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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