
Enkidu and Gilgamesh meet
Enkidu and Gilgamesh's encounter is another key moment in the epic. The two are equal, but not identical. They have the same physical strength and swagger, but different human experiences. With no family, Enkidu is attuned to the wild and natural world. Gilgamesh has a father and a mother, and he lives and governs a great city. They represent the polarity between nature and culture. Enkidu is the agent of change for Gilgamesh, including death, the turning point in the king's journey. The wildling will give Gilgamesh the opportunity to realize himself as human, like everyone else, and to let go of his arrogance and refusal to accept human fate.
The fraternal relationship between them is born of their differences on which they balance. Perhaps this is the deepest meaning of the unfinished fight between them, with no winner and no loser. They were created to balance each other out, each making up for what the other lacks. Their friendship is built on dispute, listening, loss, gain, cooperation, jealousy, vanity, loyalty, courage, aggressiveness, and loving kindness.
Jungian view of the Enkidu-Gilgamesh relationship
Analytical or Jungian psychology (initiated by Carl Gustav Jung) sees in Enkidu the shadow-brother of Gilgamesh, his “inner child”, fragile and vulnerable (or even despised and humiliated). To silence it, the individual continually challenges himself to prove his greatness, power, and strength. Behind this behavior is the patriarchal society, with its impositions of success and performance, its contempt for fellow men, women, animals, and the environment. Hence the arrogance, intolerance, excessive vanity, and intransigence.
The quest for immortality
It fell to a woman to provide Gilgamesh with the key to the secret. She talks about the plant capable of giving eternal youth to whoever eats it. In possession of the plant, a compassionate Gilgamesh (he is no longer the arrogant king) decides to take it to Uruk and share it with the city's elders. However, a serpent eats the plant, stealing man's immortality.
It is impossible not to make an analogy with the serpent of Genesis that took eternal life from Adam and Eve and led them to be expelled from Eden. Arriving in Uruk, Gilgamesh talks to the boatman who accompanies him about the beauty and grandeur of the city, made of fired bricks, with its walls, temples, and gardens.
The verses announce: “All this was the work of Gilgamesh, the king who knew the countries of the world. He was the wise one, he saw the mysteries and knew the secret things. He has given us a story of the days before the flood. He went on a long journey, experienced weariness, exhausted himself with work, and when he returned, he engraved the whole story on a stone.” (TAMEN, 1992, p. 89-90). This was the immortality so desired by Gilgamesh, his works, the wisdom achieved, and his history transmitted to future generations. All that really stays for eternity.
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