Who knew that the oldest epic of all time, (2000 BC) would be such a thrilling story? The Epic of Gilgamesh includes every essential theme: journey, tragedy, dreams, power, love, fate, sex, heros, action, adventure, and even the quest for immortality. Gilgamesh is a "wild bull on the rampage" and is hurting more than helping his town of Uruk. His people cry out to the gods, where in most ancient stories everyone seeks their salvation from, and the gods decide to send Enkidu to be his equal and end the chaos. Basically, a respected harlot by the name of Shamhat, helps to make Enkidu into a man. Enkidu battles Gilgamesh, they become brothers (but more on the lovers side) and the epic tells their journey. The journey consists of battling Humababa in the Forrest of Cedar, battling Ishtar's Bull of Heaven, defeating lions, and ends sadly. Enkidu dies and Gilgamesh mourns his lost as deeply as if he was the greatest and truest love of his life. Gilgamesh thens seeks immortality and battles to get to Uta-napishti. However, he cannot past one immortality test of staying awake for a week and is sent home. Gilgamesh runs into another dose of bad luck when the immortality plant he travels to the bottom of the sea for (Old Man Grown Young) is snatched away in a minute by a snake. In the end, Gilgamesh realizes he will never escape death.
The one theme that is present throughout the epic and that I kept noticing is the connection the epic has with stories in the Bible. There are many incidences that have an obvious tie with biblical accounts. One, the creation of Enkidu in the forrest with the animals reminded me of the creation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. When Enkidu "couples with" Shamhat and Shamhat is able to convince Enkidu to leave the life he knew and become a man, there is a connection with Adam and Eve eating from the Tree of Knowledge. This connection can be seen through Enkidu no longer being seen as "pure" by his old friends the gazelles as Adam and Eve were no longer seen as "pure" when they ate the apple. Or the connection can also be seen through Enkidu eating the bread and drinking the ale, signifying him as a man. Many of the battles within the epic that can also relate to themes of journey, power, fate, and heros, can be connected with battles within the Bible as well, for example (Cain and Abel, David and Goaliath). The people in Uruk worship their gods, and the people within the Bible worship their God. Dreams are highly present through the Bible, as well as dream interpretation, which is a major theme throughout the Epic of Gilgamesh (involving Gilgamesh's dreams on the journey to the Forrest of Cedar, and Enkidu's dreams on the journey to his death).
Last but certainly not least, the biggest and most obvious connection I found in the Epic of Gilgamesh that relates to the Bible, is the story of the Deluge. The Deluge reminded me most prominently of the story of the Flood in the Bible. Noah (Ur-shanabi) builds an ark (the boat) to include two of every animal and his loved ones ("everything he owned, all the living creatures he had, members of every skill and craft" page 91) and escapes the Flood that God sent to destroy the corrupted earth (that Adad the Storm God and other gods sent). When Ur-shanabi survives the Deluge and lands on Mount Nimush (an island) just as Noah had landed on an island after the flood, Ur-shanabi sends out birds to see if there is life, JUST AS Noah sent out a Dove who brought back an olive branch. A final small connection would be when Uta-napishti tries to test Gilgamesh to see if he deserves immortality by telling him to stay awake for seven nights which he fails to do. This can be connected with when Jesus asked his disciples to keep watch for him in the Garden of Gethsemane as he prays and they cannot stay awake. There is most likely a million other connections that can be made between Gilgamesh and the Bible but these are just a few that stood out prominently to me.
The Epic of Gilgamesh involves all of the drama, battle, love, journey, power, and destiny that any story needs to stay an interesting piece of literature that will survive through the ages (as Gilgamesh's story so obviously has done). It has opened my eyes to how purely good writing can surpass time and always be "alive." This outlook has me thinking more and more about Literary Philadelphia and what other authors' pieces of literature have been included in society from the moment they had recognition. I hope to seek out just how I can get this point across with specific examples in the future.
Do you think it's likely that the writers of the Old and New testaments were influenced by the stories from Gilgamesh?
ReplyDeleteI would say that it is definitely possible, looking at it broadly, because the writers could have wanted the stories told in ways that were easily understandable or relatable. However, there's also always the possibility, even slim, that the stories are just coincidently very similar to one another. It would take different sides depending on religious views of the bible versus skeptical, atheist, or scholarly views.
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