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The Epic of Gilgamesh
An Introduction
The History of the Epic
In the last century, archaeologists began
discovering buried cities in the Middle East
that had previously only been somewhat
referenced in the Book of Genesis.
Amongst the relics, scientists found pieces
of the epic poem, Gilgamesh. Though
these poems pre-date Homeric epics by at
least 1.5 thousand years, they are equally
worthy of literary fame because of their
exciting mixture of adventure, morality,
and tragedy.
Gilgamesh may not be the oldest epic
hero to exist, but he is the first epic hero
that we know anything about. Evidence
shows that the poems depicting his life
were written in the first centuries of the
second millennium B.C.. The most
complete edition of the poems was
collected by the king of the Assyrian
Empire in the seventh century and stored
at the library of Assurbanipal. This
compilation is what we now consider to be
the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Shortly after the king compiled the poems, the
story of Gilgamesh was almost completely lost
and forgotten – that is until the last century when
two Englishmen began to study the poems
anew. The main body of the epic however, was
translated and published into English in 1928
and 1930 by Campbell Thompson.
The Discovery of the Tablets
In 1839 Englishman, Austen Henry Layard,
diverted his scientific explorations of
Mesopotamia to investigate the discovery of
Assyrian mounds. He hoped to unearth ancient
inscriptions but didn’t expect to find an entire
buried library with established literature written
on clay tablets in script known as cuneiform.
Henry Rawlinson began to translate the works
while in residency in Baghdad. Over 25,000
tablets were later sent to the British Museum
where Rawlinson continued his work.
In 1853 one of Layard’s colleagues, Rassam,
found, in the excavated library, the tablets
containing the story of Gilgamesh. Yet another
assistant, George Smith, found an eleventh
tablet that told the story of the flood of Uruk. The
story of the ‘Deluge’ was an important, missing
component to the epic of Gilgamesh as well as a
seeming parallel depiction of the Biblical flood
found in Genesis. The majority of ancient texts
are recordings of business transactions, which is
another reason why the Gilgamesh tablets are
so extraordinary as literary texts.
The Historical Background
The most important parts of the epic first
existed as separate, older, Sumerian
works. They were undoubtedly recited
orally long before they were written down.
Notable to the story is the fact that the
action in the epic resembles that of the
times. It is also of interest that the story
corresponds to a time when gods were
replaced by mortals, a time known as the
Archaic Sumerian civilization.
The Sumerians were the first literate inhabitants
of Mesopotamia. Likely arriving to the area as
conquerors from the north, they irrigated the
region and established cities. They were later
themselves conquered by the Semites, but their
culture and language were already so firmly
developed that even after conquest, their
influence reigned.
There is no scientific proof that suggests there
was any one, main catastrophe such as flood,
but there certainly were disasters that affected
communities. Because people at the time
believed such events were sent from the gods, it
is worth noting that the cities that survived
catastrophe were therefore considered
“blessed”. Two such cities were Kish and Uruk.
Uruk became the prominent city, the city in
which Gilgamesh was known as the great
builder. Though “power” was transferred to
mortals, gods were still influential and thus
temples were of critical to cities. Traditional
design dictated that temples house a ziggurat, or
mini holy mountain, on its premise so that priests
could stand upon it and converse with the gods.
Representation of this architectural norm
is seen in the epic when Gilgamesh calls
upon his mother, a goddess. She goes to
the roof of the temple to pray to the Sun
God. Priests, during this time, maintained
a critical role in maintaining the temple,
recording history, promoting mathematics
and leading as scholars.
Considering the military action found in the epic,
many historical parallels can be drawn. Though
the region of Uruk was quite fertile at times, it
lacked critical resources such as timber and
metals. For this reason, neighboring cities often
warred with each other over the acquisition of
resources in outlying areas where precious
resources could be found and imported to the
conquering city.
You should also know…
- other important Sumerian works
- the importance of Gilgamesh’s mother
- key events in the hero journey of
Gilgamesh
- parallels to other epic stories